CEA urges U.S. Congress to support electricity infrastructure and trade

H.R. 3301 proposes streamlined approvals for cross-border energy infrastructure, aligning U.S.-Canada electricity trade, modernizing permits for international transmission lines, and improving regulatory oversight to protect consumers and environmental standards while enabling investment and open markets.

Canadian Electricity Association CEA President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Burpee recently urged members of the U.S. Congress to support greater cooperation between the Canadian and U.S. governments on permitting cross-border electricity infrastructure and trade during a recent legislative hearing held in Washington, D.C..

Jim Burpee appeared as a witness before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee as members gathered to discuss a recently-introduced bill – H.R. 3301, The North American Energy Infrastructure Act – which seeks to reform the U.S. government’s approval process for cross-border energy infrastructure projects and trade, as well as the cross-border grid overall.

Burpee’s testimony highlighted the strength of the existing bilateral electricity relationship today, the value of further expanding the level of electric integration between Canada and the U.S. and the opportunities for modernizing and aligning the respective regulatory procedures in place in either country as they relate to building new international transmission lines and to exporting electricity across the border.

“CEA views the introduction of bill H.R. 3301 as an opportunity for a broader dialogue on how well the respective permitting processes in Canada and the U.S. for international power lines and electricity exports are working, to support greater grid integration across the region,” Jim Burpee told the subcommittee. He expressed hope that such dialogue would result in “better synergies in the approaches utilized on either side of the border, with the aim of deriving maximum efficiency while protecting consumers and the environment.”

Jim Burpee’s testimony also stated that CEA supports steps being taken by federal governments in both Canada and the U.S. to enact meaningful reforms, informed by a recent U.S. energy report that outlined key priorities, and strongly encourages relevant authorities to sustain efforts to foster a strong regulatory framework – based on appropriate public consultation, protection of consumers and world-class environmental standards – that effectively strikes a balance between providing rigorous oversight and supporting infrastructure investments and open North American electricity trade across the region.

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