Legislative energy leaders from across North America explored energy reliability and resiliency during a bipartisan meeting in early December.
The biannual meeting of NCSL’s Energy Supply Task Force in Denver gathered legislators and legislative staff from 13 states and two Canadian provinces, as well as task force sponsors, for a tour of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and a day of policy sessions covering grid resiliency, foreign land ownership and energy security, data centers and diversification of the American energy portfolio.
“This week’s meeting was a great opportunity to discuss energy policies that will benefit our states,” says Illinois Sen. Sue Rezin (R), who co-chairs the task force with Colorado Rep. Chris Hansen (D). “I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow task force members to develop impactful policies that will help guide lawmakers throughout the nation as they strive to address the many concerns and issues that our rapidly evolving energy landscapes present.”
Energy policy is one of the most important topics the states are currently addressing, says Maryland Sen. Brian Feldman (D), a task force vice chair. “NCSL’s Task Force on Energy Supply meeting last week was on point. The informative presentations and robust discussions that took place allowed our members to bring tangible insights back home to share with their colleagues.”
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, lawmakers received briefings on hydrogen fuel scaling for vehicles and wind turbine efficiency studies. Legislators also viewed the facility’s data center and learned about system operation to minimize energy usage.
The policy sessions and subsequent discussions are key aspects of all task force meetings, which aim to provide legislators with fact-based, nonpartisan information they can use to develop policies tailored to their own state needs. Grid reliability and resiliency were topics of bipartisan discussion during the tour and policy sessions, which culminated in a session on diversifying America’s energy portfolio led by NREL power systems researcher Luke Lavin.
During Lavin’s session legislators discussed transmission trends, challenges and opportunities, international energy trade agreements with partners such as Canada, grid operations and concerns, the impacts of AI on energy consumption, workforce needs and more.
In addition to these discussions, task force members were briefed on the status of foreign land ownership in America and potential impacts to energy security. They also participated in a conversation about the energy demands and impacts of data centers. Task force members were joined by industry experts to learn about opportunities for improving grid resiliency.
Created in 2009 to examine state and federal critical energy issues and explore policy options, the task force includes members from 33 states, one territory and two Canadian provinces. The task force serves as a conduit for state legislative communication with Congress, the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies. It can also develop policies for NCSL standing committees to guide the organization’s federal advocacy work in Washington, D.C.
The task force will meet again in May 2025.
Megan Bland is a legislative specialist in NCSL’s State-Federal Relations Division.