WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) questioned witnesses before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) today on ways to respond to climate change challenges through the electricity sector. During his comments, Senator King pointed to the important progress that has been made through energy efficiency efforts, raised the importance of diversifying energy sources, and emphasized the possibilities that could be unlocked through improvements in storage technologies.

During his remarks, Senator King discussed:

The strides that energy efficiency efforts have already made o reduce consumption. “[The chart included below] basically has a line that says, ‘This is where [energy consumption] would have been if nothing had happened in terms of utilization of electricity and sources.’ And what is shows is that fifty percent of the reduction in carbon output was because of efficiency – which we don’t think of,” said Senator King. “We talk about solar and wind and natural gas and all of these other things. But just using electricity, the cheapest, cleanest kilowatt-hour is the one that’s never used. And I think that we need to remind ourselves of that and your chart was one of the most powerful. Half of the reduction was from more-efficient use of power. One-fourth is from switching to natural gas and one-fourth is to the growth of renewables.” (00:26)

The chart referenced by Senator King during the above statement

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The need for diversified energy sources. “In New England now, [natural gas] is fifty to sixty percent of our electricity source. I worry about over-dependence,” said Senator King. “I think diversity is very important, and we’re talking about a commodity that is at a very low price, but it is a price that can change, and that dependence – it seems to me – can create a serious problem if the price changed because of world commodity markets.” (01:26)

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The opportunities provided by battery storage. “Storage is the big deal,” said Senator King. “It will unlock vast amounts of potential renewable power. You mentioned battery prices have come down – where do battery prices have to go in order to make to be totally competitive…In New England, we need some batteries that would last two weeks in January. That’s different than an afternoon peak…Just to tie a bow on it: research money is critical, tax policy is critical, to encourage this development.” (04:32)

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A forceful advocate for clean energy solutions, Senator King is the lead sponsor of the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Support Act, legislation that would support businesses investing in energy efficiency technology, help diversify energy options for rural industries, and maximize use of Maine’s natural resources. Senator King introduced this bill in November 2017, after holding an ENR Committee field hearing at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont to identify opportunities to use new energy efficient technologies to sustain and strengthen rural industries. Senator King is also the lead sponsor for the Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act, a bipartisan bill that would incentivize the use of energy efficiency biomass heaters in homes and businesses instead of relying on fossil fuel energy. He has also a cosponsored the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act of 2017, bipartisan legislation which would establish an investment tax credit (ITC) for business and home use of energy storage.

Today’s hearing featured testimony from Lisa Jacobson, President of Business Council for Sustainable Energy; Joseph Kelliher, Executive Vice President of Federal Regulatory Affairs at NextEra Energy; Kenneth Medlock, Senior Director at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University; Ethan Shutt, Chief of Staff at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; and Dr. Susan Tierney, Senior Advisor at Analysis Group, Inc.