Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will appear before a House panel next week to discuss how his department plans to secure the country’s energy future, focusing on issues such as fracking and energy infrastructure.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s energy and power subcommittee on Thursday will hold a hearing titled “The Department of Energy’s Role in Advancing the National, Economic and Energy Security of the United States.”
The hearing will be the first time a high-profile Cabinet member will appear before new subcommittee Chairman Pete Olson, R-Texas.
“It will be great to welcome Secretary Moniz back to Energy and Commerce for what surely will be a valuable discussion of our energy future,” Olson said. “Our energy landscape has changed dramatically, and those changes have highlighted challenges and opportunities unique to the 21st century.
“Next week’s hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to take a deeper dive into [the Energy Department’s] role in strengthening our national, economic and energy security.”
The hearing will focus on how the energy landscape has changed in the last decade as fracking has led the country to an abundance of fossil fuels and drops in crude oil and natural gas prices.
The hearing also will touch on how the Department of Energy can work to update the country’s energy infrastructure.
“Rising supplies and falling energy prices have benefited consumers and the economy, but it has also begun to strain the nation’s energy transmission, storage and distribution systems,” a committee statement read.
Lawmakers will talk about proposed bills in Congress that would reform the country’s energy policy, such as a comprehensive energy bill that is now being worked on by a conference committee.
The conference committee met for the first time Thursday. The House and Senate versions of the bill have considerable differences.
The bill passed in the Senate would expedite the approval of natural gas exports, require increased energy efficiency in buildings and increase research on energy-storage technologies. It also would make several small changes that aim to increase electric grid reliability while keeping costs low.
The House version of the bill contained some of those proposals, but Democrats slammed it for language they say will increase fossil fuel dependence. Democrats also don’t like that the House bill stripped out some of the proposals to increase renewable energy use and energy efficiency and that it doesn’t address climate change.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said updating the country’s energy policy is a must-do before the session ends in December.
“We need to update existing federal energy programs that reflect the state of energy markets and technology today,” he said. “Many policies based on energy scarcity are simply no longer appropriate, and efforts to expand the nation’s energy infrastructure have run up against old permitting regimes that are not up to the task.”
