Electric Supply Chain Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUTHRIE. 3638.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3638, the Electric Supply Chain Act, sponsored by my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

This legislation directs the Department of Energy to conduct ongoing assessments and report to Congress on the components and infrastructure supply chain needed to secure the reliability and affordability of our bulk power system.

It is no secret that we find ourselves in the middle of an electric reliability crisis that is threatening the integrity of our bulk power systems and an affordability crisis that burdens households with higher energy bills.

Unfortunately, 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration and excessive litigation, permitting delays, and far-left regulatory decisions to attack baseload power sources in favor of expensive and unreliable wind and solar have handicapped the ability of our bulk power systems to respond to growing demands for energy.

Historic projections of increasing electricity demand from domestic manufacturing, onshoring, and AI data centers have exposed systemic challenges facing our electric sector and the supply chain for components and infrastructure needed to power the system.

Meanwhile, our overreliance on China for manufacturing and critical minerals has created a reliance on our own strategic adversary for our supply chain needs.

Our electric grid is an essential tool for the national and economic security of our Nation. Simply put, we need to work with the Trump administration to make it easier to build in our country so that free- market investment for the electric supply chain flow into communities across the country, driving economic growth and creating good-paying jobs for households.

That is why the Electric Supply Chain Act will ensure that our Federal Government remains in a proactive posture to assess, identify, and address any challenges to our supply chain grid for grid components. H.R. 3638 takes a comprehensive look at the supply chain for our electric grid and appropriately incorporates the advice and views of experts spanning the power sector.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), the sponsor of this bill and the distinguished chairman of the Energy Subcommittee.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), the vice chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my friend bringing up the enhanced or COVID- era premium tax credits that are expiring at the end of this month. Since we are talking energy tonight, we need to understand that they were set to expire, without a single Republican vote, to expire them in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was spent money on the Green New Deal.

So when you put in context what President Trump said--when the premium tax credits were set to expire, we had a hearing on that and we were talking about it. We asked: Why in the world did the Democrats set them to expire? They said: We thought the price of insurance was going to go down at the end of 5 years. That is what somebody said in the committee. The price of insurance has gone up because of the policies they put in place. The price of energy has gone up because of policies put in their place.

What President Trump was talking about--I don't know if it was that exact speech that was referred to, Mr. Chair, but a speech where he had a chart up to show where high energy prices are. They are in States with general assemblies that have progressive ideas on energy that have put restraints on energy that have driven up the price.

Unfortunately, we have friends across the Atlantic we can look at. They put these kind of policies in place, and Europe has three times the energy prices that we have. What we are saying over here is that we need to have policies that lower the prices for everybody, not raise the cost and just subsidize it, but to lower the cost for everybody. That is what we are trying to do. That is what we are working to do.

What frustrates President Trump is when we are trying to fix the problems that were created by the policies of the previous administration. They say we are not addressing affordability when they created the affordability crisis, when they made the premium tax credits expire. They didn't deal with the fact that health insurance premiums are continuing to rise. Here we are dealing with it and trying to get it right for the American people.

When you say that wind and solar is cheaper and then complain because you took away the tax--people aren't doing it because you take away the tax credits and subsidies. If it is cheaper and more reliable, then you don't have to subsidize it.

Those are the kind of frustrating things in the context of what President Trump was trying to say. Since States have a lot of influence in this, what we are doing here in the first bill is ensuring that States focus on how do you make it reliable and affordable, particularly in States like Colorado where my colleague, Mr. Evans, who put the bill forward, is from. Their rates continue to go up because of policies of their general assembly in their State. He just wants to ensure that their State factors in affordability when they make those kinds of decisions. That is what we are here to talk about.

Then, in order to build again after years of delaying building, we have a supply chain that has to get reinvigorated. You can sit down and talk to AI companies and people that need data and need energy.

I am one for every electron on the grid we can put on the grid, whether it comes from a solar panel or wind or hydrocarbons, as long as it is not subsidized. We need it all.

My friend from Ohio has a bill saying that we know that it takes too long to get a generator, takes too long to get a transformer, takes too long to get turbine blades, and that we have to make sure our supply chain is in place, and also make sure that the Department of Energy is focused on it. I know they are. Secretary Wright is focused on it to make sure there is a statute that we have Congress saying the supply chain is important.

Delivering energy at an affordable price is a priority. That is what these two bills today do. That is what this bill does, and I recommend that my colleagues vote for this bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment, though I am not opposed to it.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment from my colleague, Representative Houlihan from Pennsylvania.

This amendment requires DOE to evaluate the potential role transitioning military servicemembers could play in meeting the workforce needs for the electric supply chain.

Mr. Chair, while our efforts to reshore domestic manufacturing facilities bolster our national security, it is also important to recognize the economic benefits of attracting new opportunities for job-creating industries.

Growing investments in the manufacturing sector create stable and good-paying jobs for households and drive economic growth in communities across our country. Our men and women seeking new employment after transitioning back to civilian life bring incredible skill sets and expertise to the table that could benefit companies of all kinds.

By incorporating new consideration for DOE to evaluate the potential for transitioning servicemembers into the workforce as part of H.R. 3638, we can ensure our veterans have access to good-paying jobs.

Mr. Chair, having served in the military, I know in the military we get specific skills. We can be diesel mechanics. We can be all these different things we learn in the military. Sometimes they directly translate actually, but some others don't. It creates the opportunity to reach out and find military members who are leaving the military and who have specific skills for these opportunities.

Mr. Chair, I support this amendment. I was meeting with some people the other day in this kind of industry. They said if they advertise $120,000 a year for MBAs, they get a flood of applications. If they advertise $120,000 a year for skilled truck drivers, they barely get enough. They don't get enough applications.

There are opportunities for people to make a good living and have a career. It is not just a wage but a wage that produces for their families and will let them--he or she--be extremely successful. I support this amendment.

Mr. Chair, since we are talking military, I must say: Go Army. Beat Navy on Saturday.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend from California for offering this amendment.

This amendment would incorporate advanced transmission technologies into the supply chain considerations that the Department of Energy would also need to assess, as part of their responsibilities in this bill. In certain circumstances, advanced transmission technologies can help get more resources out of our current system by expanding the grid's electric load-carrying capacity.

However, these are not one-size-fits-all technology, and there are important engineering complexities to consider to ensure the system operates efficiently. We must ensure they are implemented, when it is appropriate, and cost-effective so we can secure the grid without burdening ratepayers with unnecessary investments.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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