NRECA welcomes the confirmation of key Trump administration officials and will work with them to advance policies that support electric cooperatives and the 42 million Americans they serve.
In congratulatory letters to the agency heads, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson recommended ways they could improve electric reliability and resilience and remove regulations that threaten co-op operations, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule to control power plant greenhouse gas emissions.
“President Trump’s pledge to dramatically increase U.S. energy supply and achieve energy dominance resonates strongly with electric cooperatives,” Matheson said. “We look forward to working with him to implement a pro-energy agenda that prioritizes electric reliability and affordability and strengthens the nation’s grid.”
Over the past two weeks, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Lee Zeldin as EPA administrator, Doug Burgum as secretary of the Interior, Chris Wright as Energy secretary and Brooke Rollins as Agriculture secretary.
In its letters to these new officials, NRECA encouraged policies that benefit rural communities and co-ops, including actions that:
- Eliminate what NRECA believes are unlawful and unachievable regulations, including the EPA power plant greenhouse gas rule.
- Address skyrocketing power demand.
- Make effective and efficient use of remaining infrastructure funding from Congress and maintain other key federal funding programs for co-ops.
- Cut red tape at land and species management agencies that hinders co-ops’ work to build and maintain electric systems in federal areas.
- Streamline environmental reviews that delay energy projects.
Repealing and replacing the EPA’s power plant greenhouse gas rule “is a top priority” for co-ops, Matheson said in a press release about EPA Administrator Zeldin’s confirmation. The rule would require many existing coal plants and new natural gas-fired facilities to install costly carbon capture technology, which has not been adequately demonstrated or deployed on a commercial scale.
“Cost-effective and lawful federal regulations that minimize unnecessary burdens are critical to cooperatives’ ability to provide affordable, reliable and safe electricity to their consumer-members,” he said in a Jan. 30 letter to Zeldin.
Matheson’s letters to the Energy, Interior and Agriculture departments also listed policies that could better support co-ops, including easier permitting of electric infrastructure. NRECA also stressed the value of existing programs to fund co-op energy and grid modernization projects.
That money “supports investments in electric infrastructure and helps co-ops harden their systems,” Matheson said.
Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.