Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act

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Brett Guthrie, KY

Republican
“I want this bill to pass. I'm moving its passage.”
83% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9339) to require the Secretary of Energy to conduct an assessment on the use of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing technologies to enhance the bulk-power system, and for other purposes. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows:

Brett Guthrie, KY

Republican
“I support this bill. It's about a study. A study to use AI for the electric grid. I want you to support the bill too.”
81% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 9339, the Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act, sponsored by my colleague Congresswoman Harshbarger of Tennessee. This bill directs the Secretary of Energy to develop a report on the opportunities to use artificial intelligence to enhance the reliability and affordability of our electric grid. The Nation's electric grid is replete with complex operational challenges, a network of millions of miles of wires and thousands of generators to keep the lights on every minute of the year. That makes it a particularly important use case for AI models that are designed to handle such complexities. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Lizzie Fletcher, TX

Democrat
“I want you to support this bill. This bill is about studying AI. The study is for the electric grid. Some AI data centers hurt the grid. But AI can also help the grid. I want guardrails on data centers anyway. This bill does not stop me from pushing for those guardrails. But this bill is bipartisan. It is a straightforward bill. The government will study how AI can help the grid. Then the government will report to us. I want you to vote yes.”
64% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Like many of my colleagues and constituents, I am concerned about the impacts that data centers fuelling AI technologies are having on the affordability and reliability of our Nation's power grid, absent guardrails from Congress. Those concerns are only growing. However, AI can also be deployed to help mitigate some of the stress on our grid by making it easier to model a complex grid to see where reliability issues may emerge in the future or by cutting down on the length of time that grid operators take to review a power plant's application to connect to the power grid. H.R. 9339 is a straightforward, bipartisan bill. It requires the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to study how to use artificial intelligence and other computing tools to enhance grid reliability and to report those findings back to Congress. Nothing in this bill means that I or my colleagues will pause our efforts to put commonsense guardrails on data centers to protect American families, but we want to make sure we can get the most out of these technologies at the same time to better protect our grid in an era where the risk of blackouts is rising. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Diana Harshbarger, TN

Republican

Linked statement

“I introduced this bill. It's a bipartisan bill. Our energy grid is important. New power can't connect fast enough. It takes too long. That's bad for the grid and for competitiveness. This bill makes the Department of Energy study how AI and computing can help. It can speed up connections. It can improve reliability. We need to understand the risks. We don't know the status of these technologies now. The study will tell us. Then we can act. I want us to have affordable and reliable energy. Support my bill.”
71% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act. It is bipartisan legislation I introduced with my colleague from California, Congressman Mullin. Our energy grid is the backbone of our economy, and every hospital, factory, and family in America depends on it working reliably. Right now, the system connecting new power generation to that grid is badly backlogged. Interconnection studies that should take months are dragging on for years, and that delay is more than just a paperwork problem. It is a drag on the grid performance and on American competitiveness at a moment when energy demand is skyrocketing like never before. This bill takes a commonsense first step toward fixing that. It directs the Secretary of Energy, working with FERC and NERC, to conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine how technologies like high- performance computing and artificial intelligence can be used to enhance grid operations, finding efficiency in our existing capacity, speeding up these interconnection studies, and improving reliability with tools like predictive maintenance and digital twins. Understanding how these tools can help our bulk power system run on full power will be critical to ensuring affordable rates for the long term. As part of the study, DOE will also work to understand the technical and cybersecurity barriers for widespread adoption. Madam Speaker, we don't have a clear national picture of where this technology stands, but this bill gets us that picture with a report due to Congress within a year and substantive recommendations so policymakers have the facts on how these technologies can help reliability and performance of our grid and where the challenges lie. My bill is both bipartisan and forward looking. Most importantly, it is about making sure America leads the world as the epicenter for affordable, reliable energy. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Kevin Mullin, CA

Democrat
“I helped write this bill. I'm proud of it. It's bipartisan. Families' energy bills are too high. We need to make the grid better. We need to connect new energy faster. Using advanced computing will help. This bill makes the government study how. Projects wait 5 years to connect now. Advanced computing could make it faster. We need this information. Our grid needs work. This bill helps. It will lead to new technology. It will speed up energy deployment. It will make the grid better. It will lower costs for families. Everyone should support this bill.”
52% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act, bipartisan legislation that I was proud to introduce alongside Representative Harshbarger. Across the country, rising electricity demand and fuel costs are driving up monthly energy bills for everyday families. To protect consumers and strengthen our energy infrastructure, we need to improve grid efficiency and connect new sources of energy to the grid as quickly as possible. Supporting the adoption of cutting-edge computing tools is a practical way to achieve these goals. The Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act directs the Department of Energy to study how advanced computing can optimize grid performance and operations. Today, new energy projects wait an average of 5 years before connecting to the grid. Advanced computing has the potential to significantly shorten this timeline while maintaining grid reliability. Utilities across the Nation need access to these insights to modernize our energy infrastructure. The challenges facing our electric grid cannot wait. This bill will help spur technological innovation in support of the grid, accelerate energy deployment, improve grid efficiency, and lower costs for consumers. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

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