Congressman August Pfluger, who represents Texas’ 11th district in the U.S. Congress and serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, participated in an Energy Subcommittee hearing focused on energy policy and regulations for federal buildings.
During the hearing, Rep. Pfluger addressed concerns about recent Department of Energy (DOE) requirements mandating that federal buildings switch to all-electric systems. He argued that these requirements could be unrealistic for facilities such as Veterans’ Affairs hospitals and military installations, which may not be able to maintain operating efficiency under the new standards.
Jeff Novak, Acting General Counsel and Principal Deputy General Counsel at the DOE, testified before the committee during this session.
Rep. Pfluger stated: “Almost 80 million Americans voted for a new energy policy because the last administration failed there. So, Mr. Novak, thank you for being here. You’re doing a good job, and we appreciate the fact that you’re trying to provide affordable, reliable energy to every American, in direct opposition to what we saw the previous four years. Natural gas plays a huge role in this equation, and not just in homes, but also in managing costs for businesses. So I want to look at what EPCA has required DOE to do to ensure that any new standards are both technologically feasible as well as economically justified. So my first question, which I know you’ve touched on a little bit, but I’ll give you some time to expand: How does DOE weigh the projected energy savings against the upfront costs that consumers will bear when these savings might be modest or indistinguishable?”
Mr. Novak responded: “I think that points out why the bill is before the committee, which is the idea to sharpen the assessment of that trade-off there between utility and the energy efficiency gained to the consumer. It’s something that, at least in a lot of people’s experience, seems to be a bit off. Part of it is that the calculus now includes some things that are quite broad. Social cost of carbon, for example, greenhouse gases, which is something a little bit broader and different than what is the energy consumption compared to the usage of this particular device, and what’s the utility of the device.”
Rep Pfluger continued by asking about Section 433 implementation from the Energy Independent Security Act requiring federal buildings constructed or renovated after 2030 to phase out fossil fuel use: “I’ll move to federal facilities in Section 433 implementation of the Energy Independent Security Act, which requires phasing out fossil fuel use in newer or newly renovated federal buildings by 2030, so how is DOE approaching this requirement while ensuring that critical facilities, whether they be federal courthouses or VA facilities or military bases, that they can continue to operate reliably, number one, but also in a cost efficient manner?”
Mr. Novak answered: “It is a challenge, to be blunt, and it’s a challenge just not in regard to the existing federal footprint but the addition of any new federal facilities where requirement here is basically be all electric. So this is one of things again points out what’s motivating bill here is again get some flexibility here so that energy solution both for existing footprint as well as any new facilities is something takes into account local delivery options as well as design specs delivery time frames etc.”
Rep Pfluger added his concern about feasibility: “I’m worried about again military bases VA hospitals facilities providing care help people you mandate switch electrification not feasible Would DOE support clarifying updating Section 433 provide flexibility installations when natural gas remains most reliable option?”
Mr. Novak replied: “We would.”
August Pfluger has served Texas’s 11th District since winning election in 2020 with nearly eighty percent of votes over Jon Mark Hogg; he replaced Mike Conaway when he entered Congress in 2021.
