House passes North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act

The U.S. House recently passed the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act, which aims to upgrade the nation's energy infrastructure, as well as ensure proper safety and security measures to protect the nation's electricity grid.

"As the Obama administration undercuts American energy security in Paris, the House today advanced a reform package to strengthen our energy position and ensure our domestic infrastructure keeps stride with our renewed energy capacity,” Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), said. “If we want to foster the energy resurgence and cement America’s energy leverage at home and abroad, we need to change the prescriptive standards of the past. This package makes those changes. It keeps us on a path forward, creates new export opportunities to grow the domestic economy and enables our abundant domestic supply to reach communities most in need.”

Two other bills were rolled into the passed legislation: the National Energy Security Corridors Act and the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act. CedricRichmond (D-LA) and Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) introduced the former, which aims to expedite the approval process for natural gas pipelines.

“This bill will help to rein in out-of-control energy costs in the Northeast and bring our nation's energy policy into the 21st century,” MacArthur said. “South Jersey residents should never have to choose between heating their homes and other key priorities, like a quality education or affordable health care. My legislation will help to lower home energy costs, improve infrastructure and create good-paying local jobs, and will also ensure that natural gas pipeline construction meets rigorous environmental standards and requires thoughtful placement of pipelines.”