06.13.24

Hoeven: We Need More Energy, Not Less, to Meet Growing Electricity Demand

Senator Calls Out Unworkable Biden Administration Rules that Threaten the Affordability & Reliability of the Grid

WASHINGTON – During remarks delivered on the floor of the U.S. Senate this week, Senator John Hoeven pushed back against the Biden administration’s regulatory onslaught, which is undermining the reliability of the electric grid and leading to higher prices for businesses and consumers. In particular, the senator:

  • Called out costly, unworkable federal rules such as the:
    • Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) Rule. Hoeven is leading a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to stop the Biden administration’s final MATS rule.
    • Clean Power Plan 2.0. Hoeven cosponsored a CRA resolution of disapproval introduced by Senator Shelley Moore Capito to overturn this rule.
    • Water Discharge Rule.
    • Coal Ash Rule. Hoeven cosponsored a CRA resolution of disapproval introduced by Senator Markwayne Mullin to overturn this rule.
  • Stressed North Dakota’s leadership in securing the future of the coal industry through carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies.

“In April, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized four new regulations specifically targeting North Dakota’s coal-fired power plants,” said Hoeven. “The Biden administration’s regulatory blizzard comes at a time when the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC, continues to raise concerns about elevated risks of blackouts and brownouts.

“Dispatchable resources like coal, gas and nuclear power plants remain critically important to meet demand, precisely because of their ability to operate regardless of weather conditions. That’s why North Dakota has been working for over a decade to crack the code on carbon capture technologies, allowing us to continue leveraging over 700 years of coal supplies with the best environmental stewardship.

“North Dakota has proven that we can lead the way in reducing SOx, NOx and mercury emissions, and now we’re working to lead the way forward on CO2. However, the Biden administration’s regulations are adding costly regulatory burdens at the very time we’re working to deploy these new technologies to produce more baseload electricity, more reliably, while reducing emissions.

“Blackouts and brownouts are simply unacceptable in an energy rich nation such as ours… Instead of overregulation and Green New Deal-style mandates, we need to take the handcuffs off our energy producers and allow American ingenuity to produce mor energy, more cost-effectively, more dependably and with the best environmental standards. That’s the right approach.”

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