Hudson Legislation to Protect Energy Supply Chain, Amend Nuclear Regulatory Commission Advances to House Floor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09) announced two pieces of his legislation, the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act and the Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act, passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee legislative markup. Both pieces of legislation will now move to the full House for final passage.

“This past weekend was the one-year anniversary of the Moore County grid attack, so take it from me and my 45,000 neighbors: we cannot afford disruptions to our grid,” said Rep. Hudson. “I appreciate the support and dedication my fellow committee members have shown for prioritizing our grid security, and for their continued commitment to unlock reliable American energy production. I am hopeful this much-needed legislation will be brought up soon for a vote before the full House of Representatives.” 

Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act:

In June, Rep. Hudson introduced the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act ahead of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security field hearing in Moore County. The legislation builds on Rep. Hudson's work to strengthen our nation's energy security, and repeals the Department of Energy’s authority to propose, finalize, implement, administer, or enforce any energy efficiency standard for distribution transformers for the next five years.

In December 2022, the Department of Energy proposed new energy efficiency standards for three types of distribution transformers. If finalized as proposed, the standards will yield minor energy savings and further disrupt the nation’s supply chain by causing lead times to procure transformers to increase from months to years.

Rep. Hudson’s legislation ensures transformers remain more than 97% energy-efficient while giving the industry five years to strengthen domestic supply chains at current regulatory standards.

The Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act is led by Rep. Hudson and cosponsored by fellow Energy and Commerce Committee members Reps. Balderson, Griffith, Bilirakis, Allen, Walberg, Balderson, Harshbarger, and Miller-Meeks. 

The Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act passed through the committee by a roll call vote of 24 to 22. To read the legislation, click here.

Watch Rep. Hudson’s remarks in support of the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act during today’s hearing here. 
 

Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act:

Last week, Rep. Hudson and Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) reintroduced the Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act, legislation to amend the authorities at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The proposed changes would reduce barriers to entry for commercial developers of advanced nuclear reactor technology, provide regulatory certainty, and reduce bureaucratic red tape with applications for ANR development, implementation, and demonstration.

The Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act was included in Sec. 201 of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act, which passed through the committee, as amended, by a roll call vote of 47 to 2. To read the Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act, click here. 

Watch Rep. Hudson’s remarks in support of the legislation here. 

“In our home state of Washington, we have adopted an ambitious goal to completely eliminate carbon emissions from our energy generation portfolio by 2045,” said Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08). “This means we need to construct new emissions-free capacity resources like advanced nuclear, in addition to wind and solar and the abundant hydropower we already benefit from. By expanding our nuclear portfolio, in addition to hydroelectric baseload power, we can integrate renewables onto the grid, increase grid reliability, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while keeping energy bills affordable.”  

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