On March 25, the Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on the topic: “Keeping the Lights On: Examining the State of Regional Grid Reliability.” The 29 Members of Congress in attendance and witnesses representing the nation’s seven grid operators − ISO-NE, NYISO, PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, and ERCOT − discussed the electric reliability crisis facing our country. Below are some excerpts from the hearing:
Chairman of the Subcommittee Bob Latta (R-OH): “It’s no secret that our country is in the midst of a reliability crisis, and it could not come at a worse time…Excessive federal overreach, like the Clean Power Plan 2.0, drove significant premature retirements of baseload power and discouraged long-term investment into baseload generation source.”
“We need to address these [reliability] challenges through a pragmatic whole-of-government approach that recognizes the benefits of different fuel sources, the limitation of others, and prioritizes energy expansion. There is value to ensuring a diverse resource mix, but it is important to recognize that not all electrons should be treated equally.”
Chairman of the Full Committee Brett Guthrie (R-KY): “Over the past decade, certain federal and state policies have made it more difficult for operators to keep the lights on. The thrust of the Biden Administration’s electricity policy was to shut down baseload coal and limit natural gas generation with onerous new rules and regulations…Ensuring the availability of reliable power will require stopping and reversing retirements of dispatchable resources.”
“Last week, the Secretary of Energy noted the existential security implications of our race with China on AI and other advanced technologies…China is building a coal plant every two weeks to support the energy for [AI]…We have to focus on making sure we win this battle in a responsible way.”
Representative Balderson (R-OH): “Last year, PJM, ERCOT, SPP, and MISO jointly filed an amicus brief with the DC Circuit Court against the Biden EPA Clean Power Plan 2.0. I’m extremely grateful that just a few weeks ago, Administrator Zeldin announced the EPA will be reconsidering the Clean Power Plan 2.0 along with dozens of other Biden air rules and regulations. Since I’m limited on time, Mr. Asthana and Mr. Vegas, if the Clean Power Plan 2.0 were to remain in effect, would your service territories see an increased risk of brownouts and blackouts?”
- Pablo Vegas, President & Chief Executive Officer, ERCOT: “Yes, that plan had risked more than 14,000 megawatts of existing coal plants that are serving the grid today. They would be at risk, and that would be a significant reliability concern.”
- Manu Asthana, President & Chief Executive Officer, PJM: “Yes, that plan would have increased the reliability risk and will in our region if it goes forward.”
Representative Miller-Meeks (R-IA): “In the 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment report, NERC recommends that to maintain demand and supply balance, dispatchable generators, including carbon-based fuel generators, must be available and capable of following changing electricity demand…What measures are you taking to discourage premature retirement of carbon-based fuel generators? How are we able to maintain dispatchable energy when we’re retiring carbon-based fuel generators prematurely?”
- Manu Asthana, President & Chief Executive Officer, PJM: “Part of it is through sending the right market price signal to induce them to stay. Part of it is through working with our state and federal regulators to try to ensure that we don’t have rules that force these generators offline prematurely.”
Representative Schrier (R-WA): “We all agree we’re going to need a lot of energy and really fast…We want to win, we need to win the AI race with China, and that’s going to require a ton of energy.”
Representative Harshbarger (R-TN): “In this scenario, let’s say that you experienced a wind drought that lasts 40 consecutive hours. How do you make up for that?”
- Jennifer Curran, Senior Vice President for Planning and Operations, MISO: “The way you make up for it is with resources that do have fuels that are available on demand. So, in MISO, that would be coal and gas generation that is able to run for that duration.”
Representative Julie Fedorchak (R-ND): “If you could pick one thing we need to correct, to meet and maintain reliability, to meet the demand, what is the one thing you would say we need to do quickly or first?”
- Manu Asthana, President & Chief Executive Officer, PJM: “Hang on to the generation we have already.”
- Richard J. Dewey, President & Chief Executive Officer, NYISO: “Hold on to the generation. We have slowed down those retirements of existing units.”
- Jennifer Curran, Senior Vice President for Planning and Operations, MISO: “Hang on to the generation.”
- Lanny Nickell, Chief Operating Officer, SPP: “We need to more effectively use the grid we have.”
- Pablo Vegas, President & Chief Executive Officer, ERCOT: “Agree with all of my peers.”
Although not mentioned at the hearing, the two largest grid operators – PJM and MISO – face the premature retirement of one-third of their coal fleets before 2030 which illustrates the loss of dispatchable generation highlighted at the hearing.