NE Washington News

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered opening remarks at the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee hearing titled “Powering AI: Examining America’s Energy and Technology Future.”

“For more than a century, American energy has powered our economy, raised our standard of living, and driven technological innovation that has improved the health and wellbeing of people across the country and around the world," said Rodgers. "It has been key to American technological leadership thus far and will continue to be essential to ensuring we maintain that leadership in the future."

Rodgers emphasized the significant energy resources required by data centers used to store and process information for emerging technologies. She stated that "energy is foundational to everything we do" and underscored the importance of affordable, reliable electricity.

"This Congress, Energy and Commerce has held several hearings across our subcommittees exploring AI," Rodgers continued. "We’ve examined the benefits and uses, the safeguards necessary to protect Americans, especially their privacy, and the urgency for maintaining our global leadership."

She stressed that America's future prosperity and security are at stake. "If we fail, China will control our future. We cannot let that happen," she warned. To counter this threat, she called for unleashing American energy rather than restricting it.

Rodgers highlighted an explosive new demand for energy across various states. She cited projections indicating a ten-fold increase in power demand growth compared with the past decade. In Northern Virginia alone, power demand is expected to rise from 2,500 megawatts in 2020 to over 8,000 megawatts by 2028. Similarly, Georgia's utility companies had to update plans reflecting a jump from 400 megawatts of future demand to 6,600 megawatts.

“These services are critical to advancing our nation’s prosperity,” said Rodgers about industries processing digital information such as data centers for cloud services and AI.

However, Rodgers criticized recent regulatory actions by the Biden administration which she believes threaten reliable baseload power generation. "Recent EPA regulatory actions...will accelerate the retirement of...baseload generation essential for reliable power or any meaningful economic growth," she asserted.

She noted warnings from grid operators about higher consumer prices and potential catastrophic blackouts due to anti-energy policies restricting access to reliable sources.

“Energy is foundational to every aspect of our economy and our way of life,” reiterated Rodgers. She concluded by expressing her anticipation of witness testimonies on achieving these goals during the hearing.