State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) joined legislators from around the country in Denver, on Dec. 2-3 to learn about pressing issues in energy policy, including grid resilience, foreign land ownership and energy security, data centers and diversifying the American energy portfolio. Legislators also participated in a tour of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.
“As the co-chair of NCSL’s Energy Supply Task Force, this week’s meeting was a great opportunity to discuss energy policies that will benefit our states,” said Sen. Sue Rezin (IL-R). “I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow task force members to develop impactful policies that will help guide lawmakers throughout the nation as they strive to address the many concerns and issues that our rapidly evolving energy landscapes present.”
Organized by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Energy Supply Task Force was created in 2009 as a forum for state legislators and legislative staff to examine state and federal critical energy policy issues that lawmakers face as they shape legislation to build a reliable, affordable and resilient national energy system. The task force also helps develop NCSL energy policy and serves as a conduit for state legislative communication with Congress, the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies.
“Given the fact that energy policy is one of the most important topics currently being addressed by all 50 states, NCSL’s Task Force on Energy Supply meeting last week was on point. The informative presentations and robust discussions that took place allowed our members to bring tangible insights back home to share with their colleagues” said Energy Supply Task Force Vice Chair Sen. Bryan Feldman (MD-D)
Some of the attendees’ key takeaways from this meeting include:
- Updates on the impacts data centers are starting to have on states and the electrical grid. Task force members held a bipartisan discussion about the main items of concern related to data centers including grid reliability, consumer cost and environmental impacts.
- Clear information about the state of foreign land ownership in the United States and an understanding of potential impacts to U.S. energy security.
- Bipartisan discussions about challenges and opportunities for new energy technologies to improve grid resiliency and options for diversifying energy sources to ensure the domestic grid can respond effectively and reliably to steadily increasing demand.
NCSL is the leading bipartisan organization representing the nation’s 7,386 legislators and over 25,000 legislative staff. NCSL also provides comprehensive 50-state research and analysis on a variety of agriculture-related topics.
To learn more about NCSL’s Energy Supply Task Force, visit https://www.ncsl.org/in-dc/task-forces/energy-supply.