Implementing the “full suite of tools” in a comprehensive Energy Department analysis for upgrading the nation’s energy infrastructure will require congressional action, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday.
Moniz said the Energy Department’s Quadrennial Energy Review was coming “in weeks.” He said discussions with top energy committee lawmakers about passing legislation to green light the report’s recommendations are ongoing.
“The chairs and ranking members of the energy committees in both chambers … both came forward very clearly in stating a specific interest in the [Quadrennial Energy Review] so that we can work together on infrastructure legislation. Again, you never know what gets over the finish line, but I think it’s very encouraging,” Moniz said at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference in Washington.
This is the first-ever Quadrennial Energy Review, which will be published every four years. Moniz has called it the first comprehensive review of the nation’s energy infrastructure, and it will focus on electric grid modernization, making energy systems more resilient to the effects of climate change — such as rising sea levels — and addressing pipeline and other supply issues.
The report’s expected release comes as the respective chairmen of the House and Senate energy panels are working on broad legislation that would address supply and infrastructure. Moniz said he believes the bills from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., present chances for Energy Department input.
“It was pretty general in terms of its No. 1 item was infrastructure, but frankly, they are seeking to have a dialogue on where it is focused,” Moniz said.
The Obama administration already has hinted at some of the areas on which the review will focus.
Moniz mentioned President Obama’s budget request for fiscal 2016 includes $257 million to make changes to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency supply of oil managed by the Energy Department. A test sale last year from the reserve revealed infrastructure problems in getting oil from the reserve onto ships, Moniz said.
Moniz said that the analysis will also focus on boosting energy storage, smoothing natural gas pipeline bottlenecks and expanding “microgrids,” which are systems of interconnected sources that exist apart from the traditional electric grid infrastructure. The energy secretary said that the Quadrennial Energy Review would also call for $356 million to modernize the electric grid.
