State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for getting this bill here to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3628, the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act, sponsored by my colleague from Colorado's Eighth District. This legislation ensures that States take responsibility for their policy decisions that impact households' access to affordable and reliable supplies of electricity.

It is clear that we are in the midst of a reliability and affordability crisis caused by the Biden administration and decisions by States to attack baseload power supplies. Let me be clear: There is nothing more expensive than a blackout, and that was the path created by the Biden administration.

In 2008, House Republicans developed an all-of-the-above energy strategy. This meant that the Federal Government didn't pick winners and losers. The data is clear. States with the most aggressive forms of clean energy standards are the same States with the higher electricity bills.

Across the country, rate case filings by utilities detail the reasons for rising costs: new infrastructure to meet State climate goals, stranded assets of prematurely retired power plants, and the need for additional backup generation to keep the lights on when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Just look at States like New York, whose own grid operator has begun sounding the alarm over how their State laws are driving up baseload generation resources that could threaten the integrity of their system.

Comparatively, States that have responsibly maintained reliability of their system have enjoyed affordable electricity rates and an influx of investment into energy-intensive industries, such as domestic manufacturing, that drive economic growth.

The central focus on resource planning must be affordability and reliability.

While climate and environmental justice goals of States seem laudable, the greatest harm that could come to our communities is a grid without enough electricity. In every facet, our modern life is uniquely dependent on a reliable and affordable electric grid.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 3628 brings common sense back to integrated resource planning, and I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

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