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119th CONGRESS
1st Session |
Recognizing that facilities that produce renewable electricity are the cheapest power-generating facilities to operate and reliance on fossil fuel-generating facilities to meet growing power demand drives up wholesale electricity prices.
Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Markey, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Welch, and Ms. Blunt Rochester) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Recognizing that facilities that produce renewable electricity are the cheapest power-generating facilities to operate and reliance on fossil fuel-generating facilities to meet growing power demand drives up wholesale electricity prices.
Whereas electricity prices are generally determined by the level of demand for power and the cost of generating such power used to meet the demand;
Whereas the demand for power in the United States is growing faster than at any point in the past 2 decades;
Whereas power generators with the lowest operating costs are typically dispatched first, thereby meeting the demand for power at the lowest cost;
Whereas, as the demand for power increases, power generators with higher operating costs are dispatched, thereby driving up wholesale electricity prices;
Whereas fossil-power generation from coal, fossil gas, and oil has high operating costs due to the cost of fuel and maintenance; and
Whereas the generation of wind, solar, and other renewable resources has near-zero operating costs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate recognizes that—
(1) facilities that produce renewable electricity are the cheapest electricity-generating facilities to operate to meet the demand for power; and
(2) reliance on fossil fuel-generating facilities to meet the growing demand for power drives up wholesale electricity prices.