NEMA Supports QER as congress undertakes energy legislation.

Press Release Summary:



NEMA commended administration's release of its first Quadrennial Energy Review (QER), which focuses on improving U.S. energy infrastructure. Specifically, NEMA thanked Department of Energy and other contributors to QER for its inclusion of NEMA's recommendation for strategic siting of spare transformers to enable rapid response to electrical outages. NEMA also laid out several other considerations for policymakers moving forward with energy legislation.



Original Press Release:



NEMA Supports Quadrennial Energy Review as Congress Undertakes Energy Legislation



ROSSLYN, Va.—The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) commends the administration for releasing the first Quadrennial Energy Review (QER), focusing the nation’s attention on improving America’s energy infrastructure. The administration’s analysis of infrastructure needs for transmission, storage, and distribution is especially timely as the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee undertake a crucial review of national energy infrastructure and development of broad based energy legislation.



NEMA thanks the Department of Energy and other administration contributors to the QER for including in the report NEMA’s recommendation for the strategic siting of spare transformers to enable rapid response to electrical outages.



As Congress and the administration move forward with energy legislation, we urge policymakers to also consider:



Five-year accelerated depreciation to incentivize investment in smart grid technologies that use information and communications to isolate and contain outages, and repair them remotely;

Incentivizing the construction of highly resilient microgrids—localized electrical generation coupled with energy storage systems that have the ability to isolate from the main grid and operate independently—either on conventional or renewable energy sources;

Allowing federal disaster aid to be used for smart rebuilding (e.g., replacing damaged grid equipment with resilient technologies and installing backup power);

Permitting federal regulators to facilitate new interstate transmission lines with “backstop” authority to act when states are at an impasse; and

Securing America’s electric grid from cyber and physical attacks through public-private cooperation, federal funding of R&D, promoting information sharing through liability protections, and deployment of advanced sensing equipment.



NEMA’s complete list of QER recommendations is available online.



The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) represents nearly 400 electrical, medical imaging, and radiation therapy manufacturers. Our combined industries account for more than 400,000 American jobs and more than 7,000 facilities across the U.S. Domestic production exceeds $117 billion per year. Our industry is at the forefront on electrical safety, reliability, resilience, efficiency, and energy security.



National Electrical Manufacturers Association

Visit our website at www.nema.org

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