Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, let me begin by thanking Chairman Simpson for working on the bill and being willing to listen to this issue.

This amendment seeks to highlight the fact that the Water Power Program is vitally important to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

This bill, the underlying bill, cuts hydropower by over $22 million. What the amendment I am offering does is restores that funding and offsets it with Department of Energy administrative costs.

Hydropower is the Nation's most available, reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy source. Requiring only the power of moving water--rivers, streams, and ocean waves and tides--hydropower is domestic and renewable.

Hydropower is available in every region of the country. A range of technologies exist or are under development to tap the power of waves, tides, and river flows. Thousands of megawatts of potential are available from ocean energy projects from New England to the west coast and Alaska, and from in-river hydrokinetic projects proposed along the Mississippi River and others. 2,200 hydropower plants provide America's most abundant source of clean, renewable electricity.

The United States produces more electricity from hydropower than from any other renewable electricity source. It accounted for 56 percent of renewable generation in 2012 and 7 percent of the Nation's overall electricity generation.

New technology employed at existing hydro sites represents an opportunity for new sources of power. By installing more efficient turbines and enhancing performance, existing hydropower infrastructure can generate even more power, sustainably. Harnessing more of this energy will create a truly renewable and green energy source.

There are advantages over wind and solar. Hydro has a predictable year-round output, while solar and wind output can be variable in some areas and necessitates the use of large battery banks and/or alternate power sources.

Even routine, minor maintenance on a windmill can be difficult on the top of a wind tower, while hydropower provides relatively low maintenance. Hydropower facilities are quiet and often can be made unobtrusive, while many people report that considerable noise is generated by wind power.

Hydropower also faces a comprehensive regulatory approval process. It involves too many participants, including FERC, the Federal and State resource agencies, local governments, tribes, NGOs, and the public. Currently, there are 60,000 megawatts of preliminary permits and projects awaiting final approval or that are pending before the Commission in 45 States.

Pennsylvania, where I come from, is in the top 10 for hydropower potential, and, according to the Department of Energy, of the 80,000 total dams in the United States, 600 have the immediate capability to produce energy.

This amendment seeks to highlight the lost and underutilized capacity of abundant, economical, and clean energy right here within our communities while we irresponsibly spend hard-earned tax dollars on less viable options.

At this time, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment from consideration while simultaneously asking for favorable consideration on the bipartisan hydro amendment to be offered very shortly.

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I see the amendment as a reasonable, bipartisan approach and agreement which has seen favorable consideration in this House in the past.

As I said just previously, hydropower is the Nation's most available, reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy source. It seems to me, while we spend a lot of money, time, and energy on unproven resources, this is one that has stood the test of time. As a matter of fact, it is one of the beginning sources of energy not only in the United States but around the globe, and if we should be spending any of our resources, this is one that we know. This is one that is in every community. This is one that is clean. This is one that doesn't create too much noise for people, and it doesn't hurt fish. All it does is produce power without doing anything else, so it is hard to argue why we wouldn't be in support of this amendment and this program.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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