Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski said a major new Obama administration study on energy infrastructure is big on spending, but “light” on ideas such as ending the ban on oil exports and approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
“Any modernization of energy policy should, in my view, revisit the de facto ban on oil exports that we have imposed 40 years ago,” the Alaska Republican said Tuesday in opening remarks at a hearing to examine the new Quadrennial Energy Review. “I think the QER is too light in that regard,” especially as the nation looks to become a net energy exporter.
The study was released last week after months of delays, which forced the committee to reschedule a hearing slated for last month. The 350-page energy review is a comprehensive look at the hurdles for the nation’s energy infrastructure and is full of recommendations.
Murkowski also raised the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been a major sticking point between the GOP and the administration.
“As we are here to discuss infrastructure, I do think that it is relevant to point out that the Keystone XL has now been delayed for over 2,400 days,” Murkowski said. She also noted that a major pipeline in her state, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, is aging, suggesting that pipeline health is a matter the administration may be ignoring.
“It is one thing to write a report outlining our infrastructure challenges, but another to set out to proactively solve them every day,” the energy committee chief said.
“It is something that I worry about and recognize that without ensuring that pipeline has the resources, it is a piece of infrastructure that could face declining health and strength. It is something that I worry about.”
She also chided the administration for suggesting in the report that public spending is the only answer to resolving the nation’s infrastructure challenges.
“We’ve seen dramatic increases of course in energy production. Oil and gas are at record levels, the market penetration of variable [renewable] power generation is on the rise, and the stress placed on our systems has increased faster than it can be addressed,” she said.
“The [energy review] makes a number of recommendations to alleviate these current deficiencies,” but “in many cases, the solution is new spending — adding up to potentially billions of dollars,” she said.
She pointed out to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who testified at the hearing, that the administration should understand that most of the nation’s infrastructure is privately owned and maintained. “I think it’s important to note that the vast majority of the nation’s infrastructure is privately owned and sustained and improved by private investment” – as opposed to federal dollars. She implored that spending was not the only thing that matters when it comes to private investment, but that regulations need to be changed to allow for that investment to flow.
“I understand that advancing our energy infrastructure will require some federal funding even within our constrained budgets. But federal spending is not all that matters. So do regulations — particularly those that hold back projects and private investments,” she explained.
“We have to keep that in mind as we seek to find a better balance.”
She said she would use the report to guide the committee in developing a comprehensive energy bill. Moniz said he is open to assisting her and the committee in that process.
