OPINION:
From the steam engine to the lightbulb to the personal computer, Americans have long invented and built advanced machines that changed the trajectory of human history for the better. Embracing innovation improves the health and prosperity of our communities, creates family-sustaining jobs and protects our homeland. As artificial intelligence (AI) sparks a new technological revolution, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce remains focused on the United States winning the global race for AI dominance.
If our nation falls behind, we risk ceding to adversaries such as China the ability to shape global technology standards. American companies are leading the current wave of AI innovation, but our adversaries are gaining ground. To maintain our advantage, American startups, manufacturers, and businesses in every sector must be powered by affordable and reliable electricity, which will also ultimately keep costs down for consumers in the long term.
Right now, our main constraint to winning the race for AI is the need for on-demand, dispatchable power that can secure our grid and protect consumers, while also providing the energy supply AI technologies need. To address these needs, our committee has been working to advance commonsense permitting reforms that will help to provide the power industry and consumers require.
Unfortunately, years of government incentives for intermittent and unreliable power sources, like wind and solar, have left our grid more vulnerable to potential blackouts and unprepared to meet the energy demands that new technologies will require.
Forcing wind- and solar-produced electricity onto our grid has led to rising electricity prices. States with mandatory renewable portfolio standards saw rates rise by 28.8% during the Biden-Harris administration, and those with 100% net-zero targets had a 31.2% increase in prices over the same period. Mandates rely on subsidies paid out of taxpayer pockets, which artificially increases the cost of power on the market thus hitting taxpayers a second time through higher electricity rates. Despite efforts by some politicians to support these power sources, at the end of the day they fundamentally do not provide the baseload power needed for a reliable grid.
To ensure reliability and avoid blackouts and brownouts, a parallel source of power generation, usually relying on natural gas, coal and nuclear, must be built to provide backup power.
Addressing these problems means working with groups from across the energy industry, including producers, grid operators, regulators and manufacturers.
What has been clear from our hearings this Congress is that we need permitting reform to support the development of dispatchable baseload power. To do this, we’ve advanced a series of bipartisan bills that both help to bring more electricity onto the grid and keep power plants from going offline prematurely. We need both approaches to meet industry demand and protect consumers.
Two of the bills we’ve passed through the House include the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act and the Reliable Power Act.
First, the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act, led by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., modernizes the federal permitting process for interstate natural gas pipelines by bolstering FERC’s role as the lead agency for environmental reviews and as the coordinator of Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality reviews. Pipeline infrastructure approvals are too often delayed due to inaction from blue-state governors, and this authority needs to be strengthened under FERC so that we can build the pipelines we need to supply electricity generation.
Further, the Reliable Power Act, led by Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, confronts the threat of rolling blackouts by requiring FERC review and comment on any federal rules that impact electricity generation during periods of high reliability risks.
While we continue to enact permitting reforms, we must also support our communities so they share in the positive effects that an AI buildout can have for their area. Part of this process includes ensuring new electricity demand won’t drive up costs.
Testimony we’ve received in previous hearings and National Laboratory reports show that data centers connected responsibly can mitigate, if not lower, consumer bills by supporting necessary grid upgrades, financing essential local services and absorbing fixed costs. It’s vitally important that industry works with local communities to address concerns with necessary buildout.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we must remember that part of the American story has always been leading the way on innovation, from inventing the lightbulb to producing the Model T at scale. Over the last three decades, American industry has ushered in the digital age, but we but we cannot let our guard down now. China will continue to press for AI dominance using every means at their disposal, including massive amounts of energy production.
To strengthen our grid, promote onshoring of American manufacturing and support the development of AI, our nation needs commonsense permitting reform and a commitment to working together to achieve these goals.
• Rep. Brett Guthrie represents Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District. Following his military service in the Army, Guthrie joined a Bowling Green-based manufacturing business that was started by his father and represented the 32nd district in the Kentucky Senate. Guthrie was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008 and serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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