The leadership of the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee (E&C) under Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers are hosting a series of roundtables in order to help establish its agenda for the 118th Congress. Critically, some of these roundtables are focused on Energy. The first one was held on January 10th, 2023 with the theme of “Unaffordable Energy Costs” (the link is here). The second, with the broad theme of Energy Security, took place on Thursday, January 26th, 2023.
EPRINC’s President Lucian Pugliaresi presented at this E&C Roundtable. His remarks and associated charts can be found here. The Committee also invited David Gattie, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Georgia, and Senior Fellow, Center for International Trade and Security, Pat O’Loughlin, President and CEO, Buckeye Power, Inc. and Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, and Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Founder, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. The recording of the Roundtable is accessible at this link.
EPRINC has been at the forefront of U.S. policy discussions relating to Energy Security. During the early 1970s and under the leadership of John Lichtblau and Larry Goldstein, EPRINC (then known as PIRINC) were critical in informing leadership of the U.S. Congress on the importance of the establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a key component of America’s energy security apparatus/architecture (choose one).
Per its mission, EPRINC has continued to be involved in energy policy discussions, security and otherwise, providing its perspective on the need for efficiency and matching benefits to costs. More recently, beginning in November 2021, EPRINC has presented testimony four times on a broad range of energy matters (RFS, leasing on public lands, cost challenges of the Energy Transition) to the U.S. Senate’s EPW Committee as well as the U.S. House E&C and Natural Resources Committees.
Based on the expertise that EPRINC presented at these Hearings, EPRINC received further inquiries from commercial and governmental entities for comment, perspective, and data on the energy matters of the day.
On Tuesday, November 16 2021, EPRINC President Lucian Pugliaresi participated in a marathon hearing with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Some of the notable comments he made, pulling from EPRINC’s research on the ongoing energy transition, are listed below. In addition, the full testimony with charts is here and a video of the hearing in its entirety can be found here.
1. The Energy System is highly complicated, inter-connected regionally and globally in ways that are not always apparent. The energy transition presents a new set of supply and price risks for consumers and manufacturers. Fully implementing an energy transition over the next 30 years is neither easy nor can it be assured.
2. Achieving net zero in the developed world will reduce carbon emissions by only a small amount, likely no more than 20 percent of expected global emissions.
3. Regulatory programs as well as private sector commitments to accelerate the energy transition – whether it be mandates, targets, financial and procurement guidelines create uncertainty and financial risks that limit investment commitments to current legacy fuels, many of which are likely to remain in demand for years to come.
4. Most of the recent escalation in energy prices can be tied directly to dislocations in energy supplies (largely oil and gas) from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, government policies, such as the halt on leasing on federal lands, the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline, the potential cancellation of line 5 from Canada, rising regulatory requirements and permitting delays are all threatening North American oil and gas production. We undermine this strategic asset at our peril if we abandon these fuels before the energy transition is well established.
5. Policy Matters. The US should see the current energy crisis in Europe as a cautionary tale and learn from it.
6. Policy initiatives that seek to accelerate the U.S. to a fully renewable energy complex will have global implications for energy security.
7. The transition will establish new environmental challenges and energy security issues in addition to the old.
On February 24, 2016, Lucian Pugliaresi testified before the Senate Committee on Environment& Public Works on the Renewable Fuel Standard.
On February 24, 2016, Lucian Pugliaresi testified before the Senate Committee on Environment& Public Works on the Renewable Fuel Standard.