Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm battled House Republicans at a budget hearing on Wednesday, defending the Department of Energy’s efforts on grid reliability, electric vehicles and natural gas exports.
It was Granholm’s third appearance before a Capitol Hill committee this year, and it might have been her toughest yet.
The Energy and Commerce Committee features some fierce Biden administration critics, including Energy, Environment and Grid Subcommittee chair Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).
“The Department of Energy has pursued a radical climate agenda to impose new federal regulations for household appliances electrical equipment, voting, construction and natural gas usage,” Duncan said. “It’s putting the ‘American Dream’ further and further out of reach for many struggling families.”
Duncan and other Republicans criticized the administration’s proposed fiscal 2025 budget, released earlier in March, which they said was an unreasonably large ask for DOE considering stubborn inflation and high interest rates.
But despite the partisan fury, the hearing offered Granholm a chance to provide meaningful updates on a number of controversial issues like EV charger infrastructure, EPA power plant regulations, the liquefied natural gas-export pause and others.
Here are some takeaways:
Where are the EV chargers?
Republicans lambasted the secretary over the slow rollout of EV chargers, despite a healthy federal investment.
A bipartisan infrastructure law program that provided $7.5 billion to support charging infrastructure has resulted in only 7 charging stations. Even Democrats expressed displeasure with the program.
“Despite the significant investment, the rollout has progressed slower than anybody wants,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) “We need to be perfectly frank about this.”
Granholm said DOE has provided 35 states with funding and expects the program to produce 1,000 charging stations by the end of the year.
She pinned the slow rollout time on connecting chargers to the grid, which she said can take up to 18 months due to permitting timelines and missing grid infrastructure.
“There are permitting issues at the state level, so the states are finding a little bit of difficulty,” Granholm said. “But all of these solicitations are out and the states now have their plans, so we’re going to start to see more and more of the public chargers available throughout the course of this year and beyond.”
Republicans asked if such developments suggest the White House should slow its push to increase EV ownership. Two recent reports say EV sales are facing a slower rate of growth due to stalling consumer interest and a lack of available charging stations.
But Granhom said that the administration remains bullish on EVs.
“We are not concerned that we are moving too fast,” she said. “In fact, we are seeing a great uptake in EVs — a 30 percent increase year over year — which I think any automaker would be happy to have.”
New details on LNG study
In response to Republican questions, Granholm revealed new details on the administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas export permitting as it reviews climate and price concerns.
The DOE secretary said she personally recommended the LNG pause to President Joe Biden due to the unprecedented rise in exports in the last five years.
“That was my recommendation,” Granholm said. “In 2018, we were exporting 4 BCF [billion cubic feet per day] at that point. Today, we have the capacity to do 14 BCF.”
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who recently led a bill through the House to overturn the LNG pause, H.R. 7176, said many energy companies have expressed to him and to DOE that the pause could be disastrous due to the uncertainty created in future export contracts.
“I understand that some in the industry who may have pending authorization requests are not happy,” Granholm responded. ” But our review is in the public interest, and not in the interest just of the oil and gas industry.”
Granholm also revealed which labs were doing the study: the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.
The study should wrap up, she added, by “the end of this year, maybe the beginning of January of next year.”
Grid reliability
Republicans asked if DOE could take a larger role in advising EPA over power plant rules that could result in a greater number of retiring fossil fuel generation in the next decade.
Those questions speak to a concerted effort by Republicans to focus on grid reliability, as they believe Biden administration regulations could result in grid blackouts due to disappearing, at-the-ready fossil fuel plants.
“Are you comfortable allowing EPA to take actions that effectively dictate the electricity generation mix and negatively affect the energy policy of the nation,” committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) asked Granholm.
Granholm said DOE is fully behind the EPA’s initiative to limit emissions from existing plants. The department and EPA already have a memorandum of understanding that allows the two to coordinate on reliability issues.
“I’m very comfortable that what they have proposed is doable, and that it will, in fact, increase our energy security,” said Granholm.
She did concede, however, that the nation could use more pipeline infrastructure, something that House Republicans have been urging for years.
“I think we definitely need to build new pipelines for hydrogen, for the movement of CO2, as well as traditional energy,” Granholm said.
Energy efficiency week
Democrats pushed back on Republican messaging on energy efficiency, arguing such rules are commonsense wins for all Americans.
“Of course, committee Republicans continue to target these standards, passing ridiculous bills that are nothing more that gifts to their corporate polluter friends that will raise prices for middle class Americans,” said ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.).
Pallone indicated that House Republicans could bring back a slate of bills targeting a variety of energy efficiency rules for floor votes as soon as next week.
In April, Republicans were planning to vote on six bills that would prohibit DOE from implementing or enforcing efficiency standards for home appliances if they are not “technically feasible or economically justified” and if they do not result in “significant conservation of energy.”
The measures targeted everything from air conditioners to clothes dryers and refrigerators.
Floor votes on the bills were canceled after Republicans took up Israel foreign aid and Iran oil sanction bills. Now, Democrats and Granholm are again gearing up to defend DOE’s energy efficiency agenda against potential upcoming Republican legislative attacks.
“We have been doing this since 1975, … and we have saved consumers trillions of dollars,” Granholm said. “I would say to those who criticize, don’t underestimate the ingenuity of the private sector to reach these standards and to provide consumers with lower cost appliances and more efficient appliances.”
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