WASHINGTON – In his opening statement at yesterday’s Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Ranking Member Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) discussed the urgent need for reforms to the country’s energy system, including updating its transmission systems to get energy where it needs to go.
Watch Senator Gallego’s remarks here and read them below.
Thank you, Chairman McCormick, for holding today’s hearing.
We are here today to consider a handful of bills dealing with our energy system, a system that is seeing significant pressure. Energy demand is rising faster than we’ve seen in decades, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. The U.S. is projected to see a 25% increase in electricity demand by 2030 driven by the growth of data centers, manufacturing reshoring, and building and transportation electrification. In some ways, these are good problems to have because they’re signs of a growing economy, but they are also challenges we have to get right.
At the same time that we see increased demand, energy is becoming more and more unaffordable. Energy prices rose twice as fast as overall inflation last year, and 1 in 3 Americans reported cutting back on food or medicine to cover their utility bills. To make matters worse, gas prices have skyrocketed all over the country because of Trump’s war in Iran. And as demand continues to rise, so will costs.
If we want to meet this demand without making costs even worse, we need to build more and become more efficient. We need permitting reform to build new lines and increase energy production and generation. And as generation increases, our transmission systems will need to be ready to move more energy from where it is generated to where it will be used. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many electrons we produce. If we can’t get them where they need to go, it makes zero difference.
Right now, our grid system is not going to meet these demands. According to the DOE, 70% of U.S. transmission lines are over 25 years old, which is more than halfway through their operational lifespans, and 55% of transformers are much older than that. Studies estimate that the national transmission system will need to at least double in size by 2050 in order to maintain reliability and keep costs low. One study found that in 2023, insufficient capacity on the grid cost customers $11.5 billion. The grid we have is simply not the grid we need.
This isn’t just about costs; it’s also about a public safety issue. An outdated and strained grid makes us more vulnerable to widespread blackouts. And in hot-weather states like Arizona – you guys may have heard it gets hot there once in a while – a blackout in 115-degree weather is a matter of life or death.
That’s why when I released an energy plan last year outlining how we how we can make energy more feasible, affordable, and reliable for Americans, I made transmission a key pillar. Because a reliable grid isn’t possible unless we get energy where it needs to go – quickly and when it’s needed.
All of this to say there is strong consensus about the challenges we face. What we’re here to do today is work on solutions that are feasible, productive, and effective in growing our grid and meeting demand significantly. There are some strong bills in today’s markup today to do that.
One that I’ll be proud to support is the Chairman’s Liquid Cooling for AI Act which would make sure we have cooling systems capable of supporting advanced chips production, which is a big deal in Arizona, in a way that won’t drive up costs for our communities.
Another promising bill is the Advancing GETs Act which would incentivize developers to bring new grid projects online and increase our transmission capacity.
There are other bills that I have questions about how they will be implemented, which I’ll get to during questioning.
And that’s ultimately what our goal is here today, figuring out how to move forward and ensure that the best ideas are being put forward and pressure-tested by experts. So that when Congress has the opportunity to act, we are ready to do so.
Thank you, and I yield back Mr. Chairman.