Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following statement for the record at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power entitled, “The American Energy Initiative”:
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today. We have before us a most complex set of issues. FERC has a seemingly simple mission: To assist consumers in obtaining reliable, efficient and sustainable energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means. And according to FERC, this means fulfilling two goals: 1) ensure that rates, terms and conditions are just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential; and, 2) promote the development of safe, reliable and efficient energy infrastructure that serves the public interest.
“I know most of us in the room understand this, but FERC’s mission and goals bear thinking about, especially in this political and economic climate.
“The calls are getting louder for the need to expand transmission capability due to the increase in renewable energy. I think that is probably true, for we all support the basic premise of getting more renewables on line to not only wean ourselves off foreign sources of energy but also create jobs building that technology here at home.
“However, it is important we not do this in a haphazard manner. We do not want to increase capacity to the point that ratepayers overpay for useless capacity. We also want to see that we have an adequate supply to ensure low rates to consumers. And, of course, we have the particularly sticky question of who pays for new transmission lines.
“In addition, we must balance the delicate intersection of federal and state authority over electricity regulation. To date, we have little or no record on which to judge how well the existing Federal Power Act addresses those concerns. Finally, it is critical that we all understand the effect of any new language on existing law. Otherwise, it will only lead to more litigation and delay, of which we already have quite enough.
“I thank the Chairman for holding this hearing so we can explore the issues in depth. I hope this is the beginning of a bipartisan collaboration to protect ratepayers and ensure transmission is expanded in a responsible way. Chairman Upton and I proved such a meeting of the minds can happen as we recently did with the Pipeline Safety legislation and I believe this is another issue that knows no party label and requires serious consideration.”
To view a video of Congressman Dingell questioning Panel 1 earlier today, click here.
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