The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a markup this week on legislation designed to help the electric grid meet growing power demand.
The 13 bills on the agenda would mainly ease permitting to boost natural gas, coal and nuclear power— energy sources that Republicans believe are best suited to handle the projected demand from artificial intelligence. The bills passed the Energy Subcommittee earlier this month, mostly along party lines.
“Energy security and supply is key to developing the AI infrastructure we need to be globally competitive,” said Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). “With that in mind, the energy subcommittee has been hard at work to reverse the course from the Biden- Harris administration’s energy transition to chart a path towards energy abundance.”
Democrats have shunned most of the bills for ignoring or being hostile to renewable energy. They would rather focus on shoring up the grid to connect more renewables.
