Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing on three bills that would fight energy poverty, expand geothermal energy development in the U.S. and improve the onshore leasing process for oil and natural gas. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) issued the following statement in response:

“Thanks to President Biden’s all-out war on domestic energy production, Americans are facing some of the highest energy prices in years. This is not a path we can afford to continue down, which is why I am proud the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee held a hearing on three excellent bills to help reduce these burdens on the American people. I thank Representatives Hageman and Steel for bringing forward these bills to reduce energy costs, especially for at-risk communities, as well as increase geothermal and oil and gas development.”

Background 

Today's hearing focused on several bills that would increase access to domestic energy resources in order to lower energy costs. American families living paycheck to paycheck are disproportionately impacted by the devastating effects of high energy costs. These bills would expand renewable and conventional energy production in the country and continue to work to counter the impact of President Joe Biden's war on American energy that has harmful effects across the entire country. 

H.R. 5482, the Energy Poverty Prevention and Accountability Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), would work to prevent energy poverty by ensuring that at-risk communities have access to affordable energy by requiring the Government Accountability Office to identify laws, regulations and state standards that impact these communities and categorize barriers to accessing reliable and affordable energy. The bill would also force federal agencies to ensure that their regulations would not increase energy poverty across the country.

H.R. 6474, introduced by U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas.

H.R. 6481, introduced by U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), would amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require the Secretary of the Interior to reimburse the fee for an expression of interest if the expression of interest acreage is not offered and cancelled.