Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on growth in demand for electric power, citing increased domestic manufacturing, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), and digitalization.
The Sierra Club has experts available to speak with reporters about this topic and how clean energy can meet increased demand.
In response to today’s hearing, Sierra Club Principal Advisor for Climate and Energy Jeremy Fisher released the statement below:
“We’ve known that demand for electricity in the United States has been poised to grow for well over a decade from electrification of our industries, buildings, and vehicles. Recent growth projections move some of that demand forward in time, but the answer is still the same: we can meet our needs with clean energy, and, in many cases, a lot of our existing transmission infrastructure. Fast load growth does not mean that we should ignore good planning principles, and the suggestion that we should keep exposing customers to high cost, volatile fossil fuel prices is absurd. We’ve known that we need a better interconnected grid and we need the administration and Congress to help provide the right structures and incentives to make that work. FERC’s recent transmission planning rule is a great start toward ensuring that we can take advantage of renewables across the country, and allow gigawatts of shovel-ready renewable and storage projects to come online.
“Clean energy, storage, and careful planning will allow us to meet this moment reliably, and with far better resiliency than our historic reliance on fossil fuels. By doing so, we can avoid the very worst of the climate crisis and bring more affordable and more reliable energy online for consumers—a tremendous win for all.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.