Hudson Secures Funding to Bolster Grid Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) voted to pass H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2024. This legislation continues Hudson's and House Republicans’ fiscally-minded approach to ensure electric grid resiliency and integrate new technologies into the electric grid.
“Following the power substation attacks in Randolph County last November and Moore County last December, I have made it my priority to strengthen our power grid,” said Rep. Hudson. “I represent the largest military base in the world, and some of the best hospitals in the country. My constituents—and all Americans—cannot risk a mass power outage like we experienced last year. I will continue my work in Congress to address the risks posed to our power grid by funding, modernizing, and upgrading the programs and infrastructure necessary for nuclear technology and resilience.”
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2024 prioritizes funding to maintain strong national security, energy security, and economic competitiveness, while also reining in reckless spending.
In the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2024, Rep. Hudson secured:
- $200 million for the Department of Energy's Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response program, which aims to enhance the resilience of the grid, develops innovative risk and impact mitigation, and works to respond and facilitate recovery during disruption.
- $59.5 million for the Department of Energy's Grid Deployment Office within the Office of Electricity, which leads efforts to expand our transmission and distribution systems. As our critical infrastructure ages, it is essential to replace, upgrade, and modernize our grid to ensure its resiliency and reliability.
- $25 million for the Department of Energy's Grid Technical Assistance program within the Office of Electricity, which will provide support for innovative research and demonstrations for ways to improve grid resilience.
- $1.3 billion for the Department of Energy's ongoing small modular reactor demonstration activities, which work to accelerate the availability of American advanced nuclear technology into domestic and international markets.
- $29 million for the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program, which provides grants to federal agencies working to achieve energy savings and resilience goals. These grants are used to complete energy retrofits and carbon reduction measures.
This legislation builds on Rep. Hudson’s approach to pro-American energy and national security policies.
- In June, Rep. Hudson brought his colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to Moore County for a field hearing to see the location of our grid attack, understand its sophistication, and discuss lessons learned on the vulnerability of our grid.
- Following the field hearing, Rep. Hudson introduced H.R. 4167, the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act, which would repeal the Department of Energy’s authority to propose, finalize, implement, administer, or enforce any new energy efficiency standard for distribution transformers for the next five years. To read the legislation, click here. Earlier this week, Rep. Hudson’s colleagues on the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee favorably reported his legislation to the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
- This Congress, Rep. Hudson has participated in additional House Energy and Commerce committee hearings related to energy security. These hearings include an oversight hearing to discuss emerging and existing threats to America’s electric energy infrastructure and a legislative hearing on strengthening energy reliability and efficiency.
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