WASHINGTON, DC - Building on the committee’s ongoing #RecordOfSuccess, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved five committee member bills as part of the broader highway bill. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) stated, “These bills aim to boost our energy security at home and reflect our members’ hard work in advancing bipartisan solutions to modernize our dated energy policies. Strengthening our energy security and protecting our critical energy infrastructure remains a priority of this committee and the bills that passed today are further evidence of the committee’s growing bipartisan record of success."
The following bills were approved today as part of Chairman Fred Upton’s amendment to the highway bill:
* H.R. 1558, the Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act of 2015, authored by Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX), Gene Green (D-TX), and Mike Doyle (D-PA). H.R. 1558 would provide certainty to electric utilities and protect grid reliability across the country.
* H.R. 2244, To establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve program, and for other purposes, authored by Reps. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA). This legislation would ask the Department of Energy to submit a plan to Congress outlining the feasibility of establishing a Strategic Transformer Reserve in an effort to increase the United States’ capability to deal with 21st century threats to electric grid reliability.
* H.R. 2271, Critical Electric Infrastructure Protection Act, authored by Reps. Bob Latta (R-OH), Renee Ellmers and Jerry McNerney. H.R. 2271 would better protect our critical electric infrastructure by providing private entities and the federal government the tools they need to better respond and alleviate grid security emergencies.
* H.R. 3923, Provides for a report that develops United States energy security valuation methods, authored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC). Mr. Hudson’s bill would strengthen our energy security by establishing U.S. energy security valuation methods to ensure that energy-related actions don’t negatively impact the supply, distribution, and use of energy throughout the United States.
* H.R. 3941, authored by Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ). Recent natural disasters have underscored the importance of having resilient and reliable energy infrastructure. This legislation strengthens communication and coordination between the Department of Energy and first responders to speed up emergency response and recovery.
