A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will vote this week on legislation to address long-held Republican concerns around electric reliability.
Lawmakers discussed the 13 bills during a hearing in April. They focus heavily on easing permitting for fossil fuel and nuclear infrastructure.
“Over the past several months, our Committee has heard from energy producers, grid operators, and experts on [artificial intelligence] that have discussed the need to produce more baseload power,” said E&C Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Energy Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) about the bills. “[These] specific policy proposals would help achieve this goal and ensure American energy dominance.”
Republicans believe baseload energy sources — unlike wind and solar — can better allow the U.S. to meet power demand. But Democrats expressed opposition to almost all the bills during April’s hearing, wanting more attention for renewables.
