Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission might not sound like the flashiest Agency in the world, but, yesterday, they had a lot of flash. They made a game- changing announcement that can only be described as dramatic change and help for the American people and for a clean environment.

Yesterday, after years of planning--and after I called FERC to take a strong action last summer and was pushing FERC repeatedly to do this-- the Commission announced a pair of rules that will revamp America's power grid. FERC's new rules will require both long-term transmission planning and establishing a way for States to split the bill for big transmission projects.

These sound esoteric, but they are huge. The result, in the long run, will help clean energy compete on equal footing with fossil fuels and result in lower energy costs and increased reliability.

Nearly 2 years ago, Congressional Democrats, led by the Democrats in the Senate, made history by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest downpayment for clean energy production the United States has ever seen. Our bill, which I was proud to lead in the Senate, provided hundreds of billions to boost U.S. production in solar and wind and other forms of clean energy, and it is hugely successful. All the programs are being oversubscribed. Many more people are in line-- companies, et cetera--to build solar and wind production and other forms of clean energy.

But it was only half the battle. It matters little if we build lots of solar panels and windmills if we don't have a way of transmitting all that clean energy to communities that need it most. And, frankly, transmission was tied in knots.

What good is it having a lot of wind offshore or solar energy throughout our more sunny areas if you can't get that energy to the people who need it and want it, to the people whose costs it will lower?

And so it was really important to me that we do something about transmission. Unfortunately, we were not able to get that done when we tried to do it here in the Senate. Our Republican colleagues were not amenable. So we had to find another way. According to one study, without more transmissions, the United States could squander up to half the climate benefits of the IRA--what a colossal tragedy.

We all see what global warming is doing. You look at the weather reports every day. All of these tornadoes and everything else, where the heck are they coming from if the weather is not changing?

So that is why Senate Democrats tried to include transmission reforms in the IRA. And after that, when that didn't work--the Parliamentarian knocked them out--we tried to work them with Republicans, but they blocked our efforts.

So I had to find another way, and I was very eager and almost desperate to find another way because we so needed to bring this clean energy to people's homes and reduce their costs. So, last summer, I wrote a letter to FERC to help provide a remedy, because I knew that FERC could strengthen the rules--and they did. They could strengthen rules so we could more quickly build transmission lines and ensure clean energy could compete with fossil fuels on an even footing.

I spent months working with my team and with one expert after another to quietly but forcefully fine-tune what FERC needed and change our letter on how the Agency could make the most of this opportunity.

Well, hallelujah, this is a major change that people are not paying attention to, but it will have dramatic effect. FERC's rule contained almost all of my requests.

The result of yesterday's announcement: more clean energy going to people who need it, lower costs, increased reliability. We are unlocking the clean energy revolution along the day.

So let me say this--this was a major announcement--yesterday's announcement from FERC was a turning point in the effort to transition the United States to a clean energy economy. I am very pleased with FERC. I salute their leadership for doing what they did, and I thank my staff, who worked so long and hard to make this happen.

It is great news for the environment, great news for the electricity consumer, great news for America and our globe.

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