COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
11:30 a.m.

• Official Hearing Transcript
• Press Release - Local Stakeholders Deeply Concerned Chu Memo Could Raise Prices on American Families, Small Businesses and Family Farms (9/11/2012)

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "The Chu Memorandum: Directives Could Increase Electricity Costs for over 40 Million Families and Small Businesses"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Mark Crisson
President and CEO
American Public Power Association
Washington, D.C.
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Scott Corwin
Executive Director
Public Power Council
Portland, Oregon
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Lauren Azar
Senior Policy Advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C.

Jim Baak
Director of Policy for Utility-Scale Solar
The Vote Solar Initiative
San Francisco, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

W. Kent Palmerton
General Manager
Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority
Carmichael, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Joel Bladow
Sr. Vice President, Transmission
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
Westminster, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD:

Ed Anderson
Manager
South Dakota Rural Electric Association, Inc.
Pierre, South Dakota

BACKGROUND:

Chairman Doc Hastings sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu inviting him to testify at the Full Committee hearing on his Memorandum, which mandates new missions for the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) and could raise energy costs for over 40 million Americans. Secretary Chu was originally invited to testify at a hearing on April 26, 2012, but declined due to foreign travel. In June, over 160 House members and Senators sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary Chu expressing concerns with the missions outlined in his Memorandum. The House also passed bipartisan appropriations language prohibiting funding for any new activities in the document.

Related Hearing:

• Hearing - Full Committee Oversight Hearing on "Increased Electricity Costs for American Families and Small Businesses: The Potential Impacts of the Chu Memorandum" (4/26/2012)