The electric power industry is critically important to the U.S. economic engine. Nearly all U.S. consumers and businesses rely on affordable electricity, and given the nature of electricity demand, high prices can have a significant impact on budgets and international competitiveness.
Federal and state policies must encourage U.S. electricity generators to make full use of America’s diverse portfolio of energy resources to meet current and future demand and achieve the positive economic, security and environmental outcomes that define a successful longterm energy strategy.
BRT CEOs call on Congress and the Administration to adopt policies that:
- Carefully evaluate the timing and cumulative impact of EPA regulations on the electric utility industry and, as appropriate, modify these regulations to ensure continued reliability, avoid unreasonable rate impacts, and maintain a diverse, market‐driven portfolio of baseload electricity generation fuel options.
- Devise a long‐term solution to remove and manage nuclear spent fuel.
- Continue to provide transparent rate incentives for cost‐effective upgrades to the nation’s transmission infrastructure in order to facilitate grid modernization and support competitive wholesale electricity markets.
- Improve coordination among federal agencies, such as FERC and DOE, state commissions and other stakeholders, to address the complexity, unpredictability, and inefficiency of transmission planning, siting, and cost allocation decisions for interstate transmission projects.
- Continue to support DOE and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) efforts to accelerate and coordinate the development of “smart grid” standards.
- Require actionable and timely cybersecurity threat intelligence sharing from government to critical infrastructure owners and operators.
Electric Power Drives America's Economy
“To meet our electric power needs in the coming decades, America will need to utilize a full portfolio of energy resources. We need all the arrows in the quiver: nuclear, 21st century coal, natural gas, renewable and
energy efficiency.”— Thomas A. Fanning, Chairman, President & CEO, Southern Company