Hill Heat

Many Americans have grown concerned about the monopoly power that Big Tech corporations wield. But few people realize that the problem of concentrated private power also infects the electricity sector. In most regions, electricity is controlled by a single investor-owned utility with a government-granted monopoly. Across the country, powerful utilities are actively blocking decentralized solar energy, degrading the reliability of the power lines even as they raise prices, and failing to make the grid investments needed for a clean, carbon-free future.

Join the Institute for Local Self-Reliance for an inspiring conversation with advocates who are taking on electric utility monopolies with the aim of accelerating the shift to clean energy and winning democratic community control.

Hearing page

Witnesses:

• Dr. Beverly L. Wright, Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Co-Chair, National Black Environmental Justice Network Member, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council New Orleans, LA

• Max Sarinsky, Senior Attorney, Institute for Policy Integrity, New York University School of Law
• Dr. Kristina Dahl, Senior Climate Scientist, Climate & Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

Republican Witness:

• Lucian (Lou) Pugliaresi (Republican Witness), President, Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc. Washington, DC

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Ari Juels, Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor, Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, Cornell Tech
• John Belizaire, Chief Executive Officer, Soluna Computing, Inc.
• Brian Brooks, Chief Executive Officer, BitFury
• Steve Wright, Former Chief Executive Officer, Chelan County Public Utility District and Bonneville Power Administration
• Gregory Zerzan, Shareholder, Jordan Ramis P.C.

Commission meeting held in Commission Meeting Room (Room 2C) at FERC Headquarters, 888 First St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426

Agenda:

• Authorization of the Massachusetts Weymouth natural gas compressor station
• PJM Interconnection’s market seller offer cap

Live webcast

hearing page

Witnesses

• Chris Currie, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Team, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Carra Sims, Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist, The RAND Corporation
• Craig Fugate, Senior Advisor, Blue Dot Strategies and Former Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency

Join the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of the Army for an opportunity to comment on the proposed “Waters of the United States” definition. This is the third of three public hearings.

Please visit Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0602 on Regulations.gov for additional information about how to submit a public comment. The comment period on this proposed rule will close on February 7, 2022.

A public hearing to provide interested parties the opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning the proposed rule typically consists of morning, afternoon and evening sessions. In a virtual environment, these hearing sessions will be held on different days. To allow more time for speakers, the agencies prerecorded a video introduction and overview of the rule.

RSVP

Speaker list:

Hearing Session 1: 5:00 PM – 6:25 PM ET

1. Kristine Oblock, Environment America
2. Jen Pelz, Rio Grande Waterkeeper/WildEarth Guardians
3. David Brooks, Montana Trout Unlimited
4. Ryan Yates, American Farm Bureau Federation
5. Chris Edgington, National Corn Growers Association
6. David Simpson, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection
7. Lauren Williams, New York Farm Bureau
8. Anne Coan, NC Farm Bureau Federation
9. Carl Harris, Carl Harris Co., Inc.
10. Gregory Ugalde, National Association of Home Builders
11. Tim Kellogg, WDH Real Estate
12. Kaitlynn Glover, Public Lands Council/ National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
13. Brandon Reeves, Virginia Cattlemen’s Association
14. Sparky Wellman, independent cattle producer; Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Member
15. Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Association
16. Lucy Evert
17. Kelly Moser, Southern Environmental Law Center
18. Garrett Hawkins, Missouri Farm Bureau
19. Lowry Crook, Best Best & Krieger LLP
20. Alex Ortiz, Sierra Club
21. Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper

Hearing Session 2: 6:35 PM – 8 pm ET

1. Victoria Okula, Arizona Farm Bureau
2. Thomas Allen, Cook Allen Engineers and Surveyors
3. Mervin Wright, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
4. Alexander Funk, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
5. Michelle Diffenderfer, Lewis Longman & Walker
6. Charlie Besher , Besher Farms
7. Kim Bednarek, Okefenokee
8. Aaron Mintzes, Earthworks
9. Lisa Gover
10. Alan Hunt, Musconetcong Watershed Association
11. Vicki Watson, University of Montana

Business Meeting agenda:

• Eighteen GSA Resolutions
• David Uhlmann to be Assistant Administrator of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, of the Environmental Protection Agency
• Martha Williams to be Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, of the Department of the Interior
• Henry Christopher Frey to be Assistant Administrator for Research and Development of the Environmental Protection Agency

Hearing page

Witnesses

• David Strickland, Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, General Motors, Washington, D.C.
• Lincoln Wood, Electrification Policy Manager, Southern Company, Atlanta, GA
• Matthew Laughridge, President and Managing Partner, Terry Reid Automotive Group, Cartersville, GA on behalf of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)
• Trevor Walter, Vice President of Petroleum Supply Management, Sheetz, Inc., on behalf of National Association of Convenience Stores, Altoona, PA
• Geoff Cooper, President & Chief Executive Officer, Renewable Fuels Association, Ellisville, MO
• Josh Nassar, Legislative Director, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Washington, D.C. Republican witness:
• Mark Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute, Chevy Chase, MD

THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS will meet in OPEN SESSION, HYBRID FORMAT to conduct a hearing entitled, “Disaster Recovery Assistance – Authorization of the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program.”

Rescheduled from December 9th.

Witnesses:

• Michael A. Sprayberry, Senior Advisor For Emergency Management, Hagerty Consulting
• Matt Mayer, President, Opportunity Ohio

Business meeting to vote on various nominations, most of which are from a October 26 hearing.

The World Bank has not committed to aligning its financing with limiting warming to 1.5C. And the Financial Times reports that the Trump-appointed president of the World Bank, David Malpass, pushed for the joint statement by development banks at the UN COP26 climate summit to be shortened and weakened. The Bank is governed by a 25-member Board of Directors, of which Dr. Kugler is nominated to be the U.S. member, replacing the acting U.S. director Lea Bouzis.

The State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs includes the Division for International Finance and Development.

Nominations:

• Dr. Adriana Debora Kugler, of Maryland, to be United States Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the lending arm of the World Bank, for a term of two years
• Ramin Toloui, of Iowa, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs)
• Marc R. Stanley, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Argentine Republic
• Rashad Hussain, of Virginia, to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom
• Thomas Barrett, of Wisconsin, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
• Erik D. Ramanathan, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Sweden
• Scott Miller, of Colorado, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Swiss Confederation, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Principality of Liechtenstein

8. Ms. Jamie L. Harpootlian, of South Carolina, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia