Hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee - Administration's Quadrennial Energy Review

Hearing

The hearing will come to order. We are here this morning to review the first installment of the
Quadrennial Energy Review. We call it the QER around here.

We are pleased to have Secretary Moniz back before the committee. This is your second time so
far this year. We greatly appreciate not only the public engagement but the time that I know you
give each of us as you come to either discuss issues in our offices or through your frequent phone
calls. I appreciate that engagement and that reach out and I think it is very helpful. Secretary
Moniz oversaw the development of this report at the Department of Energy and I think many of
us have had the opportunity to have a little bit of discussion on this report but this morning is our
opportunity as a committee to review it.

In the United States, we take it for granted that when we flip a switch the lights will turn on, that
our devices charge up when we plug them into the wall, that when we pull off on the side of the
road to fill up at a gas station when we're on a family trip that everything works. We live in a
country that has abundant resources and innovative technologies that make our way of life -- and
our standard of living -- the envy of many around the world.

We should be proud of the tremendous progress that has been made, but also recognize that
nothing is guaranteed to stay this way. And that is particularly true when it comes to our energy
infrastructure, which I think we will all acknowledge is facing serious challenges across the
country right now.

We regularly focus on opportunities to improve energy infrastructure in this Committee.
Already this year, we have held hearings on innovation related to the electric grid, increased oil
production, our opportunities in the Arctic, and the importance of pipeline infrastructure. I think
today's hearing is a good next step here.

The QER looks at our nation's energy infrastructure at a critical time. Many of our systems are
aging and in urgent need of modernization. We've seen dramatic increases of course in energy
production. Oil and gas are at record levels, the market penetration of variable power generation
is on the rise, and the stress placed on our systems has increased faster than it can be addressed.

The QER makes a number of recommendations to alleviate these current deficiencies. In many
cases, the solution is new spending -- adding up to potentially billions of dollars. But I think it's
important to note that the vast majority of the nation's infrastructure is privately owned and
sustained and improved by private investment. At the same time, I understand that advancing our
energy infrastructure will require some federal funding even within out constrained budgets.
But federal spending is not all that matters. So do regulations -- particularly those that hold back
projects and private investments. We have to keep that in mind as we seek to find a better
balance.

As I go out and talk to folks in Alaska or just really anywhere in the country, so many of the
business interests when they're talking about infrastructure and where we are, they say what we
really need is some level of certainty. We want some level of certainty so that we can go ahead
and make these substantial investments.

As we are here to discuss infrastructure, I do think that it is relevant to point out that the
Keystone XL has now been delayed for over 2,400 days. We have in my state a critically
important piece of infrastructure, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. It is something that I worry
about and recognize that without ensuring that pipeline has the resources; it is a piece of
infrastructure that could face declining health and strength. It is something that I worry about. It
is one thing to write a report outlining our infrastructure challenges, but another to set out to
proactively solve them every day.

Any modernization of energy policy should, in my view, revisit the de facto ban on oil exports
that we have imposed 40 years ago. I think the QER is too light in that regard. I was however
pleased to see it recognizes the unique issues that impact the Arctic, and the valuable role the
United States can play as the chair of the Arctic Council.

I was with Secretary Kerry on Friday as we were up in Iqaluit and Nunavut but again
understanding our role as an Arctic Nation there I think is key and I appreciate the focus it has
been given.

We know we have significant infrastructure challenges. And we know that we are going to have
to work together to solve them and that goes for the members of this committee as well as we
work on a broad energy bill, noting that infrastructure is one of our key titles within that bill.
And it goes for Congress and the administration, as well -- working together here.

We can use the QER as a reference piece or a template to weigh ideas and discover potential
solutions for our energy bill. And we've discussed that with the Secretary. And Secretary with
you as the face and the focus behind the effort, I do think we got an opportunity here to make
considerable progress on infrastructure issues as we move forward with that and I thank you for
leadership on that I'll look forward to you outlining the terms of the report this morning.

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