State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. EVANS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand here today in strong support of my bill, the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act, to help drive down the cost of energy for Coloradans and Americans.

This is a straightforward piece of legislation that will help counteract shortsighted energy policies that States like Colorado have implemented for far too long to the detriment of my constituents and their wallets.

This commonsense bill would require State public utility commissions like the Colorado PUC to consider implementing policy that focuses on long-term energy reliability which, of course, helps affordability.

My constituents are facing an energy crisis in no small part due to the skyrocketing costs of utilities in Colorado, and that has happened during the last 4 years under Democrat control both at the Federal and the State level.

Coloradans are paying 24 percent more in electricity now than they were just 4 years ago, and it is easy to see why. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission and statewide Democrats have been enacting one bad policy after another, from shutting down power plants that provide reliable baseload power to mandating so-called beneficial electrification which seeks to ban natural gas for residential heating by 2050. The results have been catastrophic. A nonpartisan report from earlier this year found the following:

``Driven by State policy mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, electricity prices are projected to grow at more than three times the rate of inflation and nearly 13 times the growth rate from 2010 to 2020.''

That report goes on to project that by 2030, the average Colorado household will spend $390 to $504 more annually due to rates outpacing inflation and historic trends, all Colorado households combined will spend between $970 million and $1.25 billion more in electricity costs. The average electricity rate will grow by 56 percent, from 12 cents a kilowatt-hour to 18.4 cents a kilowatt-hour.

That is not partisan conjecture. Those are the cold, hard facts that my constituents have to face.

Americans are tired of partisan energy policies like the ones we saw in the previous administration, which is why my legislation takes a fair and balanced approach that supports a wide range of reliable energy generation from more traditional sources like natural gas to greener sources like nuclear and hydropower.

It shouldn't be a left versus right issue. If an energy source is reliable and drives down costs, it should be on the table.

I would remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that financial stress induced by higher utility costs also increases negative health outcomes.

We need balance, not heavy-handed leftist mandates that harm the economy, increase costs, and increase poverty, which, again, increases negative health outcomes.

Madam Speaker, we know that energy demand is going up, not down. Nationally, demand is expected to surge by over 50 percent in the next 15 years. In States like Colorado, where we are leading in the AI race and the resurgence of manufacturing, it is even higher.

My local utility has projected energy demand will triple in the next 10 years. The three biggest cities in my district have cited power shortages as the biggest inhibitors to growth.

While my bill focuses on affordability, it is also about national security. If America is to onshore manufacturing capabilities and compete with China militarily and otherwise, we need reliable energy. As a former National Guardsman who has been deployed to a combat zone, that is of critical importance to me, as well.

Madam Speaker, in closing, this commonsense bill is simple. It helps bolster American innovation, keeps the lights on rain or shine, and helps reduce utility bills for the middle class. As a Representative of a district that is at the forefront of American energy dominance, I am proud to stand on the floor today and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for reliable energy and lower bills for all Americans.

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