Letter to Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham

March 1, 2004

The Honorable Spencer Abraham
Secretary
United States Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585

Dear Secretary Abraham:

I am writing to urge you to explore any available opportunities within the Department of Energy to restore the FY 2004 budget for the development of high temperature superconductivity (HTSC) research. Proposed reductions in funding for the development of HTSC, which is a technology with significant potential to address several of our nation's most pressing energy challenges, could severely erode the program's knowledge base and research infrastructure. I believe that such losses could have a devastating impact on the future development of HTSC technology and must be avoided.

The potential benefits of HTSC technology could help to dramatically improve the way energy is produced and transmitted in the United States. The advantages of HTSC over traditional transmission lines include greater efficiency, reduced environmental damage, reduced demands on physical space, weight reductions and the absence of oil as a cooling medium.
The use of superconducting devices also has the potential to greatly reduce the 7-10% average electrical losses from existing transmission grid, and to increase the capacity of existing transmission lines by as much as 300%. This improved performance will directly result in decreased fossil fuel consumption at generating plants, increased system reliability, and reduced emissions of nitrogen, sulfur and carbon.

I strongly believe that this technology can provide a real solution for large, metropolitan areas where transmission is already congested and new infrastructure is hard to construct. By allowing much more power to be transmitted through existing rights of way, HTSC can provide an excellent way to increase the reliability of our electrical grid and prevent future blackouts in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

As you may know, the FY04 Energy and Water Appropriations Act contained almost $48 million in funding for HTSC research within the Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution (OETD). However, the legislation also included almost $27 million of funding requirements for other projects that must be paid for out of accounts managed by OETD. These additional mandates have resulted in a decision to reduce the HTSC budget by approximately $17 million. I am deeply concerned that by providing only $31 million of the originally appropriated funding for HTSC research this decision could severely threaten the realization of HTSC's potential at a time when the technology is rapidly approaching commercialization. These cuts, if maintained, would result in the loss of critical personnel and the cessation of crucial research activities that could not be easily resumed in following years.

Accordingly, I respectfully request that you identify any sources of discretionary funding that may possibly be used to restore the HTSC account within the Department of Energy. As one of the most promising of these emerging technologies,
I strongly feel that superconductivity research warrants strong federal support, and every effort should be made to ensure continued progress in this area.

I thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senate