At Appropriations Budget Hearing, Energy Sec. Granholm Details Ongoing Consent-Based Siting Efforts Following Rep. Lee’s Advocacy Against Yucca Mountain
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WASHINGTON – In this week's Department of Energy (DOE) budget hearing for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water and Related Agencies, Rep. Susie Lee asked Secretary Granholm for updates on the Department of Energy's actions to pursue new, consent-based alternatives to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository. As a direct result of language that Rep. Lee secured in the FY2022 budget, Secretary Granholm and DOE have moved forward on these efforts and acknowledged more than 200 public responses in the initial phase of this program.
This follows Rep. Lee's work with DOE to block funding for Yucca Mountain and push the Administration toward consent-based siting. Rep. Lee successfully blocked all funding for nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain in the FY2022 budget. In last year's House Appropriations DOE budget hearing, Rep. Lee secured Secretary Granholm's commitment to pursue consent-based alternatives to Yucca Mountain.
Rep. Lee first questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the status of DOE's consent-based siting process to store the nation's spent nuclear fuel.
Rep Lee – "I was really happy to host you on your recent visit to Nevada and show you our leadership in grid modernization, in cutting edge technology and of course, the Weatherization Assistance Program. I know we've connected on this issue again before, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. And as you know, Yucca Mountain has been a failure in both policy and science for decades. And we've been greatly encouraged in Nevada that this administration has committed to consent-based siting. So, I just wanted to ask you, can you provide an update on the status of DOE's request for information on consent-based siting?"
Sec. Granholm – "Yes, we put out that request for information on the consent-based siting in December… We've gotten over 200 responses. I think about 225 responses. And we are evaluating those, and we'll be taking our next steps and our cues from what communities may have expressed interest or at least want to have a further conversation about it. So, the process is ongoing and continues."
Rep. Lee then moved on to ask the Secretary about plans to move forward with renewable energy development, grid modernization, and weatherization assistance.
Rep. Lee – "As you know, Nevada is the leader in renewable energy, generous generation, especially solar, and has committed to a 50% standard by 2030 and a goal of net zero by 2050, but to achieve these goals in Nevada and across the U.S., we need to modernize transmission so that the grid of the future can get this clean energy from the sources to where it needs to go. And I understand that DOE established a grid deployment office. How exactly is that office supporting implementation of the Investment in Jobs Act funds? And what more can we expect to come from this office in the coming months?"
Sec. Granholm – "I mean, the grid is just a huge machine across the country and very complicated and in parts very dilapidated. So, we need to increase capacity of the grids, and the grid deployment office is going to be working on the planning with local communities about doing that increased capacity. We need to identify the best spot where there are gaps and we need to make sure we're using the next generation technology to make sure that parts of the country can talk to one another and to encourage, for example, regional transmission organizations like what Nevada needs to have a Western transmission grid that can deliver energy to places that need it from places that are generating it. The smart technology, the cyber security, from cyber-attacks, resilience, making sure that we are, where it's important, burying the wires or otherwise making them resilient from fire or from extreme weather events and additional capacity are all under the purview of the grid deployment office."
Rep. Lee – "Speaking of severe weather events, Nevada faces record heat. And I'm also very concerned about many of my constituents struggling with high energy bills. And we had a chance to tour weatherized house in my district earlier this month, and that was a great demonstration of the energy and money savings that we can achieve through some of these programs. Under the infrastructure bill, we included a $3.5 billion investment in the Weatherization Assistance Program. And the administration's budget request right now proposes a new addition initiative, the LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) advantage pilot program. What results can we expect from this pilot program and how will it complement the funds in the infrastructure bill?"
Sec. Granholm – "There are two pilot programs that are involved in weatherization. One is the LIHEAP pilot, because we spend a lot of money as passed through to the states, on paying for the high energy bills of people who can't afford it, but we don't do at the same time weatherization of their homes so that you don't end up having to spend all that money on weatherization. So, the LIHEAP pilot addresses that, and it's a partnership with HUD to make sure that happens. The second is that many homeowners are turned away from the weatherization program because their home doesn't qualify, because there may be a structural deficit, maybe they have mold, maybe the maybe the roof is not structurally sound. So, we have a pre weatherization component of the budget of $40 million slug for that to make sure that these homes are ready to be weatherized. And these are often the homes that need it most. There are almost 40 million homes across the country that are weatherization eligible. Unfortunately, we only usually do about 35,000 a year. So, we have a huge amount to go. That three and a half billion gave us the ability to do another 450,000 homes. That's great, but not just a drop in the bucket compared to the need out there. So, I hope this committee can support increases to the weatherization budget."
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