Senator Reid offers serious solutions to the rising energy costs

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing today on the challenges and regional solutions to developing transmission for renewable electricity resources. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made a statement before the committee, discussing the bill he introduced, S-2067, which directs the President to identify and designate zones where renewable energy resources can generate at least 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

Reid’s bill will also provide new financing options for building transmission lines and connecting remote renewable energy zones to the grid. Renewable energy companies cannot always afford to pay up front for new transmission lines and the costs of connecting to them. Reid said his bill “is a serious effort to find solutions to the challenges of our energy security and global warming problems,” and offers funding for private companies to invest in renewable energy solutions.

Also present at the hearing was Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the Department of Energy. According to the Energy Information Administration estimates that by the year 2030, U.S electricity consumption will increase by almost 30 percent from the 2006 level. Kolevar said this opens up a new demand on electricity generations and that our nation can increase production from wind, solar, nuclear and coal generation to meet the need.

T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO of BP Capital, spoke in favor of wind energy development. Even though Pickens made his fortune off of oil, he said today that “we must develop and promote every available domestic energy resource to solve this crisis” and that private enterprise will invest money of Congress adopts clear, predictable policies. Pickens said that natural gas is the second largest energy resource in the country, and if the natural gas the U.S. is using for electrical generation is moved to transportation, the U.S. can replace 38 percent of our foreign oil imports.