brighter future. when i am president that will change. our team will work hand in hand with mayors across the country on infrastructure and all of the challenges facing our nation, but first, we have to win a primary and we can't do that without a lot of help. our campaign is building momentum and we're taking our message to towns and cities across the country and i hope you will join the growing number of mayors and local leaders who are part of our campaign team. no one understand the problems facing our country better than local leaders and no one will appreciate and value your support more than i will. thank you, again, for inviting me and for all your great work. i will still tell you, being a mayor is the best job in the world. i loved it for 12 years and i would urge all of you to do 12 years, and if you have minor problem like limits, change the law. thank you, all. thank you. ♪

♪ live now to the day-longs u.s. energy association's forum on the state of the energy industry following opening remarks, the first discussion of the event will include representatives of the wind, solar, coal mining and oil and gas industries. this is live coverage on c-span 3. >> sheila is probably, no offense to others, but probably the best energy lawyer in the united states of america. she's a head of the washington office. she's been on our board for quite a while and was elected last april as our board chairman. so please join me in welcoming

and thanking in advance sheila. >> thank you. thank you. thanks, barry. >> well, welcome, everyone, and we're still in january, so it's an appropriate time to kick off the issues of the day and when you get right down to it, there is no more issue of the day that is more compelling, fascinating, more amazing and more important than energy and all the issues associated with energy. so we have the best of the brightest here. we've got the leaders in the community of energy executives who see it -- who see the big picture, who will articulate for you the most significant issues of the day, the things that they're confronting, the things you should know about and things on the horizon. and we start with mike summers, who is president and ceo of american petroleum institute, the 15th chief executive of the api since its founding almost a

century ago. before being named api's president, mr. summers led the american investment council trade association which represented many of the nation's leading private equity and growth capital firms and other business partners. he spent two decades in critical staff leadership roles in the u.s. house of representatives and the white house, including chief of staff for the speaker of the house john boehner. and he was special assistant to president george w. bush at the national economic council. mike has been instrumental in crafting landmark legislation throughout, including leading efforts to pass the troubled asset relief program through congress, brokering a resolution between the administration and the congress ahead of the fiscal cliff, scary fiscal cliff of 2013, leading efforts to pass bipartisan budget agreement and trade promotion authority. so mike has a broad base of

knowledge of experience and insights into both the political, the legal, and the international perspective, which i think we would like very much to hear in these tumultuous times for the energy business and for the consumers, investors and other players, including governmental entities that are part of this family that always fights, but nevertheless is absolutely essential to our existence on earth. so mike, would you join us. thank you. >> thank you sheeshila. really appreciate the kind introduction. it's great to be with you and i want to thank barry, of course, for all of his great work at usea for many years. it's great to represent api at the 16th annual state of the industry meeting. i thought we would begin today actually with a little bipartisan moment. cue the video, please.

that's right. >> this intolerable dependence on foreign oil, there's a clear and present danger to our nation. >> i am determined our national economy will never again be held captive and we will not return to the days of gas lines and international humiliation. >> there is no security for the united states in further dependence on foreign oil. >> i have repeatedly called in this campaign for more energy independence for america, for more reliance on american natural gas. >> i urge congress to pass legislation that makes america more secure and less dependent on foreign energy. >> after years of talking about it, we're finally poised to control our own energy future. >> the united states is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world.

♪ >> champions from everything from wind and solar and nuclear and coal will follow my remarks today, and i think they would all agree that everybody in this room can find somebody to like in that video. from president carter to president trump, 40 plus years packs plenty of different ideologies, of course, but all seven leaders that you saw in that video shared a common goal, energy security for america. each of those presidents knew that clean, affordable and reliable american energy is essential to both economic growth and to national security. for decades, u.s. energy policy focused on reducing our dependence on foreign natural gas and oil. the outlook was often pessimistic, defined by scarcity rather than the surplus that we see here today. times have changed and it's all

because of american natural gas and oil. now finally, americans get most of our energy here at home, thanks in large part to, as i said, oil and natural gas. we're again able to celebrate our independence as americans as we've chieved what this bipartisan goal was for the last seven presidents. the state of the american energy industry in 2020 is one of incredible leadership in three key ways -- energy development, emissions reduction, and environmental performance. the natural gas and oil industry sees all three as top priorities and we're executing on all of them at the same time. first, on energy development, america is now the number one producer of natural gas and oil. last year for the first time since the 1950s, the united states became a net exporter of energy for the first time. second, on reducing emissions,

thanks in part to the strength of cleaner burning natural gas, forecasters expect energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to decrease even further this year and next, just as we saw in 2019. third, on environmental performance, our industry knows bold and achievable action on climate change at the global level is essential. america's natural gas and oil industry is committed to innovations that stand to transform these ambitions into more than just hopes and dreams. for example, api supports widespread implementation of carbon capture utilization and storage technology. we're partnering with the best minds in technology, data analytics and engineering, and api proudly launched the environmental partnership two years ago to share and design new methods for reducing methane emissions in energy production. we're close to 70 new members of

the environmental partnership this year and we're excited about the resources that are being shared among all of our producers. but our industry's hard working problem solvers are nowhere near finished. natural gas and oil supports some 10.9 million american jobs, and we're charging ahead to meet the toughest economic and climate challenges. simultaneously, the u.s. energy leadership offers stability in chaotic times and insulates america from unreliable suppliers of energy. we saw this reality in action just a few weeks ago. america's vast energy resources helped stave off economic turmoil and price hikes at the pump when our nation stood on the brink of war with iran. a few years ago, such stability would be unheard of. how did it happen? you can thank the shale revolution and the sheer fact that american oil production has doubled in the last decade. that surge means we import fewer

barrels per day than many other nations. the international value of energy leadership is compelling but zoom in to see progress closer at home, from the smallest american communities to our biggest cities, u.s. natural gas and oil is powering modern life for people across our nation. reviving regions, energizing economies and improving millions of lives. three examples illustrate that power. first, in new mexico, energy abundance is supporting agriculture, infrastructure, education, and conservation. according to the new mexico oil and gas association, statewide companies contributed more than 3.1 billion dollars to the state's general fund in 2019. that's money for schools, for bridges, for water treatment plants and a number of other critical state infrastructure projects. in fact, the governor of new mexico recently announced a proposal for all new mexican students to have access to free

college education in state schools. that is a consequence of the energy revolution that's taking place in new mexico. in pennsylvania and ohio, america's natural gas and oil revolution is refueling manufacturing and growing local economies. energy development in the marcellus shale has helped drive the unemployment rate in pennsylvania down from a high of more than 8%, to 4.3% today. in michigan, the energy sector helps to maintain economic stability of key industries. abundant natural gas and oil helps to simulate broad economic growth, translating into more businesses and job opportunities in energy and manufacturing. in fact, when i was recently in michigan some of the union members that i met with up there talked about how it was access to that energy that kept many automakers in the state. this, of course, is great progress, but none of it is guaranteed to continue. keeping the state of american

energy healthy depends on making the right policy choices, and we're working together to ensure access to reliable resources as a nation. thinking about choices, i would like to stress three points. one, advancing shared policy priorities will allow our industries to keep pace with rising energy demand. two, addressing the growing political divide will help us achieve smart energy solutions. three, and acknowledging that energy progress cannot be done alone. we have to work together to satisfy the energy needs of a growing population and growing needs not just in this country, but across the world. no matter which presidential candidate you support, we can all come together on specific policy priorities. for example, america could unlock a trillion dollars in new private infrastructure funding by -- and investments that this industry is willing to make if we more efficiently work together on new regulations to

assure that we can get energy from where it is today to where it isn't. to do that, our lawmakers need to work together to adopt new guidelines that protect the environment, cut red tape, and avoidunnecessary delays. we're forming the national environmental policy act, it's a critical step to do this. we're also thrilled to see the house and senate recently pass united states mexico canada free trade agreement. supporting 12 million jobs and generating $1.4 trillion in 2018 trade with both of our neighbors bolsters u.s. exports of gasoline, crude oil and fuel blending components and much more, of course. we commend the administration and member of both parties for supporting american worker and energy consumers by bringing usmca across the legislative finish line and we look forward to the president signing it into law next week. when we fight for smart policies on issues like infrastructure,

trade and carbon capture, it isn't just a washington game. we want real energy progress in american communities large and small. our energy future can unite democrats, republicans, and independents. and it is truly the spirit of everything that we do at api and across our the industry. i'm confident that much can get behind energy security and protecting our planet. it takes a blend of both to keep america ahead of the global pack. it's clear american energy demand is making environmental progress and we need to work together because these things are not going to be solved on twitter or on boisterous speeches on the house or senate floor or with the daily back and forth of the 24 hour news cycle. instead it takes hard work to deliver affordable, reliable and cleaner energy and aps ready to work our lawmakers on that

energy future. if they could be here today i think all seven presidents would agree on the incredible accomplishment that's occurred over the last 40 years going from an era of energy scarcity in the united states to an era of energy abundance. i'll say as the leader of api during this critical time for america's energy future, this industry is ready to work with everyone in this room on what that future continues to look like. i'm proud to be with you today at usca and i'm looking forward to taking any questions that you may have. [ applause ] i have a question. >> sure. kicking off the day. >> well, one thing i think we can all agree on, energy is never dull. and in the maelstrom of public opinion, world reaction to

hypercarbons in some regions what message can the traditional oil, cass, coal, mining extraction industries and also distribution, what is the message that you can articulate that will have everyone realize energy is a human right and they can't exist without it especially in the modern world. how do you crystallize it to begin to get people to have a more broad recognition of the need for a variety of forms of energy. >> what i would say is i think that we as an industry recognize and i think all analysts recognize that oil and gas will play a critical role to energy for many, many years to come. in fact, the paris based international agency predicts 75% will continue to come from oil and gas even in the year 2050 and under the most rosiest

of scenarios even if the paris accord is adopted and implemented, for example. we know the energy future will be fueled by oil and natural gas. the challenge of this try and i think the challenge of every industry that is represented in the room here today is that how do we continue to produce that energy that the world needs, the world today currently demands 100 million barrel of oil a day. that demand is going to be filled by someone. i would argue that it is better to be filled by the safest and best producers in the world right here in the united states. so, i think we understand the importance of continuing to lessen our environmental footprint, both on the ground and in operations, and, of course, to address the key issue of climate change. i think every industry in this room you'll hear a very similar message. so we expect that we're going to

be part of the energy mix for many years to come and also recognize that challenge. we call it an energy trilemma. it is how do you solve the problem of producing affordable, reliable and clean energy? and this industry, the oil and gas industry, has been at the forefront of doing so for many, many years. it is the key reason why emissions in this country continue to go down and we're proud of that record of accomplishment and look forward to continuing to build upon it. >> thank you. >> microphone over here. >> good morning. thank you for your excellent remarks. appreciated that. you mentioned ccus carbon capture utilization and storage. there's an all day workshop on that topic next week. can you talk about your vision for usea going forward?

>> you will be interested to know many members of api are investing significant resources in this key technology. again, this is a technology that was started in the united states. there's a lot of work that's already been done in this key area. in fact, one of our member companies talks about how the fact, in the fact they are actually using carbon dioxide now to extract more of this resource out of the ground. so, may actually predict that in the years ahead they may be in a carbon deficit space because of all the carbon that they are using to extract more of the resource out of the ground. so that's a really exciting thing that we can actually use the emissions in a way that actually helps us produce more energy and continue to grow our energy independence in the united states. but we also know we have to partner with others to ensure this technology is economical.

and that it is done in a way within federal and state law. so we're going to need help. we're going to need help from federal government. we'll need help from state governments as well to incentivize this. we're looking forward to see a new bill get finalized so we can use this important program. but we also know that more is needed to be done. so, we're excited to work with federal lawmakers and state lawmakers to unlock this new technology, because we know that if we're going to continue to be successful, if we'll continue to grow the energy independence that the united states has always pursued, we're going to need assistance with our lawmakers and we'll be working with lawmakers over the course of the next many months and years on growing those incentives out to better serve the american people.

any other questions? excellent. thank you so much for your time. thank you, sheila. very good. [ applause ] >> our next speaker is tom kiernan. he's chief executive officer of american wind energy association. he began as ceo of awea in 2013. and before that he was president of the national parks conservation association for 15 years. previous positions he was deputy assistant administrator of epa's office of air and radiation. and he was in a number of other positions in state and federal government. he has a degree from dartmouth and mba from stanford. i'm delighted to have him here that we have a smorgasbord of opportunity and ideas and wonderful people that come

together, down together forever because they actually care about energy, they care about the environment, and they care about the well being of the world. step forward, please, tom. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. good morning, everyone. it's wonderful to be here. wonderful to be part of the smorgasbord this morning. somewhat analogous to that i was looking over the lineup of speakers that you have put together. did remind me of that buddhist parable, group of people in a dark room with an animal. some say it's an elephant. at the end of the day today you'll have an extraordinary summary of where we are in u.s. energy and where we're going. so i hope it is a great day for you. we got a great lineup of speakers. with that what i would like to do this morning is start with just a few data points or guardrails as to where i see the wind energy industry and then i know my good colleague abby hopper with solar will follow

because there's a lot of great partnerships between windsor lar and other renewable sources of electricity whether it's nuclear, gas, et cetera. let me start with a couple of weeks about wind. we're currently the largest source of renewable energy in the united states. roughly 7% of all generation. we have a vision. doe and the industry put together called wind vision that will get us to 20%. wind negotiaenergy by to 30. solar has a vision of getting to 20% by to 30. add those two plus other renewables one could easily envision renewable energy by to 30. wind energy is also the cheapest source of new electricity on the grid and in many parts of the country we're cheaper than the

plants. we're affordable. certainly we're reliable. some individuals that run the grid that talk about wind energy in combinations with other sources and storage. within energy as the new quote the new base load. wind is hiring. we're at 114,000 positions in the industry. wind technicians are either the first or second fastest growing professions in the last three years in a row. we're hiring throughout this country well paying jobs with benefits. so let your kids or colleagues or family know if they are looking for a growth profession definitely join the wind industry. we also after many years of work we are launching the u.s. offshore wind industry. we currently have five turbines off of block island. a whole series of projects totaling 20 gigawatts.

when you look at wine yard wind and other proposals what they are proposing is competition for electricity prices in those east coast urban areas. another data point just to kind of frame out the wind industry today a number of larger developers are offering different types of products. one is they are taking wind, solar and storage, grouping it together, and offering it as a firm product to utilities or other customers. we will guarantee this amount of electricity at this price because they are able to match wind and solar and storage to blend it all together to create a firm product. they are also and we just had this announced at our conference this past fall, producers, developers that are combining wind, solar and storage to look like a peeker plant. to be able to say we'll give you

on demand, however much within limits electricity you want, clean, affordable electricity that meets those similar costs levels using wind, solar and storage. so you're starting to see the combination come together to meet those needs in the electric market even though, yes, our products are variable but combining them and with storage you're able to have 100% or able to meet the needs of electric generation. last point i want to stay, obvious one. wind is a key solution. key part of the solution for climate change. also something we don't talk a lot about but wind obviously does not need any water to produce the electricity. increasing number of areas in the country water is a scarce resource. we're pretty pleased to say we're carbon free and do not use any water along with being affordable and reliable. so that gives you a quick snapshot of at least the wind industry today. what i would like to do is share

with you two slides to give you more sense, given what i just said of where we're going. let me start -- oops. . not sure where to point. actually if the folks in the back -- there we go. on the left-hand side this is, you can see, kind of a dark line is wind projections and then yellow solar projections. what i want to point out you can see the exciting growth curve for wind and solar over the last couple of years. then there have been many different projections about wind going forward. and woodmac did three different projection. on the left-hand side you can see what they look like. on the right-hand side i want to talk in a little bit more detail they have a base case in the middle there. a bold case more aggressive and a bear case. what i'll do in a few minutes

share with you from our view those drivers that will allow the wind industry to really head towards the bull case. it will allow us to take off and hence what we're looking for in policy throughout the country. you can also see the green arrows as i'm sure everybody in this room knows there was an extension of the production tax credit at year end at the 60% level, one erextension that's lifting up that base case. we anticipate six to eight additional gigawatts as a result of that extension. we see the market heading a lot closer to the bull case especially in '23, 2023 and 2024. let's jump to the next slide. what i would like to do here -- if you can do that in the back. there we go. this is a quick summary on the left-hand side, all the factors that impact long term wind growth.

and then you can see the near term mid-term, long term as the to how i see them playing out. what i want to do is talk about them to give you that sense. first, carbon. we are facing and, mike, i appreciate your comments climate crisis throughout the world and i'm pleased wind is part of the solution and that in congress and in state capitols we're seeing more democratic and republican bills put forward to address the carbon challenge that we're facing. in a way it's not surprising when two an.ecdotes by larry fink, owner of blackrock. they committed that climate and sustainability will be one of their core principles. the largest asset manager in the world acknowledging climate and have that driving their asset allocation and not surprising that congress is moving forward more seriously looking at

legislation. the other data point backing the need for carbon and will obviously drive more wind energy, there was an article yesterday in "forbes," i was reading it. it was going through just energy across the board and renewables and declining costs and potential for renewables. this is a direct quote from fobs, one of their analytic pieces. "forbes" said it's cheaper to save the climate than destroy it. pretty strong statement from "forbes". i do think it speaks to the need to move forward on carbon in the united states in the near term. second i want to talk about credit parity and the advancement of the ptc helps on that point. what we're looking for is trying to create that level playing field so all energy sources are

able to compete. we do just by way of example a good bill we'll be encouraging this coming year is senator wyden's bill that's a tech neutral approach. it's carbon based. it incentivizes more abundant clean energy and using carbon as an important determinant on that front. next you can see cni growth. exciting to see the number of corporate and industrial purchases, purchasers make their commitments to renewable energy, to lean energy. we did an analysis recently, we and woodmac looked at the fortune 1,000 companies and they currently consume roughly half of all the electricity in the country. but only 5% of the fortune 1,000 companies have as of yet made a commitment to renewables or climate change or sustainability, so we're excited to see that 5% grow very, very likely in the coming years and

see an 85 gigawatt potential for new renewables by 2030. last example on this cni was last year down in arlington, texas, at the gm facility where they are producing their suvs. as exciting at that point they had a within farm nearby that was producing half. electricity needed to run that huge assembly line. and they roughly six months ago mitted to going 100% clean energy. 100%. wind powered for that gm assembly plant for their suvs. exciting to see that kind of commitment from that big of a company. next offshore. we see roughly 26 gigawatts in the next ten years. roughly the amount of commitments made, maybe take longer than that to get installed. a whole new industry of $70 billion supply chain in the united states at the offshore industry, 48,000 new jobs. a lot of them along the east

coast but a chunk we see coming out of louisiana and the gulf coast as oil and gas expertise there offshore oil and gas expertise can help inform and help drive and help implement the offshore wind industry. i won't go into it but state rpss and low-lying cost of energy are key drivers in the future of wind. now, we do have some challenges. clearly we need to keep working as a country at the state and federal level to improve siting. whether transmission lines or wind farms or other facilities we need to speed up the siting process in the country. next transmission. we will not get the clean energy grid that we need, we won't get renewables from where they are developed to where they are created to load without new transmission. as well a number of our transmission lines in the country have congestion right

now. we need to build new transmission so we can get clean energy from where it's developed to load and studies have shown the benefits of that new transmission are two to four times the cost of building that new transmission. offshore permitting is an important next step. we're work with the department of interior. they have not yet released the vineyard, first offshore big wind farm and we're working with them to hopefully get that out this spring. tariffs are significant concern and we're working with others to reduce those tariffs. while a majority of the costs of the wind farm are produced here in the united states we do because of the supply chain being global are impacted negatively by tariffs and hoping to reduce those. then lastly given the growth of the wind industry we actually have some challenges on logistics, on getting all the turbines and parts out on a number of these big years when we're deploying a lot of wind.

in closing i would just say from the within energy perspective the next couple of years, 2020, 2021 extraordinary important for us and advancing wind. you'll see increasingly partnerships among renewables, wind, solar, storage to advance energy production in the country. thank you all very much. [ applause ] >> quick question, i see you were associated in a very senior capacity with the audubon society. how is the wind industry addressing the concerns which have been voiced over the risk to avian life. >> thank you very much very much for that. after my remarks here i'm going to join a group of the environmental community talking about that. let me put it in perspective. .01% is the amount of human cause bird death by the wind industry. it's less than.01%.

we do take it very seriously. we're working through a couple of enat any points one the american wind wildlife institute that's a partnership of the environmental community and the wind industry. so there are a lot of technologies and techniques being deployed now and we have more in the works to take that less than .01% of human cause bird death, the biggest impact on birds, buildings, cars, roads, power lines and cats. so wind is actually quite small, i should say domestic cats, quite small and something we want to drive further down. any other questions? i'm not sure of our time. any other questions? >> are you working with the grids on the rate structure, and the state regulators and the national regulators to maintain that place and opportunity, lineup for overall supply and do you work into the weed on the

rate structure and the entire process of getting the wind power on the grid? >> fortunately, i do not but my staff does. yes. wework at the rto level on market reform, market design and actually this is a partnership that we got with a bunch of our regional partner because what we're looking to do is be able to compete in the markets for electricity that the rtos, if you will hosting that market and we want a level playing field there so we can compete straight up so we're working at the rto level with all the stakeholders in each of the rtos to kind of update the market design. >> very helpful. >> great. >> any questions. i just want to ask you if you see carbon pricing and dividend policy as potentially something that could help the

within industry and realistically bipartisan kind of solution to some of this? >> we see carbon pricing and dividending as one of a suite of potential approaches. we are actually supportive in concept at the high level, carbon price and dividend that i think climate leadership coun l couldncouncil of nicea si-- ised a voluntary kagt. there's a number of strategies that could work and we look forward this year working with legislatures and other groups to keep refining those different openings and see, frankly politically what can work, what can make the most sense. we do see carbon tax and dividend as one of a couple of good ways. one more? i don't know our timing. >> certainly. thanks, tom. appreciate your comments. can you talk a little bit more about your partnership with louisiana? you mentioned that louisiana could help advance wind. >> so we've got an offshore wind

council a group of offshore counsels that have leases off the east coast. we're working with them to partner up with different louisiana companies to provide some of the expertise, some of the product, the initial deepwater wind project off of block island. i believe the foundations were fabricated down by, i can't remember, golf island, fabrication or something like that down in louisiana. we're looking at that, other and capabilities. got a lot of capacities, skill sets down in louisiana. literally as we speak identifying different companies to partner up. we do see a huge opportunity there on the job front, the partnership front. just makes sense from all perspectives. >> thanks so much. >> great. thank you all very much. [ applause ] >> very quick question, barry, will these slides be available on our site? yeah.

but i assume most of the speakers will share their slides. it would be very, very helpful, i think. okay. next speaker, abigail ross hopper president and ceo of the solar energy industry association we're delighted to have her here. it is the national trade association for america's solar energy industry. she oversees over all of its activities, government affairs, research, communications, leadership and focused on creating a remarkable new environment where solar grows and grows. before joining, she was director of the department of interior's bureau of ocean energy management where she led the agency that oversaw the leasing and development of all offshore energy, oil, gas and offshore wind. she served formally as director of maryland energy administration as acting in 2012 anticipate as director starting

in 2013. she's also served concurrently as energy adviser to governor martin o'malley then too. so delighted to have you here. please join us. thank you so much, abigail. looking forward to hearing from you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> so, good morning. good, i'm glad to hear that. i'm super excited to be here as well. i have a speech which i'll read in a moment. i want to say first of all thank you for inviting me. i appreciate following tom. tom and i share our life story. tom and i have very -- in addition to having the honor of leading the two most, the fastest moving and trade associations in washington -- no offense, mike or maria -- but we

share this crazy history. tom and i both grew up in washington, d.c. tom went to the boys school here. i went to the girls school. tom and i both went to dartmouth not at the same time. tom lives here with his family. i live here with my family. now we're both with these trade associations. when i say we have a lot in common and have this shared vision for what our future should look like it comes from a shared path. this weird thing that we didn't realize about ourselves. i share that partly because most of what tom talked about i'll say yes. i will expand upon because i think what my goal is for you to take away from this is i believe we see -- we have a shared view of what our energy future looks like. right? not a technology specific future per se but more one define by attributes. in my opinion that's a carbon free future that's affordable and reliable.

so that's the vision i have. let me talk more specifically about solar. i'm the head of the solar industry. that's what they pay me to talk about that. so i'll talk about that. i'm going to talk a little bit both about sort of frame it where solar is going and how we're growing. then talk a little bit about the policies that are so critically important to us. so i want to just share and -- back of the room where do i point this? down. oh, just like that. okay. i want to talk a little bit about where we come. at the beginning of the last decade you can see that or in 2000, i guess two decades ago now many people doubted solar would be a viable opening for clean energy technology. in 2000 they thought in 2020 we would have solar deployed. the reality is we'll have about 95 deployed by the end of this year.

it just shows in these past 20 years we have increased solar deployment by a factor of 188. some of the biggest u.s. companies such as target, walmart, amazon are leading the way on that corporate solar procurement and i'm proud to represent the strong and vibrant solar industry. there are now more than 2 million solar installations across the united states. 250,000 americans work in the solar industry. we added tens of billions of dollars of investment. started thousands of new businesses. given families the opportunity to choose how they power their homes. that's the fircht thing about the technology i represent. it's totally scaleable. you can have it on your home. you can have it on your hospital. you can have it on your retail. you can have it on your warehouse. you can have it in a large power plant in the middle of desert. solar energy every where. our impact is undeniable. part of the reason for our

success is changing attitudes about climate change. i can't tell you how reefficienting it is to talk about climate change again. ate reality. i appreciate the speakers that have gone before that acknowledge that reality. climate policy has historically been this elephant in the room. i don't think that's true any more. politics and public attitudes are changing rapidly. i know when i speak with lawmakers and politicians they are looking for ways to tackle the causes of our warming climate because they've seen the same polling numbers we have. according to a pew research study homeowners are considering solar energy and 92% of americans support expanding solar energy use. i want to ask you when was the last time somebody was able to tell you 92% of americans agreed on anything. it's obvious we must respond to what american want and the health of our planet demands. what is an industry to do when we reach this critical point?

we have this incredible interest and incredible growth trajectory before us. we think big. we think ahead. we think about what we can do to work better. so we certainly have seen our shares of speed bumps along the ways. many of you have bruises from those speed bumps. but we're incredibly optimistic about our growth. as tom said we deemed this decade the solar plus decade. by 2030 solar will compromise 20% of electric generation. if wind also provides 20% combined that with the other renewable technologies and add in carbon free technology, incredible point in a decade. literally transformation in the next decade. it is a huge, huge shift. if we reach this goal simply on the solar side by 2030 more than 14 mill loan roof tops will have solar. we'll offset over 500 million metric tons of greenhouse gas

annually. that's equivalent to about 35% of all electric sector emissions. just think about that for a minute. as we think about how together do we solve for reducing carbon emissions. if we increase solar from 2.5% to 20% we'll address a third of the challenge that we have in front of us. i have to say that number, that 35% reduction in carbon stopped me in my tracks when i saw it. it speaks both to the value proposition teen the solutions we have right at hand in front of us to help fight climate change. but not only -- i didn't do what you said. that's what it could look like in the next decade. in addition to the economic benefits by 2030, 500 gigawatts of pe will be installed president that's $53 billion annually into our economy and 600,000 americans from every walk of life will have a career in solar energy.

the solar plus decade. i want to emphasize the plus. it speaks the to your organization. the 2020s will be the decade where solar combines with wind, with storage, with other technologies to really transform how we generate, how we distribute and how we consume energy in this country. we created a road map the to outline how we'll get there. today i want to highlight a few of those areas for you. to be successful we have to work together to improve infrastructure, to modernize and secure our grid and to prepare for the widespread electrification of the transportation sector which is another huge piece of this puzzle. fear facing the biggest challenges in our time. one industry can't tackle those challenges alone. it's not realistic. that's why tom and i have decided to call it aggressive partnership. but that's just the beginning. the partnerships we're forming now will help change the

conditions and marketplaces we need to transform the energy landscape. the conversation isn't just about a wholesale replacement but a major upgrade where everyone in this room has a role to play. there's so many opportunity to prosper in the solar plus decade. the most important part preparing for this change is making sure industries have the tools to meet the challenges head on. what are the important ones for us is the workforce. we have already created hundreds of thousands of jobs and we'll need skilled workers to continue to enter the industry. twept to make sure all americans regardless of background or income have access to opportunities we create because we know, the research tells us when you increase the number and variety of prospectives you have at the table you have best outcomes. companies with more diverse senior leadership teams fare better, they make morgan. acting on these equities in our society should be an urgent

priority for all organizations if we want to remain relevant in the 2020s. in particular this principle applies to our workforce and customer base. to meet our goals we must have a wide diversity in our customer bay. so that's why we embrace diversity inclusion and equity in everything we do. the issues remain a top priority for me. we're challenging the energy industry to tackle these issues head on. i want to take a moment to acknowledge the folks in this room that joined us in our diversity challenge last spring, certainly usea joined us. american petroleum, nuclear energy institute, american gas associate, center for lng, and natural gas supplier association all expressed support for this really aggressive diversity challenge that we propose. more than 80 organizations have pledged to take action on diversity inclusion as a result of this. it is important to admit that not only do we all have room for improvement but we all have an obligation to do it when it

comes to recruitment, retention and changing corporate culture. so we made diversity a core part of our identity and continuing to prioritize diverse voices in our events and other staff. we created resources to help our companies to fight out what they should do. we hosted numerous events and continue to do this work in 2020. i think that's a great opportunity for us to continue to partner with all the folks in this room. our collected efforts will help change the culture of the energy industry and ensure all americans regardless of their background or income have a place in our respected industries if they want to. make no mistake those changes are not inevitable and won't happen overnight. in addition to our work along inclusion obviously a big part of our work focus on market access and competition and i appreciated tom referencing fair play and competition. that's the same lens we use to look at the challenges in front of us.

we must create the policy landscape and market conditions we want to see in order for clean energy to create jobs and grow our economy. thanks to the falling costs of solar over the last decade we're able to compete in a healthy marketplace as long as the playing field is fair. and our work is cut-out for us to make sure that happens. i'll talk a little bit more about the rtos that tom referenced. it's a great partnership we have but the rules for regional trngs major leagues regulations were made decades ago. if we thought solar was an after thought in the early 2000 it was barely an option. they were created without within and solar in mind, tipping the scales through those incumbent generators. makes it much harder for independent power producers and renewables to compete. what we've been asking for and continue to ask for is fairness and chance for solar and wind and other renewable technology energy to compete. yet we woke up right before the holidays to a price rule for

pgm. we're concerned this is another example of stacking the deck against renewables. in this scenario having the federal government put up road blocks against the progress states are trying to make on climate is not acceptable. the reality we think is -- i'm sorry. it will override the intention of many state laws and further destroy the markets. renewables shouldn't be penalized for being cost effective. we should honor the choices states are making. if they want to accelerate these technologies in their states and allow that the to continue. we also i will echo need fair trade policy. we spent a lot of time over the past few year trying to explain the value proposition that we have and why these trade and tariffs are so harmful to our industry. our work in this area isn't about our industry's -- it's not about our ability to survive. it's about how much we can continue to grow. the tariffs continue to be a speed bump as long as they are

in place. for those that are not sort of following this, in early 2018 the president putin tariffs specifically on solar panels from all across the world not just a particular company. a recent study that we commissioned revealed that by 2021 we'll lose 62,000 jobs and miss out on $19 billion in private investment as a result of those tariffs. there's a lot of talk about there are solar manufacturing jobs that are common as a result of this. i can tell you for every solar manufacturing jobs that the solar tariffs created there are 31 other jobs in the value stream. so we have the opportunity to turn things around during our current mid-term review and hope to work constructively with this administration to make it happen. public opinion widely favors the expansion of solar. concern about our climate is happening. people care deeply about it. the reality is that a changing climate will negatively impact lives of americans.

doesn't matter if you're in a red state, blue state or purple state. you experiencing extreme weather, wildfires, drought, you care deeply what your electeds are doing to address this concern. our world is changing. our energy system needs to change. the work we'll do in the solar plus decade will transform our energy future and will transform our energy system. i think there's a place for all of us in this as you heard, the best job i had before this i was in the oil and gas industry. worked with electric distribution utilities. this is not a technology specific view. this is a holistic view of what i think our nation and citizens deserve in the next decade. so thank you very much. [ applause ] >> you have a specific vision as to how, for example, with the intermittency issue, do you

envision the utilize -- utilization of putting renewables together with traditional forms of energy? >> i think it's a good question. thank you for that. i referenced some of the products that tom refrpsed. what we see in some of the innovation of our companies that they are putting different technologies together. i don't need to weigh in whether it's natural gas or nuclears or fuel cells or wind or batteries, whatever. but companies understand what customers want. they want reliable affordable power. they want it to be clean. then they say go out and find that for me. what our companies are doing is solving for the solution rather than the technology. >> thank you so much. >> sure. >> great presentation. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. [ applause ] all right. now we're going to hear from

rich nolan. he's the president and ceo of the national mining administration, association. he's been with them for a number of years and represent the coal, metal and mineral producers, mineral processors, equipment manufacturers and other suppliers and services to the domestic mining industry. as president and ceo he directs the association public policy efforts before congress, regulatory agencies in the white house and association strategic agenda for media relations. sound like you're busy. with more than 20 years of experience advocating on many natural resources sector issues he's most recently served national mining association for 13 years, senior vp in political affairs. he has three decades in all aspects of energy, mining, forestry and the like. so it's a pleasure to have you here. thank you, rich for joining us

and looking forward to hearing the broader view of the mining industry and how the opportunities in mines play into all the things we've discussed. thank you. thank you so much. [ applause ] thank you very much for that kind introduction. good morning, everyone. it's a real pleasure to be here today. i appreciate barry and usea team for putting this together this terrific forum. i want to thank barry specifically for standing up for all energy sources as we advocate for u.s. energy production in the united states. also i want to start off this morning on a somber note. i want to acknowledge the passing of a friend of many in this room, general richard lawson, passed away earlier this

week. general lawson was the national mining association's first president ceo who presided over the unification of two predecessor organizations, the national coal association and mining association. he was instrumental. he retired as a four star general after a remarkable career in the air force in 1986. our thoughts are with his wife, joan and their family today. so my remarks this morning will span our membership and things that we're working on and i hope it's informative and happy to take questions afterwards. mining is essential to every energy source and technology represented in this room. while much of what we'll hear today no cusses solely on america's energy future, i ask

you to think bigger for a moment and take a global perspective. mining has never been more important to our energy needs simply put from the fuels that provide the foundation for our nation's electricity grid to materials essential to the future of energy storage and transportation, mining is the overlooked but essential and irreplaceable component of all solutions. we can step back from the noise in washington and our own skirmishes about energy policy and the nation's energy future, one trend is very clear. despite the talk of energy transitions the world is firmly in an era of energy addition as this next slide shows. demand for energy is growing rapidly. additions of alternative energy sources are coming largely on top of existing demand not in place of it. we see energy increasing by 50%

by 2050. electric it is consumption is expected to jump by 79%. as this next slide shows global oil demand is at an all time high. global coal demand continues to grow. coal reana inspiration leading fuel electricity generation, meeting 38% of global demand. hundreds of new coal plants are planned or under construction across the world. coal is the primary fuel source used to produce the world's steel and cement. and the u.s. has the world's largest endowment of low cost high quality coal reserves estimated to last more than 330 years. u.s. coal endorse which have long been the source of energy security for our allies went to over 50 countries in 2018. they are helping to build cities and infrastructure of tomorrow and helping to meet the energy demands of a rapidly expanding middle class. the data is clear. coal will continue to be a

dominant fuel in the world stage for the foreseeable future. yet there's no debating the fact that it is facing challenges here in the united states. the regulatory overreach of the last administration created anti-coal momentum that's been difficult to reverse. even with the recent introduction of more measured common sense regulation, competition from other energy sources is winning on a domestic demand. my colleagues in the natural gas production side hope gas wasn't quite so competitive on the price side he especially in recent days. but the coal fleet and its unique attributes such as fuel security continue to be undervalued in the marketplace. our plants are often operating in markets that boast of competition but are not truly competitive. the influence of outside support for favored resources is proving decisive, whether that's in texas or the pgm as previously mentioned. recent order to scrub state

subsidys is an important recognition of the need to level the playing field. a step in the right direction but not a cural. to ensure reliable, affordable and diverse electricity mix, we got to place a premium on dispatchable fuel diversity and fuel security. we also would like to see prioritize its resilience docket. we have entered into unchartered territory for sure. just a few years ago more than 70% of the nation's power came from fuel secure plants with weeks often months of fuel stored on site. today it's less than 30%. we can have large reserve margins of generating capacity but unless those reserves are underpinned by dispatchable resources with fuel on site we're creating a false sense of security. our growing reliance on variable sources of power and just in time fuel delivery as a threat

to grids multiple is create agnew and unprecedented challenges. just because we haven't faced a reliability crisis doesn't mean we shouldn't be taking responsible action now to ensure that we don't cross that tipping point. fuel secure flexible dispatchable power will remain a necessity. a new generation of coal plant and cool technologies will be needed to meet it. very important work is happening at doe on both advance cool technology and emission technologies coal's first program which is helping develop low emission coal plants for the future is a prime example. progress is being made in advancing next generation technologies, but we need to redouble these efforts. what we cannot do is turn our back on american coal. hundreds of thousands of people that make up america's coal communities. the answer is our own energy and emission challenges as well as

the world's is innovation. we must pursue a global viable scale approach to reducing emissions one that works in the richest nations on earth and one that can work the nations that are still trying to tackle crippling effects of energy poverty. already three quarters of the world's coal is being consumed by asia. the average age of a coal plant in asia is 11 years old. we'll do a great disservice to ourselves if we do not consider and prioritize solutions that work with the fuels that the world has and fuels that the world actually uses. excuse me. while we have already heard and likely hear more from some of my colleagues today about the virtues of fuel switching make no mistake about it. natural gas as mentioned by mike needs technology slugs as much as coal.

rising emissions from increased use of natural gas and oil are out pacing declines in the coal industry. if we pursue viable approach that helps meet the emissions challenges both at home and abroad it is not only allows us to utilize the incredible ingenuity and capacity of the coal workforce but capture the market forced a vance technologies that are scheduled to grow. it is the prospect of capturing the market forced a vance coal technology, imperative of doing so that brings us to hard rock mining and advance energy supply chains for metal in the united states and globally. if there's one thing that unites the still extensive field of democratic presidential candidates ambitious climate and green energy targets. world bank projects the demand for key metals needed for future

energy technologies could jump 1,000%. consider that wind turbine needs 4.7 tons of copper, 335 tons of steel, 2 tons of rare earth, there's another slide coming up. but it's not moving. there we go. thank you. three times aluminum zinc. the list goes on. we just heard from my colleague most people don't know this but solar panels account for 7% of global silver demand. in 2017, for example, solar pd cells required more than 94 million ounces of silver. but perhaps the clearest example is the automotive industry. not a day goes by when we don't hear of a carmaker making the leap into electric vehicles. future of transportation appears to be electric. it's not a matter of if but when. capturing the ev market has been

described as the greatest industrial arms race of the decade. if it is erased we're falling behind. china has a commanding lead. in to 30 we foresee global ev sales reaching 44 million. with more than 250 million total evs on the road, lithium-ion batteries keeps getting cheaper. they are driving the ev revolution and also exactly where china is excelling including tesla's factory in nevada u.s. is expected to have five major lithium-ion factories by 2028. china is on pace to have over 70. china's success in dominating the lithium-ion manufacturing has much to do with the concerted effort to dominate the supply chain. china is the top research holder for often of the minerals

materials vital to wind, solar and battery technologies. mining policies has become the centerpiece of china's energy policy thinking. and must be give enthe same prominence here in the united states if we're going to catch up. for lithium, cobalt, graphite, three key minerals in lithium-ion batteries the u.s. is almost completely import reliant. u.s. mineral import reliance has risen to alarming levels. this comes despite trillions of dollars of domestic mineral reserves in the united states. department of commerce found last year u.s. has become heavily dependent on foreign services for 31 of 35 minerals. recent report from woods mckenzie on soaring demand for battery metals asked the question quote will we jettison

the move from oil to the plug. if we don't get serious about reinvigorating coal mining the answer is yes. u.s. reliance on chinese either minerals has been highly publicized. we appear poised to repeat the same mistake with battery metals possibly on a larger scale. we must prioritize the development of robust material supply chain forced advance technologies. the technology, the commit easy payment to safety that's transform our industry and embrace of mining from those, most determined to see green technologies future. the era of an adversarial approach to mining that made new projects difficult to pursue must come to an end. our energy present and future will be built on a foundation of

mining. trump administration has prioritized reversing our growing mineral import reliance bringing needed attention and resources to the issue and pursuing needed reforms to remove obstacles to mining investment and production. congress must engage here as well. senator lisa murkowski's mineral act aims to bring common sense reform to the mining process would be a significant step forward to where we must go. demand for minerals, metals, our mining communities produce is soaring and the mining community is ready and capable to step up to the plate if given the chance. i began stating mining has never been more important to our energy needs. i can conclude by saying we're on the precipice of an american mining renaissance. thank you very much. happy to take a few questions.

[ applause ] where -- where -- where can the mining industry -- how can the mining industry best articulate why it's still important and why, in fact, it's not just important, it will be essential to transition into the new environment, literally and figuratively for use of mined products? >> well i think the american people are inherently optimistic and they love and embrace technology. all of your polling proves that out. innovation is part of that. and how we drive products and are a critical component to things like the next generation of energy future, technology whether it's the phones or medical technology, transportation, infrastructure we're a base part of that.

our job at the national mining association is working with our platforms to convey that to the average voter, the every day consumer that we can't have all these wonderful new items, the the products that we produce every day in a safe and sound manner. anyone else? happy to take questions afterwards as well. >> could you get the mic? i think i see there's restlessness at the back. i think it's coffee break time. >> break is almost -- >> i'm just curious whether recycled materials are a factor at all in contributing -- capturing some of the metals and minerals that are already out there and reusing them? is that a contribution that you're going to have? >> i certainly believe that recycled metals is part of the solution for the future explosion in the demand for metals.

but if you look at the statistics and numbers and demands and how much recycled metal is coming through the pipeline, it is nowhere near, it's a small percentage of what's needed for the future. >> thank you so much. >> appreciate it. >> it's a real pleasure. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> coffee. see you in a few minutes. how long do we have? about ten minutes? okay. thank you. the u.s. energy association conference taking a brief break. during the break we are going to show you the speech this morning at the conference from the head of an oil and gas lobbying group.

and then when the conference resumes, live coverage here on c-span3. champions from everything from wind and solar and nuclear and coal will follow my remarks today. and i think they'd all agree that everybody in this room can find somebody to like in that video. from president carter to president trump, 40-plus years packs plenty of different ideologies, of course. but all seven leaders that you saw in that video shared a common goal, energy security for america. each of those presidents knew that clean affordable and reliable american energy is essential to economic growth and national security. for decades u.s. energy policy focused on reducing our dependence on foreign natural gas and oil. the outlook was often pez mittic, defined by scarcity

rather than the surplus today. times have changed, and it's all because of american natural gas and oil. now finally, americans get most of our energy here at home, thanks in large part to, as i said, oil and natural gas. we're able to celebrate our independence as americans, as we have achieved what this bipartisan goal was for the last seven presidents. the state of the american energy industry in 2020 is one of incredible leadership in three key ways. energy development, emissions reductions and environmental performance. the natural gas and oil industry sees all three as top priorities and are executing on all of them at the same time. first on energy development. american is now the number one producer of northerly gas and oil. last year for the first time since the 1950s, the united states became a net exporter of energy for the first time.

second on reducing emissions, thanks in part to the strength of cleaner natural burning gas, forecasters expect dioxide emissions to decrease this year and next, as we saw in 2019. third on environmental performance, our industry knows bold and achievable action on climate change at the global level is essential. america's natural gas and oil industry is transforming these ambitions into more than hopes and dreams. for example, api supports widespread implementation of carbon capture utilization and storage tech nol joe. we're partnering with the best minds and technology, data analytics, and engineering. api proudly launched the partnership two years ago to

share. we're close to 70 new members of the environmental partnership this year. and we're excited about the resources that are being shared among all of our producers. but our industry's hard working problem solverers are nowhere finished. natural gas and oil supports 10.9 million jobs. we're charging ahead to meet the challenges. simultaneously, leadership offers stability in kai okt times and ichbs laits american from unreliable suppliers. we saw this in action just a few weeks ago. the vast energy resources helped stave off economic turmoil and price hikes at the pump when we stood on the brink of war with iran. a few years ago that would be unheard of. you can thank the shale revolution and the fact that american production has doubled

in the last decade. we import fewer barrels per day than many other nations. the international value is compelling. but zoom in to see progress closer at home, from the smallest american communities to our biggest cities, gas and oil is powering life for people across our nation, relivii am p lives. three examples illustrate that. in new mexico, energy abun dachbs is supporting agriculture, infrastructure and conservation. according to the new mexico association, statewide contributed more than $3.1 million. that's money for bridges, schools, a number of other critical state projects. in fact the governor of new mexico recently announced a proposal for all new mexican students to have access to free

college education in state schools. and that is a consequence of the energy revolution that's taking place in new mexico. in pennsylvania and ohio the revolution is refueling manufacturing in growing local economies. energy development in the marsela shale has helped drive the unemployment rate in pennsylvania down from a high of more than 8% to 4.3% today. and in michigan, the energy sector helps to maintain economic stability of key industries. abundant natural gas and oil helps. translates into more businesses and job opportunities and energy and manufacturing. in fact, when i was recently in michigan, some of the union members that i met with up there talked about how it was access to that energy that kept many automakers in the state. this of course is very progress. but none of it is guaranteed to continue.

keeping the state of american energy healthy depends on making the right policy choices and we're working to make access to reliable resources as a nation. thinking about choices, i'd like to stress three points. one, advancing shared policy priorities will allow us to keep pace with rising energy demand. two, addressing the growing political divide will help us achieve smart energy solutions. and three, and acknowledging that energy progress cannot be done alone. we have to work together to satisfy the energy needs of a growing population and growing needs, not just in this country but across the world. no matter which presidential candidate you support, we can all come together on specific policy priorities. for example, america could unlock a trillion dollars in new privative structure funding by investments that this industry is willing to make if we more

efficiently work together on new regulations to assure that we can get energy from where it is today to where it isn't. to do that, our lawmakers need to work together to adopt new guidelines that protect the environment, cut red tape, and avoid unnecessary delays. we're forming the policy act, and it's a critical step to do this. we're also thrilled to see the house and senate recently passed the u.s. mexico canada free trade agreement supporting jobs and generating 1.4 trillion jobs in 2018, trade with both of our neighbors bolsters u.s. exports of gasoline, crude oil and fuel blending components and more. we commend the administration and members of both parties for supporting american workers and energy consumes by bringing usmca across the legislative finish line, and we look forward to the president signing it into law next week.

when we fight for smart policies on infrastructure, trade and carbon capture, it isn't just a washington game. we want real energy progress in american communities, large and small. our energy future can unite democrats, republicans and independents. and it is truly the spirit of everything we do at api and across our industry. i'm confident everyone can get behind energy security and protecting our planet. it takes a blend of both to keep america ahead of the global pack. it's clear that american energy demarnd is making environmental progress, and we need to work together. because these things are not going to be solved on twitter or on boisterous speeches on the house and senate floor or with the daily back-and-forth of the 24 hour news cycle. it takes hard work to deliver affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. and api is ready to work with

our lawmakers on that energy future. if they could be here today i think all seven presidents would agree on the accomplishmentsing with going from an era of energy skartty in the united states to an era of abundance. i'll say as the leader of api during this critical time for america's energy future, this industry is ready to work with everyone in this room on what that future continues to look like. i'm proud to be with you today at usca. i'm looking forward to taking any questions that you may have. [ applause ] >> sheila, kicking off the day. >> one thing i think we all -- [ inaudible ] and in maelstrom of public opinion, world reaction to hydrocarbons in some

arenas, what message can the traditional oil, gas, coal, mining, extraction industries, and also distribution -- what is the message that you can articulate that will have everyone realize energy is a human right and can't exist without it, especially in the modern world? how do you crystalize it to begin to get people to have a more broad recognition of the need for a variety of forms of energy? >> what i'd say is i think that we as an industry recognize, and i think the -- all analysts recognize, that oil and gas are going to play a critical role to energy for many, many years to come. in fact, the international agency predicts that 75% of our energy will continue to come from oil and gas even in the year 2050. and that's under the most the

roastiest of scen airiors, even if the paris accord is adopted. we know the future is going to be fueled by oil and natural gas. the challenge of this industry and of every industry represented in the room here today is that, how do we continue to produce that energy that the world needs, the world today currently demands 100 million barrels of oil a day? that demand is going to be filled by someone. and i would argue that it is better to be filled by the safest and best producers in the world right here in the united states. so i think we understand the importance of continuing to lessen our environmental footprint, both on the ground and in operations, and of course to address the key issue of climate change. and i think every industry in this room, you will hear a very similar message. so we expect we're going to be

part of the energy mix for many, many years to come, and we also recognize that challenge. we call it an energy try-lema. how do you solve the problem of producing affordable, reliable and cleaner energy? and this industry, the oil and gas industry, has been at the forefront of doing so for many, many years. it is the key reason why emissions in this country continue to go down. and we're proud of that record of accomplishment and look forward to continuing to build upon it. >> microphone over here. yeah. >> good morning. thank you for your excellent remarks. appreciated that. you mentioned ccus, and barry and the usaa team is holding a workshop on that next week. can you talk about your vision for that going forward and the

timeline and technologies? >> absolutely. you'll be interested to know that many of the members of api are investing significant resources in this key technology. again, and this is a technology that was started in the united states, and there's a lot of work that's already been done in this key area. in fact, one of our member companies talks about how the fact -- the fact that they're actually using carbon dye oks eyed now to extract more of this resource out of the ground. so it may actually predict that in the years ahead they may be in a carbon deficit space because of all of the carbon that they are using to extract more of the resource out of the ground. so that's a really exciting thing that we can actually use the emissions in a way that actually helps us produce more energy and continue to grow our energy independence in the united states. but we also know that we have to partner with others to ensure that this technology is

economical and that it is done in a way within federal and state law. so we're going to need help. we're going to need help from the federal government. we're going to need help from state governments as well, to incentivize this kind of program. this started under the new tax bill, the new 45q provision, looking to seeing it get started soon so we can use this. but we also note that more is needed to be done. so we're excited to work with federal lawmakers and state l lawmakers, to unlock this technology. we know if we're going to continue to be successful, grow the energy independence that the united states has always pursued, we're going to need assistance with ar lawmakers, and we'll be working with lawmakers over the course of the next many months and years on growing those incentives out to better serve the american people.

any other questions? exlent. thank you so much for your time. thank you, sheila. very good. [ applause ] >> and those remarks from the beginning of this u.s. energy association conference. we will continue with our live coverage in just a moment. they're in the midst of a short break. live coverage continuing here in just a moment here on c-span3.

everybody take your seat. >> okay. start wending their way back to the seats. we've got wonderful speaker coming up. she's going to do it a little differently, she's going to march around.

julia ham, who is the president and ceo of the smart electric power alliance. she has been president of seepa since 2004, must have started right out of high school, providing leadership for the organization. she's responsible for guiding and overseeing all of the research, education and collaboration activities for its 1,100 member companies. she's a visionary, a nonprofit leader at the center of the transformation underway in the power industry and beyond. she for the past 20 years has been advising, collaborating, with utilities solution providers, agencies, and clean energy policies, strategies and programs. she has rebranded from solar electric power association to the smart electric power alliance and merged with both for the association with the demand response and smart grid

and smart grid interoperability panel. it's a pleasure to have you up here. glad to meet somebody at the cutting edge. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, sheila. my bio gave away some of the things i was going to start with. but so i've been running seepa since 2004. so this is going into my 16th year. but i started working at seepa 20 years ago. so the last year, 2019, was a big milestone for me, having been in an organization, having been there for 20 years. and it really provides a really good opportunity for me to reflect back on the changes that have happened, not only with seepa as an organization but across the energy industry. so when i started at seepa in 1999, it wasn't seepa. we started as the utility

photovoltaic group. we later became the seepa 1.0, the first version of the solar electric power association. in 2015, 2016, we expanded and rebraned to today's, the smart alliance. so if we think back to 1999 when i entered this industry, there was no grid connected u.s. solar market. battery storage was only for off-grid systems. there was 2.5 gig watts of wind here in the u.s. and the average cost was over $10 a watt. in fact if you look at the eia data from 1999 from their energy review, wind and solar didn't even show up on their chart. so today, where are we? you've heard a lot from abby and tom as they were giving their remarks, but things have changed

drastically. wind and solar are the least cost in many parts of our country. energy storage is becoming an option. we've hit the 100 gig waut milestone here in the u.s. the transportation and power sectors are converging, and we're seeing a rapid decline in coal and increase in wind, solar and other clen energy technologies. in addition to being the ceo of seepa, i will talk about who we are, i'm also the board chair of another important nonprofit, the clean energy institute. clei is focused on developing a new kind of energy leader for the future we're looking to achieve. last year i spoke at clei's audience of young professionals. what i told them is that you are not the future leaders of the

clean energy industry. you are the future leaders of the energy industry, which will happen to be clean. and i think that's a really important distinction, and really one for all of us, we're seeing this transformation happen. clean energy, renewable energy, it is no longer the alternative. we need to stop talking about that as alternative energy. it is becoming what this industry is all about. so where do we go from here? at seepa, our vision, a vision we've adopted but are not the only ones, is for a carbon-free energy by 2050. that is something that's going to take all of us in this room and across the globe to accomplish. seepa's specific role in getting to that vision is our mission, focused specifically on the electric power sector and helping ensure that this transition is a smart one, towards a clean and modern grid. we're looking to make sure that we are thoughtful, intentional,

that we are looking at the trade-offs that we have to make, being intentional, to ensure that we're minimizing unintended consequences to ensure we have safe, affordable, reliable and clean elick tristy that everyone in this country needs and deserves. so going back to this vision, we heard it from the speakers will you already this morning but there is a massive wave of agreement between around this goal of carbon 43 or carbon neutral, by 2050. an interesting stat that i find fascinating is from the sierra club who has looked at city and state commitments to clean energy. one in four americans lives in a city or state that has made a commitment to 100% clean energy. that is massive. earlier it was one in five. i'm sure in 2018 it was much

smaller than that. it's rapid. that only takes into account city and states. it doesn't take into account all of the utility commitments. we're seeing an increase in utility commitments. so the first big announcement was from excel energy back in december of 2018. they made their commitment to carbon-free energy. but we started to see the others follow. this is a smattering of other utilities that last year in 2019 made their public commitments. and so that sort of seeing this increasing pace of commitments prompted us as an organization to begin tracking them, so that everybody has information available. so we launched what we're calling the seepa utility carbon reduction tracker. it's a tool available on our website to anyone to be able to look at. the map is a summary, but you can go over any utility service

tar territory and find out the details. we've seen 18 major utilities have made a carbon free or carbon zero commitment by 2050 or sooner. if we look at utilities that have a publicly stated commitment of at least 50%, that represents more than 56% of customers in the u.s. these announcements are coming on a regular basis. in fact, i hope most of you already know this, and i am not the first to deliver this news -- i'm sorry, i forgot i had another slide. i want to go back and then get to yesterday's announcement. really point out that these are not just lofty targets. many of these commitments have meat behind them. excel is a great example. i'm proud for what that company has done in not only setting a target but getting specific in how they're going to get there in their service territories.

admittedly, there is still a lot of work to do, and there is a gap. excel is a specific example. they have confident on how they're going to get to 80%, but a huge question mark on how they're going to get to 100%. for other utilities with similar commitments depending on the resources in their area, it may be a big question mark around that 20%, but other regions of the country that question mark on percentage might be larger than 20%. it's going to depend on the resources available to that particular utility service territory. but excel is really a leader in terms of laying out specifics of what they're going to do. so yesterday's announcement was from arizona public service, which i think many in the clean energy space would have identified as a relatively traditional risk-averse utility generally. but -- and so the praise yesterday, to see across the

clean energy industry, especially the renewable energy industry was really meaningful. arizona public service yesterday announced they have set a target of carbon-free by 2050. this is not just lofty. they have set an interim 2030 goal to get them 60% clean, which will put them at 45% renewables penetration at that point. another specific action as part of this, they have made a commitment to close their last coal plant. they're laying out further detail looking for commission approval on how to make sure they have a very actionable plan to meet these targets. so this was an announcement yesterday. last week we saw a great announcement from tristate generation -- i want to go back to aps. put a picture of jeff goldner, for very specific reasons.

he's been at aps a long time. he took over as ceo back in november. and i cannot stress enough the importance of individual leadership in this transition. and so much kudos goes to jeff for coming in in november as ceo, and being able to so quickly drive this forward with the company. similarly, with tristate, they also have a new ceo. dwayne highly took over in trill last year. he was with a different g and t previously. he has been able to come in and again from individual leadership standpoint drive transition within an organization that many in this industry would consider risk averse and more challenging than others. tristate has to closing their last coal plant, and an interim 2024 goal of 50% penetration.

that is impressive. 50% renewable penetration by 2024 as a target. so again, really significant things happening here, not just with the power providers, the utility companies, who people have always thought of as leading edge and pushing the boundaries. but it's happening all across the industry. okay. so moving on to -- okay, so what is seepa doing in terms of helping to build this vision by 2050? sheila mentioned in my introduction we have 1,100 members. to give you more flavor, about 750 of those are electric utilities across almost all investor utilities members, hundreds of munis palls, hundreds of rural co-ops. more than 70% of the public utilities are members. hundreds of members that are technology, project developers, other types of solution providers. so all of these players working

together in terms of collaborating and finding win-win business solutions to drive towards this common vision. for seepa with that membership mix and our expertise and focus there are four pathways we believe we can help make progress. those are around utility models, grid integration. i'll talk about each of those. so utility business models, at seepa we think utilities are absolutely in a role to the future of this transition. maybe we could do it without them, but we believe it would take a lot longer and in the end be a lot more expensive than if we can find ways to continue to evolve utility business models to make sure that they remain sustainable businesses, and are provided the right incentives in order to be able to help with this transition.

so there are lots of different, you know, lots of conversations ongoing about what is that business model look like? we don't believe there is going to be a single business model. that will be multiple. but our team is working on working with the industry and what might those models look like at a high model and the nuts and bolts but also the building blocks of what are the new programs and services that utilities can offer to customers that move them in this direction of being able to shift? we also recognize that utilities cannot do this alone. in order to be successful, this has to be a real partnership between utilities, solution providers, customers and others. so part of what we have to work through in this transition is, what is the role of each of those players? and it's again, there are going to be -- this is a very come plex issue. there's no simple answers. this eye chart is an example that happens to use micro grids

because it is one area that's particularly complex. but there are lots of different ways to deploy microgrids. the role of the technology companies, customers, there's lots of different iterations of what that could look like-we have to work through all of these challenges. moving on to regulatory innovation, this chart is not specific to our industry, but just as we've heard everyone talking this morning, the pace of change is expediting. when we think about that from a highly regulated industry, that's a challenge. so our state regulatory processes, practices, structures, were set up in m many cases a century ago, many, many decades ago, at least in a time when our world was large central station power plants with one-way power flow. it was much simpler. today it's becoming much more complex. seepa sees we're going to need regulatory integration to make

sure it can fulfill its intended purpose and not impeding our ability to innovate and move forward. so we also recognize that all 50 states are unique. they are when it comes to regulation and the processes and practices. but there are a number of common challenges that states have across the board around these issues. so we have an initiative called renovate that is working with a collection of state reg laytures, legislators, consumer advocates, technology companies, a whole variety of others including many of the trade associations in this room, to work on potential solutions to each of these four common challenges that we've identified. so actually i think february we'll be releasing from the first set of solutions, potential solutions, recognizing there's no one-size-fits-all solution to any of these, so recognizing that any state u

stillties service tirtry should be able to look and say, we have that problem. those five solutions aren't going to work for us, but those two might, so let's focus our attention on those two. and then i again went back to the microgrid example to bring home the point about the complexity. this is a chart our team put together when working with one particular jurisdiction trying to help them figure out, what does regulation need to look like for microgrids. it is immensely complex. if we aren't innovating from a regulatory front, we need that in order to enable the new utility business models that we were talking about earlier, and it's not just about the utility. it's about the again utility, solution providers and customers all working collaboratively. we are focused on reducing the friction points to accelerate clean energy. last year we surveyed jet of the major utilities in the u.s. to

did them are there their friction points? that's what this shows. i apologize for the small font. you can see at the top of the lifts some of the challenges that they have. that is help guiding our work in this area. on the right, just to demonstrate that this clean energy future, it evolution, transition that's happening, isn't just about distributed. it's about utilities large scale, but also distributed. but when it comes to resources, there is an added layer of complexity. and not all are the same. we have different values and attributes. that makes this whole equation around business models, regulation and grid integration that much more complex. one particular -- and so integration in terms of friction points, one in particular we believe we need to be focused on

standards, processes and frameworks to help smooth out friction points. this chart is an example from a utility planning perspective saying historically the planning process has been relatively linear. there's been a role for stakeholders but it's been limited. we're moving to a world where the planning process needs to have a lot more engagement, a lot more players, a lot more transparency, and a lot more honestly complexity, in order to ensure that we are really planning and making investment decisions, now in a world where the utility is not the only decisionmaker or even maybe a handful of ipps, but you have hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of customers who are making decisions every day related to distributed energy resources and lec trick vehicles, that will have an impact what the future system needs are. so shifting to transportation

lec tryfication, we heard it earlier, we believe this is the opportunity of the century for this industry, to capitalize on, but we have to start preparing now. somebody said it earlier. you know, we see the manufacturers making announcements constantly about their commitments to electric vehicles. forecasters are sort of all over the map, but everybody who does forecasting, it's going to be significant in terms of deployment of these. so but in order to capture on this opportunity that's in front of us, we really have to make sure that we are prepared to use electric vehicles as a grid asset. if we have all of these evs suddenly deployed and plugging into the grid every day, and it's not being done in a controlled fashion, it is going to cause problems for the grid. but if we do it in a thoughtful way, and it really is integration, two ways, these can

be huge assets to us. we can actually use the vehicles as batteries on wheels. it can allow us to balance out the system which ultimately allows us to deploy more clean energy. so managed charging is one particular area that our team is spending a lot of time on. again essentially ensuring that the fleet of electric vehicles could be used as a demand/response resource to balance the system. i want to end with this quote from bill gates, go back to the beginning. like i said, i've been in this industry 20 years and it's fascinating to look back. i love this quote from bill gates saying we always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years but underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. i think that's very reflective as i look back on any 20 years working with this industry. but i am so excited about where we're headed, seeing everybody in this room coming together on a much more common vision for the future that we can all work

towards. thank you. [ applause ] thank you. thank you. hi, barbara. i think the mic is coming. >> thank you, great remarks, thank you, julia. barbara tie ron. you're talking about manage charging, and of course the scaleup from now until 2030 for all these different technologies. do you foresee that community-managed charging, controlled-environment communities in the forefront? and similarly with solar, communities solar, storage, will begin to take precedent over individual res deshl rooftops, efforts around all of this? >> thanks for the question. i don't think it's going to be either/or. i think it's going to be both. just like, you know, again rewind the clock 15 years and i used to get asked every time i spoke, what's going to win,

rooftop solour or utility solar? there's no winner. they're both going to be a part of the future. i think that's the case when we talk about community scale resources. there are a lot of advantages in many places to community scale. but at the same time there are always going to be individuals that have their own drivers that want to be taking their own actions. they want the resource on their own home, business, whatever it is. but others who care most about getting the lowest cost option which might be either simply -- ultimately if we get to a carbon-free energy systems and all the energy on the grid is clean, some of these conversations just become irrelevant. but that's a long way off. in the interim a customer who wants the lowest cost option may want to have a community availability to them. it's going to be less expensive than having it on their own facility.

>> hi, eliot roseman with usca. thanks for the remarks, julia. the question i have really is about technological change relating to the quote you have here from bill gates. if you can get to 50%, 60% reductions in carbon, that's one threshold. but a lot of the projections are going to 60%, 80%, how do we bridge that gap given the variableness of the resources being relied on and the lack of, the lack of daily or weekly stored, monthly storage resources? are you relying on the electric vehicles and the distributor storage that will take place? and i'll throw you a curveball also, one additional question. would you see a role for coal in the future or gas if the emissions, ccus or other technologies, could be largely or entirely removed? >> i will start with the last question. we're technology ago knottic.

we're technology agnostic. if a technology can get us to that vision, it's relevant. your first question, we see that electric vehicles are going to be an important part of the solution, but we don't necessarily believe they are the full solution. you know, so going back to using excel as the example, but other utilities, there are analysis say they have this gap on how to get from 80% to 100%. i will be frank, this is something we as an organization only really started talking about in the past quarter. so we're very early in our thinking on it. but there needs to be two teams of people that are working in parallel not within seepa but within the industry globally. their folks who need to be focused primarily on getting us

from where we are today to wherever we can get between now and 2030. but then there needs to be a whole other area of people, r&d, technology ino vaytors, who are focused on solutions that don't exist today or aren't commercially available or affordable today, in order to get us over that final mile. and again the final mile will be different depending on region of the country. but so we think that electric vehicles are a big part of the solution. they are not by themselves going to be able to get us to the 100% based on what we know today. thank you very much. [ applause ] thank you. >> before i introduce our next speaker, i would be remiss to ignore the fact that over the past many years of working with

usea, that the emergence of women as spokespeople and as leaders in the industry has really become an amazing story, and it is so, so pride-inducing, i think, for the energy industry and for the women who have represented it so ably and continue to, to say, thank you, thank you, and thank you. there's many miles to go on the issue of diversity. but when i started out in this, it was pretty slim pickins in seeing the ladies. so thank you to the energy industry. thank you to usea for promoting and supporting this enormous effort. and this is the 2020 is the celebration of the 19th amendment, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. there is a massive number of

exhibitions on that, one particularly good one at the library of congress. i want to mention before time slips away that in case with we lose why we're all in this room and why it actually matters, if you ever get a chance to go into the jefferson building, the library of congress, the old beautiful building, it was the first public building in american to have electric power in it. and there's a tremendous reflection in that as you go into the main hall of the library of congress. you can ask, call in advance and ask for a little tour that would focus on that issue. it may take awhile to pull it together, but they will do it. but i strongly recommend it. so that we don't lose our way in this as to why we're here and why it matters. and if you think about having a huge public building, a library for example, and not even having electric power and doing research for thousands of years in that type of environment, it is kind of awe-inducing.

on a more mundane issue, for those twitter addicts in the room, there is a lot going out on twitter right now at usenergyassociation, and it's #soeii2020. so if you feel addicted to the twitter dez seas as many of us do you might want to follow that. our next speaker is a real leader in the energy field and has been for some time, maria coarse neck bhos president and ceo of nuclear energy. before joining that they was senior vice president for exelon, responsible for overseeing operation calvert cliffs, 9-mile point, and before exelon she served as the chief nuclear officer and acting chief executive officer of constellation nuclear group. she began there just yesterday

basically and held positions of increasing responsibility including engineer, operator, manager, vice president, to corporate president and cno. she holds a b.a. in nuclear engineering and has held a high license so we know we're in good hands. there's a wonderful meeting in part sponsored of nuclear countries, representatives from all over the world recently. and at the dinner table i had with a chinese delegation, and i asked the leader of the delegation how many nuclear plants do you have under construction in china right now. that would be 17 that he was willing to talk about right as we spoke. so all right. >> thank you so much, sheila. i appreciate it. [ applause ] really happy to be with you today. tom, i'm going to try to do you

justice here and keep us on track to you have a little bit of time to speak to us before lync bunch lunch. thank you for inviting me to speak today. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> and thank you very much. happy to be here today. and just to reflect, julia, i thought you had excellent comments. and for that last bit there that's going to go from 80% to 100% clean energy, that's us. okay? so let's talk a little bit about that today. it's great to be here with you as the calendar changes, many of us are taking stock of how the climate is changing too. the year we just finished was the second hottest year in recorded history.

the decade we just finished was the hottest ever. and while i can't predict what we're going to say about that, say, ten years from now, here's one thing i do know. we are absolutely headed toward a clean energy future. despite all the choices that these changes demand of the energy industry and despite all the challenges that the nuclear industry faces in particular, our clean energy future gives me hope, makes me optimistic. the 2020s are going to be an exciting decade for nuclear. and why do i say that? because no other industry is better positioned to reliably meet america's energy needs. no industry is better positioned to help america maintain its global energy leadership in this new era. simply put, nothing scales like nuclear. nuclear already generates most of our country's emissions-free energy. it's more efficient than ever.

we operate at more than 92% capacity. we're just a generation ago, we were only at about 63%. so what's even more remarkable is that it now only takes 96 reactors to produce what a few decades ago would have taken 130. to fully appreciate just how important nuclear is to this country, you have to understand how it stacks up. we produced over 800 million megawatt hours of nuclear energy in 2018, and that's more than all the electricity generated by wind, solar, and all of the other renewables combined. so as our country continues the important conversation on how best to reduce carbon-emitting energy resources, we really must recognize that diversity in fact will be the key to our success. and that isn't unique to energy. think about your own financial

portfolio. well, it's the same as an energy portfolio. you need that diversity, and renooublds are necessary and nuclear is too. because only nuclear officers that 24/7, 365 reliability. nuclear feeds the grid around the clock, day and night, rain or shine. i'm a former engineer, and i know what it takes to operate an electric grid. you need to balance the supply and the demand at all times. we need all sources, wind, solar, nuclear, batteries, natural gas with carbon sequestration. and we need them working together in a technology neutral way. so long as their carbon free. we need to compliment each other, not compete against each other. of course, that requires keeping the existing nuclear plants running. we can't just focus on

encracyi increasing renewables while we let nuclear plants sit on the chopping block. in practice, nuclear doesn't get replaced with clean energy. it often gets replaced by carbon-emitting sources like natural gas or coal. in this clean energy era, that's a step backward. the longer we wait to balance all of our carbon-free sources together, the longer the odds are of a clean energy future that works. and this isn't speculation. we've actually seen it happen already in germany, which has started retiring its nuclear fleet in the hopes that solar and wind farms would make up that demand. but they're finding that managing that grid was too challenging with such high reliance on intermittent resources. and unfortunately to balance this, they're relying on fossil fuels and already they're realizing they'd be better off with firm, dispatchable, and

carbon-free resource like neek laer. let's take a lesson from that and not repeat it. to make sure nuclear is available a few things have to happen and happen soon if we want to increadid he grooes car emissions. we'll need policies of all clean energy sources working together. several states have already set goals to require 100% clean and reliable energy. heard about that earlier. by 2050, in some cases sooner, more on the way. and you heard mentioned earlier, it's a bit of an eye chart, but this is a chart that shows a lot of the utilities that are making the carbon-free pledges. you don't have to read each and every data point. just look at the trend lines are all down and to the right, meaning lower carbon. in response to customer demand, you've seen utilities like duke energy, dominion energy, aps and

excel, all making emission reduction pledges. and companies like exelon have already positioned themselves for a low-carbon future. so there's a growing chorus of voices and supporters in the united states. but in too many corners, there's silence. last year two perfectly good reactors shut down permanently before their time. and by 2025, eight additional nuclear reactors will be forced to close prematurely. and that means less reliable clean energy and fewer jobs. in pennsylvania, in iowa, in new york, in michigan, and in california. today those eight reactors help avoid more than 39 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each and every year. and when you shut down those plants, you're putting the equivalent of more than 8 million vehicles on the road.

you know, that's like doubling the number of cars in pennsylvania and ohio and telling yourself that you're doing it to make the air cleaner. so the first step is to save the plants that we have today. the the plants we have today in states like new york, ohio, illinois, conduct and new jersey. they're taking those actions to preserve their nuclear fleets. each of these battles has been hard fought and more difficult than the last. last month, acting to undermine the state's positions to add to those pressures to nuclear and future renewables. that's why we need a strategy that allows states to make their own decisions about their own individual climate goals. in the meantime thanks to new

entrepreneurs streaming digital we can take those built four years ago and upgrade with today's technology. we can make them more officiate and longer lasting. in fact, the first ever second licensed renewal application was recently approved for another 20 years, extending that plant's life span to 80 years. there are many more applications on the horizon. improvements like these are vital to insuring a better carbon future. they aren't the only ones, we're offering a suite of options to help partner like wind and solar. there's so much innovation taking place in the nuclear industry, the next 5-7 years is going to be game changing. next year, voge l-3 is scheduled to come on line and after that, vogel 4.

it will be the nation's only four unit nuclear facility and when it's finished each will produ produce 400 megawatts of that electricity and then can power more than a million homes and businesses. it will be home to the first advanced light water reactor in the united states. as the nuclear technology improves, it becomes more agile and comes in a vird of sizes and will open new markets for us around the globe. some of the biggest news in the future of nuclear comes from the nureactor designs. we have ceos of electronic utilities looking past that initial 2030 time frame and say, i don't know what it is but it needs to be firm, dispatchble and needs to be carbon-free.

that's what nuclear is offering. imexcited about bringing electricity to hard to reach places where traditional plants aren't necessary, too large to meet the needs of those communities and offer alternatives to de-cel generators and boilers that need much more frequent refueling. we are seeing much more interest. the tennessee valley just received the first approval to build and operate a modular reactor at its clint river site. and southern company is teaming up with terra power on molten salt reactor technology. are regulators recognizing the laying the groundwork. just this month, oak loke was

the first in streaming its design. it wasn't alone to bring these plans from paper to actual build. ge hitachi is on the cusp of entering the licensing process for its modular reactors. they will offer much more flexibility and integrate resources like wind and solar and batteries and help maintain america's leadership in this innovation. if we're going to lead in this new decade of energy future we need a policy landscape that allows nuclear to thrive. just last month, congress took a huge step forward by providing $1.5 billion appropriations funding for nuclear. that was 12.5% increase in the coming year. the most funding in decades.

nearly a billion is going towards critical research to unlock the full capacity of nuclear behind projects that will be up and running before this decade is out. there are so many reasons i'm confident about our future, i've never been prouder to work in nuclear energy. we are clear-eye'd about our challenges and know it's not easy but know how much we have to gain if we make the right decisions today. if we create a solution that works here in the united states we'll have created one that works around the world. alone, no one source of energy can reliably meet all of our country's needs or the world's energy needs. alone, no one source can create that carbon-free grid. if we don't do that for the

nuclear plants today we will be behind. if we walk in the right direction, america can have the refinal affordable clean energy future we demand and deserve. i look forward to working with all of you to make that a reality. thank you. [ applause ] >> a quick question with respect to the impact on communities and significance of keeping nuclear plants alive setting aside the good things that come with the generation of power and communities that have grown up and funded entire communities, in some cases virtually an estate and the nuclear employment and tax base and so on, to me, is understated,

having represented some of the communities in which things have been in a transition, shall we say? >> yes, thanks, sheila. these nuclear plants are really economic engines in the areas in which they operate. broadly, the nuclear industry contributes over $10 billion in taxes locally, and these are things building hospitals and supporting construction of roads and the local infrastructure, if you will, and many excellent strong well paying jobs. you're absolutely right. when any of these plants are shutting down it's very crushing to the local community. that's one of the things from the nuclear plant, once you shut that plant down it's shut and don't decide three, four, five years later maybe i want to restart that. it doesn't work.

you go through a decommissioning process and dysmantling these assets. we have to be so careful not to make strategic decisions in a tactical way, by shutting down some of these plants today and then realizing the huge clean energy impact we created for ourselves. >> any other questions? >> good morning. thank you for the talk. what is the biggest challenge that you see. i used to be a regulator in ohio. citing is the big issue. is that the big issue or cost or $67,000 a kilowatt versus $1,000 a kilowatt for natural gas combined cycle. >> let me address that in a couple ways. there's a couple challenges.

the first is keep the plants we have operating. they have operated with very low gas prices and other technology subsidized has put pressure on nuclear to survive. that's something we need to attend to as we talk about clean energy and technology neutral policies. that's something very important. when you ask your question about new build, what's the biggest reason or challenge for new build, i would tell you part of that is on the industry. we need to bring products to the market that can demonstrate the value and makes sense, quite frankly, to build. some of the innovation we're talking about and excited about, i think will show just that. some appropriations to build demonstration plants, that's, what i think we need to get the financial community and get investors interested to show, see, here's what this widget

looks like. there's many innovations. think of the innovations in concrete and on the build side that show innovation, hey, when you pull all this something and realize these are huge carbon-free generators. when you get to the 70 or 80% penetration and you need the something, so by doing that innovation right now, nuclear is going to be ready for those investments that everybody's looking for to close that final 100% clean energy. >> i think there's another question. with respect to the waste issue, we haven't had a lot of discussion of that so far in any of the discussions today. do you feel like progress is being made in that and do you feel like that concern is being handle adequately from a real

world standpoint and also political standpoint? where are we in that? >> a lot of people worry about nuclear waste. it sounds large and sounds big and we don't know what to do with that. let's reframe that. i call nuclear waste increasing of the future. its future nuclear fuel. that nuclear waste today has 95% good energy in it. when we use it in a reactor you used 5% of the energy and we take it out and calling it waste. it's really just transformed from one state to another state. there are reactors using it in the future. your kids and grandkids will want it. we have to put it where we can get it again. that's storage. have we made sufficient advancement in storage? no, we have not.

it's a political challenge we need to work through. have your customers done their part? yes, they have. $40 billion has been collected by customers of energy in order for there to be a waste solution. the money's been collected. it's really the federal government that has to act to put in place, what is the long term storage? at the end of the day we will need a long term storage solution. what do we do in the meantime? it's safely stored wherever it is. the sites storing it, it's not an issue, they're monitoring it. could we group it together? yes, we could, called consolidated interim storage. are we making sufficient progress on that? no, we're not. but politics needs to happen. but in the meantime, is it safe

where it is? it absolutely is. if you look at the amount of waste produced paired to other energy sources, it's very manageable. does it need to be solved? it is. look at that waste as a future energy source and we want to make sure we're putting it some place we can retrieve it. >> thank you. another gentleman has a question. >> thank you very much for your presentation. i have two questions for you. the first is how many plants in the u.s. do you expect to extend their operating lives, and the second question is what strategies would you recommend to u.s. utilities and/or states in response to the recent decision? thank you. >> great. i'll try to get to those quickly. the first is how many plants do we think will go? one was just approved the end of last year. 20 have already announced they

will go forward but there will be many more. it's not a matter of could you get second license renewal, a matter of does that plan in the currents economy look like it's going to have long term viability. as long as you feel the market is supportive of your plan, going forward with second license renewal only makes sense. it's very straightforward and very low cost for that amount of energy you will be able to get. quick answer is 20 easy for near term but there will be many more. your second question was about the recent furk announcement and it was a challenge in that it undercuts some decisions states have made. i believe very much the best conversation is keep with that clean energy conversation, form

form coalitions around the value and many have done and furk, asking for a rehearing. >> thank you so much. ferc. [ applause ] now, tom, from a company that represents electric utilities, for 220 americans provided as participants. the members include, operating in all 50 states, d.c., and employ more than 500,000 workers and has