Why it Matters

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a business meeting on Sept. 30 to mark up more than 20 bills covering energy policy, public lands, and conservation.

The Big Picture

Chair Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) opened the Sept. 30 markup saying the committee had "over twenty bills with accompanying amendments" and that he supported all of them. The same day, Sens. Mike Lee, Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced a bipartisan deal to reform permitting for large energy projects, the American Affordability and Jobs Act, with a Senate vote expected after the November elections, according to Reuters. The Trump administration has blocked more than 130 national park projects worth at least $25 million, providing backdrop for the committee's public lands agenda.

What They're Saying

Heinrich argued that S.465 would let fossil fuel generators jump interconnection queues, saying: "The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has never been in the business of picking winners and losers, and they shouldn't start today." His amendment would have removed "dispatchable" from the bill to allow queue prioritization in a "generation neutral manner."

Lee countered: "If we don't get more baseload dispatchable energy on there, we destabilize the grid."

Heinrich also criticized the agenda, saying the committee was instead "liberating quote unquote light bulbs that industry doesn't even make," and noted that the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American Lighting Association had warned that S.1568, the Liberating Incandescent Technology Act (LIT Act), would result in "Chinese products flooding the market" if enacted.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) praised the work on permitting reform and said, "If we can get 80 percent, 85 percent, think about where that places us today."

Political Stakes

The committee advanced S.465 and S.1568 on 11–9 roll-call votes, and the available sources report that a group of other bills was approved en bloc.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) pressed Lee for a commitment to schedule a November markup on three Nevada lands bills left off the agenda, noting that Rep. Mark Amodei is retiring and time in the Congress is short. Lee acknowledged "a breakdown of communication along the way" and said he would "very much like to get this marked up this year," but gave no specific date.

E&E News has reported that the administration opposed legislation protecting Nevada's Ruby Mountains.

The Bottom Line

The committee advanced S.465 and S.1568 and reported a block of 16 other bills by voice vote at the September 30 business meeting, while a Senate vote on the separate bipartisan permitting package was reported as expected after the November elections. The Nevada lands bills and weatherization reauthorization remain pending before the committee.

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