[Senate Hearing 117-228]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                                                        S. Hrg. 117-228
 
                      RENEWABLE ENERGY: GROWTH AND
                           OPPORTUNITIES FOR
                          OUR RURAL ECONOMIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               before the

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                      RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENERGY

                                 of the

                       COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
                        NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             JUNE 22, 2021

                               __________

                       Printed for the use of the
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
           
           
           
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                  Available on http://www.govinfo.gov/
                  
                  
                         ______                       


             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
47-218PDF             WASHINGTON : 2022 
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
           COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY


                 DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan, Chairwoman
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont            JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio                  MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado          JONI ERNST, Iowa
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York      CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
CORY BOOKER, New Jersey              CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia             DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
                                     MIKE BRAUN, Indiana

               Joseph A. Shultz, Majority Staff Director
               Mary Beth Schultz, Majority Chief Counsel
                    Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
            Martha Scott Poindexter, Minority Staff Director
                 Fred J. Clark, Minority Chief Counsel
                              ----------                              

              Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy

                   TINA SMITH, Minnesota, Chairwoman
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             JONI ERNST, Iowa
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio                  TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado          CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
                                     MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
                                     
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                         Tuesday, June 22, 2021

                                                                   Page

Subcommittee Hearing:

Renewable Energy: Growth and Opportunities for Our Rural 
  Economies......................................................     1

                              ----------                              

                    STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS

Smith, Hon. Tina, U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota.......     1
Ernst, Hon. Joni, U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa............     3

                               WITNESSES

Schlecht, Shannon, Executive Director, Agricultural Utilization 
  Research Institute,Crookston, MN...............................     5
Sieben, Hon. Katie, Chairwoman, Minnesota Public Utilities 
  Commission, St.Paul, MN........................................     7
Skor, Emily, Chief Executive Officer, Growth Energy, Washington, 
  DC.............................................................     9
Cherrier, Bill, Executive Vice President and CEO, Central Iowa 
  Power Cooperative, DesMoines, IA...............................    10
Mancuso, Matthew, Dean, Industrial Technology, Iowa Western 
  Community College, Council Bluffs, IA..........................    12
                              ----------                              

                                APPENDIX

Prepared Statements:
    Schlecht, Shannon............................................    28
    Sieben, Hon. Katie...........................................    34
    Skor, Emily..................................................    37
    Cherrier, Bill...............................................    52
    Mancuso, Matthew.............................................    56


   RENEWABLE ENERGY: GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR RURAL ECONOMIES

                              ----------                              


                         TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
        Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 
              Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., via 
Webex and in room 562, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. 
Tina Smith, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
    Present or submitting a statement: Senators Smith, 
Klobuchar, Bennet, Ernst, Grassley, Fischer, and Braun.

 STATEMENT OF HON. TINA SMITH, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF 
   MINNESOTA, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND 
                            FORESTRY

    Senator Smith. I call this hearing of the Subcommittee on 
Rural Development and Energy to order.
    I want to thank everyone for joining us today, in person as 
well as virtually. This hearing will be in a hybrid format. 
Witnesses will be appearing virtually and Senators will be 
appearing both in person and virtually.
    First, I want to thank Senator Ernst for working with me on 
today's bipartisan hearing focusing on renewable energy and for 
our strong partnership on issues that shape the lives of people 
living in rural America, including economic development. I look 
forward to having Senator Ernst as a partner on this 
Subcommittee this Congress as we explore a number of important 
rural development issues.
    Senator Ernst and I have worked together on issues to 
support rural farming communities like increasing access to 
conservation programs, creating more transparency in cattle 
markets, and helping hog farmers hit hard by the pandemic and 
we will continue our working relationship on this Subcommittee 
to highlight the great strengths of rural communities and the 
lessons that we can learn from leaders on the ground about how 
the Federal Government can be a good and a better partner.
    I start from the perspective that small towns and rural 
places are entrepreneurial, diverse, wonderful places to work, 
live, and raise a family. They produce our food and our energy. 
They are hubs of manufacturing, small business, education, 
health care, arts, and culture.
    When I travel to rural communities across Minnesota, I find 
hard-working, passionate people who love their communities and 
are focused on making them even better. My hope for this 
Subcommittee is to highlight these contributions. The Rural 
Development and Energy Subcommittee should lift up and promote 
the local ideas that are helping communities thrive.
    Some of the best opportunities and best ideas for building 
a strong rural economy are in clean energy. Renewable energy is 
rural energy. The clean energy transition is a cornerstone to 
building and sustaining economic vitality in rural communities. 
Renewable energy programs are already sparking economic growth 
across Minnesota and across the country.
    Professor Shaobo Deng at the University of Minnesota 
Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, Minnesota, for 
example, is partnering with Minnesota soybean growers to 
develop and promote a new plasma technology that has the 
potential to drastically reduce the energy consumption and cost 
of biodiesel production. His research is showing how we can use 
renewable wind and solar electricity to produce biofuels with a 
strikingly low carbon impact.
    Biodiesel and ethanol are low carbon fuels and they get 
greener every year and become a more economic and viable 
alternative to fossil fuels. If we add carbon capture and 
storage facilities to our biodiesel production facilities, as 
is proposed in Iowa and Minnesota, we can drive the carbon 
footprint down even further and create more opportunity in 
rural America.
    Cars and light trucks fueled by home-grown renewable energy 
and electricity and biofuels will literally drive the emission 
reductions that we need in the transportation sector. This is 
why we need a national low carbon fuel standard. We need to 
continue supporting R&D to develop biofuels as well, for ships 
and airplanes and long distance trucking, sectors that will not 
likely be electrified anytime soon.
    We need new clean programs but we also need to get more 
from our existing efforts. The energy title of the Farm Bill 
incentivizes farmers to install renewable energy systems on 
their farms. This week, I will be introducing legislation to 
improve and increase funding for the REAP program, which is the 
flagship of the energy title. Programs like REAP should be in 
the climate and infrastructure package that we must pass this 
summer.
    Rural America will benefit tremendously if we pass an 
investment also in a clean-based clean electricity standard as 
part of that same package. These strategies are all about 
creating jobs and economic opportunity in rural places and it 
takes a skilled work force to install these renewable energy 
systems and it takes training that work force at local 
technical colleges to ensure that those farmers can hire their 
neighbors to do the work.
    Today we are joined by a panel of witnesses who will share 
their thoughts on how renewable energy can spur economic growth 
in rural areas. Today's testimony will inform all of us on the 
Subcommittee as we work to draft bipartisan infrastructure 
bills and as we consider climate resilient legislation.
    It is important that rural voices are included in this 
policy discussion that comes before the Senate and this 
includes fostering renewable energies as a rural development 
economic driver.
    It has been a pleasure to work with Senator Ernst in 
planning this hearing and I will now turn to her for any 
opening comments that she would like to make this morning.

 STATEMENT OF HON. JONI ERNST, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF 
  IOWA, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY

    Senator Ernst. Thank you, Chairwoman Smith and I am pleased 
to join you this morning for this hearing of the Senate 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry's 
Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy.
    Since the early 1900's, the Federal Government has 
administered various programs aiding communities in rural 
America. Today, the major agency tasked with carrying out the 
bulk of these programs is USDA's Office of Rural Development. 
Created under the 1990 Farm Bill, Rural Development's main 
function is administering grants, loans, and loan guarantees to 
support a number of services in rural communities including the 
construction and maintenance of telecommunications 
infrastructure, rural business development and retention, water 
and wastewater treatment facilities, and rural housing.
    USDA Rural Development is also tasked with administering 
programs that support energy production, particularly renewable 
energy production throughout farm country. These programs have 
worked to support additional markets for our Nation's corn and 
soybean producers by funding the construction of advanced 
biofuels facilities. They assist rural businesses and farmers 
looking to expand renewable energy production or implement 
energy efficiency measures. These programs help finance the 
generation and distribution of reliable baseload electricity to 
power our rural communities.
    Considering my upbringing in rural America and the critical 
role that Iowa plays in producing energy for the Nation, I am 
privileged to serve as ranking member of this Subcommittee.
    Today, over half of Iowa's three million residents live in 
rural communities. Each year, I travel Iowa and do a tour of 
each of the State's 99 counties and 75 of them have a 
population of under 25,000.
    Needless to say, strong rural economies are essential to a 
strong Iowa. In Iowa, our fertile soil and ideal growing 
conditions have empowered us to lead the country in production 
of pork, corn, and soybeans. We are also a national leader in 
renewable energy production. Iowa is proud to be the top 
ethanol and biodiesel producer in the country and the second 
largest producer of wind energy.
    Iowa is also making significant strikes in the production 
of solar energy, and doing so in a way that ensures our rural 
communities will continue to have access to reliable, 
affordable electricity.
    Iowa is also home to leading academic institutions offering 
programs to Iowans and students across the country looking to 
pursue careers in the installation and maintenance of renewable 
energy systems.
    As we begin preliminary discussions about the 2023 Farm 
Bill, it is important we look at programs under our 
Subcommittee's jurisdiction to determine what is working and 
what may need improvement. We must continue exploring 
improvements in our programs to drive economic growth 
throughout rural America and that is why today's hearing is so 
timely and important.
    Thank you again, Chairwoman Smith, for working with me to 
hold this hearing. I look forward to the testimony from our 
distinguished panel of witnesses.
    I yield back.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Senator Ernst.
    We are now going to introduce our witnesses. I will 
introduce the first three and then Senator Ernst will introduce 
the next two. Then we will turn to each of the witnesses to 
make their opening statements.
    I would like to start with Mr. Shannon Schlecht, who is 
Executive Director of the Agricultural Utilization Research 
Institute. Mr. Schlecht is responsible for the overall 
strategic and operational oversight of this organization's 
staff and programs, and also the execution of its mission.
    Mr. Schlecht most recently served as the Vice President of 
Policy for U.S. Wheat Associates and has held numerous roles 
within the trade association during his 14 years with the 
organization. He has an extensive background in agriculture 
policy, market development, international trade, strategic 
planning, and management.
    Mr. Schlecht will speak today about the importance of 
research and development to the rural, clean energy, and 
bioeconomy revolution.
    Thank you for being here today, Shannon.
    The Honorable Chair Katie Sieben was appointed as 
Commissioner of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in 
2017. In 2019, was appointed as Chair by Governor Tim Walz.
    Chair Sieben is an active member of the National 
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and is the vice 
president of the Mid-American Regulatory Conference and is 
chair of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition.
    Chair Sieben previously served in the Minnesota Legislature 
for 14 years and was the Assistant Majority Leader of the State 
Senate.
    I invited Chair Sieben to speak today because she can speak 
best to a Minnesota model for ensuring that rural renewable 
energy benefits workers and their communities. Thank you for 
being with us today, Chair Sieben.
    Next, I would like to introduce Ms. Emily Skor. She is a 
St. Paul native. She joined Growth Energy as CEO in May 2016. 
Prior to joining Growth Energy, Emily served as Vice President 
of Communications for the Consumer Healthcare Products 
Association. At the Consumer Healthcare Products Association 
Ms. Skor led the industry's public affairs, strategic 
communications, and marketing. She has also served as Senior 
Vice President at a nationally recognized crisis management 
firm, where she led communications campaigns for Fortune 100 
companies and industry trade groups.
    Ms. Skor graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College 
and she lives in Washington, DC. with her husband and two 
children. Thank you for being here today with us, Emily.
    Now I recognize Senator Ernst who will make our final two 
introductions.
    Senator Ernst. Thank you, Chairwoman Smith.
    Today I am pleased to welcome our two Iowa witnesses.
    First, is Mr. Bill Cherrier, the Executive Vice President 
and CEO of Central Iowa Power Cooperative or CIPCO. With 40 
years of experience in the utility industry, Bill joined CIPCO 
in 2017 in the role he holds today.
    Prior to CIPCO, Bill served as Chief Planning and Finance 
Officer for Colorado Springs Utilities but got his start in the 
energy space at IES Industries and Alliant Energy Generation, 
both located in Cedar Rapids. While at CIPCO, Bill has overseen 
a changing power generation landscape which has included adding 
efficient natural gas, wind, and solar to CIPCO's energy 
portfolio.
    Bill earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Loras 
College in Dubuque and he is a Certified Public Accountant. 
Bill currently lives in West Des Moines with Mary, his wife of 
25 years, and he has three grown children and one grandchild, 
Mason. Bill, it is a pleasure to have you with us today.
    Our next witness is the Dean of Industrial Technology at 
Iowa Western, Mr. Matt Mancuso. Matt first joined Iowa Western 
in 2010 and has held a number of roles, including 
sustainability coordinator and director of corporate training. 
In 2015, Matt transitioned to academic affairs where he now 
serves as the Dean of Industrial Technology.
    Consisting of 16 academic programs, the Department of 
Industrial Technology is helping train Iowans and other 
students from across the country to pursue jobs in renewable 
industries, including the installation, maintenance, and repair 
of wind and solar energy systems.
    Matt holds a master of science in urban policy analysis and 
management and a bachelor's degree from the University of 
Nebraska at Omaha. Matt, thank you for joining us today.
    With that, Madame Chair, I will turn it back to you.
    Senator Smith. Thank you, Senator Ernst.
    Again, I thank all of our witnesses for being with us 
today. As a reminder, we ask that you keep your testimony to 
about five minutes each. You may hear me tap the gavel should 
your time expire.
    We will start with Mr. Schlecht. You are recognized for 
five minutes.

STATEMENT OF SHANNON SCHLECHT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AGRICULTURAL 
      UTILIZATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA

    Mr. Schlecht. Very good. Madame Chair, members of the 
Committee, thank you for the invitation to speak with you today 
about renewable energy and AURI's role in supporting the 
industry in Minnesota and surrounding States.
    My name is Shannon Schlecht. I am the Executive Director of 
the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute. I have been 
with the organization for over five years now and I am 
constantly amazed at the ideation and the innovative spirit in 
the ag and food industry, especially in the State's rural 
areas.
    The Minnesota Legislature created AURI in the late 1980's 
during the farm crisis and for over 30 years AURI has worked 
with producers, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, small and large ag 
and food businesses to accelerate their ideas of new value-
added opportunities and to bring those into the commercial 
market to benefit the ag and food industry.
    AURI's role is as a trusted advisor. We provide business 
and technical assistance to commercialize ideas. We launch 
commercial public awareness initiative ideas around new 
opportunities. We convene and connect industry to accelerate 
new ideas. We provide access to laboratories, a resource that 
does not often exist in rural areas.
    I am proud to say that our work to develop and de-risk 
opportunities has been reported by our clients to generate over 
$320 million in new ag and food sales each year, much of which 
benefits rural economies.
    AURI focuses on four areas, biobased products, renewable 
energy, food, and coproducts. All of these areas undoubtedly 
have a positive impact on rural economies but biofuels 
production has undoubtedly had an outsized impact over the last 
couple decades.
    AURI plays a key role in advancing the State's innovative 
philosophy around renewable energy. We have conducted a 
Renewable Energy Roundtable since 2006 to position Minnesota as 
a national leader in the space. We use this framework to 
generate awareness around new ideas and opportunities in the 
renewable space. In 2008, the State legislature even 
incorporated this framework into AURI's founding statute.
    Biofuels companies, we know, are constantly exploring new 
innovations and looking for additional uses for their products. 
One cooperative has even taken a lookback, using grain 
fermentation to bring alcohols back to the marketplace while 
others are exploring biobased chemicals, higher protein DDGs, 
fiber and starch separation technologies, just to name a few.
    Regarding ethanol, AURI named Chippewa Valley Ethanol 
Company as its Ag Innovator of the Year in 2017. This 
cooperative has continually displayed a culture of innovation. 
In addition to ethanol, it produces alcohol for food and 
beverage uses, pharmaceuticals, and industrial uses. We even 
worked with them on a gasification system to reduce their 
reliance on natural gas in the ethanol process.
    AURI has provided technical assistance, as well, to 
biodiesel producers for many years. We work with them not just 
on the technical aspects of biodiesel but on evaluation of 
products such as glycerin and turning those ideas into new 
market opportunities.
    Our work in partnerships across the renewable energy space 
is diverse and forward looking. AURI currently sits on the 
board of an innovation campus concept for Crookston, Minnesota 
that will include a small oilseed crush, laboratories, and 
ultimately serve as an incubationsite to spur new innovations 
focused on oilseeds and agricultural products including 
renewable energy.
    Our mandate to utilize agricultural products and our 
innovative philosophy also has led to new leadership roles in 
recent years. For example, we recently created an industry 
collaboration to explore advancing a renewable natural gas 
industry in Minnesota. One project concept is to quantify the 
volume, location, and value of various organic feedstocks, 
along with existing infrastructure, to help de-risk and move 
investment forward for new anaerobic digester systems.
    Many farmers tell us that they do not have the expertise or 
the time to advance these types of concepts on their own but 
would be willing to participate in them.
    Another area that we have partnered with the University of 
Minnesota is around potential uses for cash cover crops and 
perennial crops that can both improve soil health as well as 
meet market needs.
    Our role is to identify commercial opportunities around 
items such as renewable fuels and then work with the value 
chain participants to bring these ideas to the marketplace.
    Regarding the use of renewable biomass, we have worked with 
the University of Minnesota to better understand the holistic 
advantages to using biomass in heating systems for poultry 
barns. On the flip side, we have looked at using biomass to 
even cool buildings and looked at innovative cooling systems 
using biomass for commercial and industrial facilities.
    We are also taking a collaborative approach to better 
understand how disruptive technologies like green ammonia and 
hydrogen can be an opportunity or a threat to the biofuels or 
agricultural industry. Asking questions such as what synergies 
exist with our biofuels producers? Is this an opportunity for a 
lower carbon biofuel production? Can farmers benefit from 
another farmer-owned business opportunity?
    Providing Federal resources to help address challenges and 
opportunities in our new innovations will be key to the success 
and we appreciate your leadership and your forward-looking 
efforts around renewable energy and rural economies and the 
important role of agriculture in innovation.
    Thank you for the time and opportunity to share 
perspectives today. Thank you, Madame Chair.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Schlecht can be found on 
page 28 in the appendix.]

    Senator Smith. Thank you so much.
    We will now turn to Chair Sieben, who is recognized for 
five minutes.

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE KATIE SIEBEN, CHAIRWOMAN, MINNESOTA 
        PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

    Ms. Sieben. Chair Smith, Ranking Member Ernst, and members 
of the Subcommittee, good morning. I am Katie Sieben and it is 
an honor to testify today on behalf of the Minnesota Public 
Utilities Commission.
    The Commission regulates our State's electric and natural 
gas providers and our mission is to create a regulatory 
structure that ensures reliable utility services at fair, 
reasonable rates that are consistent with Minnesota's 
telecommunications and energy policies.
    We are economic regulators primarily, but increasingly, we 
are seeing and measuring the impact of clean energy and its 
transition on Greater Minnesota. Today, I would like to share 
several points about the importance of ensuring the benefits of 
clean energy reach rural communities, and offer some insights 
into how we, as regulators, have played a role in this.
    First, and importantly, low prices for electricity and 
natural gas are critically important for economic growth, 
whether that is in Fergus Falls, Hastings, or Mankato. We work 
hard to ensure a robust participatory permitting process so 
that developers and utilities can build needed generation to 
deliver reliable power.
    As older generators reach the end of their useful lives and 
utilities either set their own emissions goals or are directed 
to by policymakers, new renewable energy is taking its place. 
In 2020, Minnesota built 588 megawatts of new generation 
capacity, and all of it was renewable, and all was located in 
rural communities.
    The financial upside of this new generation is significant. 
Since 2004, wind energy production tax has generated over $133 
million in revenue for Minnesota counties. There are counties 
in southern Minnesota that receive more than a quarter of their 
yearly budget in wind production tax revenues. There are also, 
of course, tens of millions of dollars of payments to 
landowners, many of whom are farmers that invest these payments 
in local communities.
    Job creation is a critical component of the benefits of new 
generation. When the Commission began asking developers to 
report on the number of jobs created in large wind and solar 
construction projects, it signaled to the industry that the 
socioeconomic benefits of these expensive projects should flow 
to local workers, their families and rural communities.
    Since we began reporting on the use of local labor--defined 
as people who live within 150 miles of the project--we have 
seen a significant shift in the percentage of local workers 
hired, from 20 to upwards of 70 percent. This has resulted in a 
better trained work force in many areas of the State and has 
encouraged the development of worker training programs that 
lead to new job pathways.
    When the COVID pandemic hit last year, it led to a dramatic 
loss of clean energy jobs across the Minnesota and an estimated 
loss of 11,000 clean energy jobs in Minnesota alone. The 
Commission, knowing that the energy sector represents one-sixth 
of our State's economy, understood that it needed a boost. The 
Commission requested the acceleration of investment in clean-
energy projects that would spur ecomomic development, lower 
rates, reduce emissions and importantly, create jobs. The 
utilities responded and the Commission has permitted clean 
energy projects that are helping to revitalize communities 
while keeping rates low. We have asked utilities to report on 
the number of direct and indirect jobs created, the reduction 
in emissions, and the use of women, minority and veteran owned 
businesses in their work force or contracting provisions. Here 
are two examples:
    Xcel Energy is in the process of repowering six wind 
projects across Greater Minnesota. It will result in over 800 
jobs, annual property tax revenue of roughly $4 million, and 
annual landowner payments of $6 million per year, all while 
saving ratepayers an estimated $160 million.
    Second, the Duluth, Laskin and Sylvan Solar projects were 
approved for Minnesota Power. The company is building three 
solar facilities, totaling 21 megawatts of capacity, using 
highly skilled labor, contracting with minority-owned 
businesses and using locally manufactured solar panels. 
Importantly, there was robust community support for these three 
solar projects.
    Finally, I want to emphasize that transmission' investments 
are needed, desperately, across the Midwest and throughout the 
country. New transmission can maximize the value of low-cost, 
renewable energy and create living wage jobs that are essential 
to ensuring Americans have reliable power. Please include 
transmission investments in the American Jobs Plan or other 
relevant legislation.
    Thank you for your time today and your leadership in 
supporting our rural communities as our energy systems are 
transforming. I am happy to answer questions you may have.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Sieben can be found on page 
34 in the appendix.]

    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Chair Sieben.
    I will now turn to Ms. Skor, who is recognized for five 
minutes.

   STATEMENT OF EMILY SKOR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, GROWTH 
                    ENERGY, WASHINGTON, D.C.

    Ms. Skor. Thank you, Chairwoman Smith, Ranking Member 
Ernst, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.
    I am pleased to speak to you today about biofuels vital 
role in addressing climate change and driving our rural 
economy.
    My name is Emily Skor. I am the CEO of Growth Energy, our 
Nation's largest ethanol trade association. We represent over 
half of all U.S. ethanol production, including 92 producer 
plants and 91 innovative businesses that support biofuel 
production. 210 biorefineries across 27 States have the 
capacity to produce more than 17 billion gallons of ethanol, a 
low-carbon renewal liquid fuel. We are the second largest 
customer for U.S. corn growers, using roughly one-third of the 
corn crop to produce ethanol and coproducts such as high-
protein animal feed and corn oil.
    Biofuels like ethanol are critical to meeting carbon 
reduction goals today and well into the future. In fact, 
studies show there is no path to net zero emissions by 2050 
without biofuels. EIA projects that gasoline or flex-fuel 
powered vehicles will make up about 80 percent of new vehicle 
sales in 2050, meaning the vast majority of the cars on the 
road will continue to be powered by liquid fuels for decades to 
come.
    We know there is no one-size-fits-all path toward 
decarbonization, which is why biofuels remain essential in any 
effective transition away from fossil fuels. The environmental 
benefits are clear. Ethanol today reduces greenhouse gas 
emissions by 46 percent compared to traditional gasoline. 
Moving our Nation's standard fuel from E10 to E15, a 15 percent 
ethanol blend, will deliver substantial greenhouse gas emission 
reductions, the equivalent of removing nearly four million 
vehicles from the road each year.
    The economic benefits of increased biofuel use are also 
clear. Our industry supports over 300,000 American jobs, many 
based in rural communities.
    Today, Growth Energy is releasing a new study which shows 
that a nationwide move to E15 will add $17.8 billion to U.S. 
GDP, support more than 182,000 additional jobs, generate $10.5 
billion in new household income, and save consumers $12.2 
billion in fuel costs. To capture these benefits, expanding 
market access to higher ethanol fuel blends is our top 
priority.
    E15 is currently sold at nearly 2,500 sites in 30 States 
across the Nation. We expand that exponentially by making long-
term infrastructure incentives available to fuel retailers. The 
BIP and HBIIP programs administered under Secretaries Vilsack 
and Perdue significantly expanded markets for higher ethanol 
blends. Any infrastructure package considered by Congress 
should buildupon these successes to further promote investment 
in low-carbon biofuels.
    We strongly support efforts by those on this Subcommittee 
to provide such incentives for E15 and higher blends, 
particularly Senators Klobuchar and Ernst's Renewable Fuel 
Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act. Growing the 
share of renewable biofuels in America's fuel supply is crucial 
to achieving zero emissions and promoting high paying clean 
energy jobs in rural America. To do this, we must have a strong 
RFS.
    A recent news report stated that the Administration is 
contemplating RFS relief for refineries that refuse to blend 
biofuels. Not only would this undercut the growth of home-grown 
renewable energy, it would also backtrack on explicit promises 
President Biden made when he was a candidate. In 2019, 
President Biden said in Iowa, and I quote, ``Those waivers are 
a gigantic mistake. We should not be exempting. We should be 
insisting that these major oil companies meet the criteria that 
is set.''
    We wholeheartedly agree that refiners should meet their 
blending obligations. Lowering, waiving, capping, or any 
backtracking on the promise of the RFS damages our ability to 
decarbonize our vehicle fleet, threatens large agricultural 
markets, and jeopardizes hundreds of thousands of good paying 
jobs supported by the biofuel industry.
    Last, thank you for your tireless efforts in securing COVID 
relief for our producers through the USDA. This was welcomed 
news after weathering the most difficult year the industry has 
ever seen. As we await further direction on how funds will be 
distributed, we remain grateful for your advocacy efforts.
    To close, biofuels ensure that we achieve our Nation's 
climate goals and strengthen our rural economy. Thank you, and 
I look forward to any questions you may have.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Skor can be found on page 37 
in the appendix.]

    Senator Smith. Thank you so much.
    We now turn to Mr. Cherrier, who is recognized for five 
minutes.

 STATEMENT OF BILL CHERRIER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CEO, 
        CENTRAL IOWA POWER COOPERATIVE, DES MOINES, IOWA

    Mr. Cherrier. Chairwoman Smith, Ranking Member Ernst, and 
distinguished members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, on 
behalf of Central Iowa Power Cooperative, thank you for the 
opportunity to testify on renewable energy efforts.
    CIPCO is a not-for-profit generation and transmission 
electric cooperative providing electricity to 13 member 
cooperatives stretching 300 miles across Iowa and serving 58 
counties.
    Our sources of energy have significantly changed in the 
last decade. In 2010, power needs were primarily met through 
coal at 60 percent, nuclear at 30 percent. Wind was less than 
five percent. 2020's continued asset diversification caused a 
significant drop in coal usage to 21 percent, while wind grew 
to 32 percent. Our nuclear plant also ceased operations.
    Our current portfolio consists of wind, solar, hydro, 
landfill gas, natural gas, and coal. 2021 projections show our 
renewable energy at over 40 percent. Many of the renewable 
energy credits with these projects have been sold into the 
renewable market.
    By 2030, we project our portfolio to be over 60 percent 
wind and solar. However, intermittent resources like wind and 
solar cannot support the growing demand for power alone. 
Diverse generation capacity, including coal, natural gas, and 
nuclear is necessary to provide power--excuse me.
    However, intermittent resources like wind and solar cannot 
provide the growing demand for power alone. Diverse capacity, 
including coal and natural gas, is necessary for power demand.
    For this reason, CIPCO recently invested $85 million to add 
efficient natural gas engines to serve the higher energy 
demand. This enhances the addition of intermittent renewable 
resources while maintaining service reliability.
    As renewable policy has continued in discussions, we must 
recognize the need for a realistic transition plan and time 
period for accounting for the regional differences and resource 
ability. It is important for policymakers to note that the 
current Federal tax-credit structure prevents electric 
cooperatives like CIPCO from taking advantage of tax benefits 
to directly build and own wind and solar assets. The current 
program requires cooperatives to work with third-party 
providers on long-term contracts to bring this energy into the 
market. The current incentive structure impedes our ability to 
adopt new technologies in a more cost-effective way. If 
Congress would recognize this and make existing tax credits 
direct-pay eligible for electric cooperatives, you would see an 
accelerated adoption of renewables among electric cooperatives 
as a result.
    Most relevant to this Committee, is our interest in 
providing the Rural Utility Service with the ability to allow 
electric cooperatives across the country to refinance interest 
on existing RUS loans. CIPCO has partnered with RUS on project 
financing from the beginning with an RUS loan of $3 million in 
1947. Over the last 30 years, RUS has supported CIPCO with more 
than $500 million in secured, long-term financing.
    Passage of the Flexible Financing for Rural America Act 
will allow electric cooperatives to refinance the interest on 
existing RUS loans similar to commercial loans. Electric 
cooperatives would save over $10 billion in interest across the 
life of the loans. For CIPCO, that number would be more than 
$21 million. We value our relationship with the RUS, and an 
efficient system that understands and values the changing 
utility industry is important for continued success.
    Also relevant to the jurisdiction is USDA's development of 
broadband programs which are essential to the rural communities 
we serve. The Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program 
is a key asset for rural growth. In 2020, CIPCO has secured 
$8.7 million for 10 projects to support rural businesses.
    Additionally, the grant and loan programs provided an 
enhance broadband capabilities across rural areas and that is 
greatly appreciated. Nearly 200 electric cooperatives in 39 
States are engaged in providing broadband where it makes sense. 
Our own member Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative has alone 
invested $65 million in rural broadband in four counties.
    We appreciate the opportunity to visit with you with the 
electric industry and this Committee's work on ensuring 
programs are available to support the safety, reliability and 
cost-effectiveness of the system.
    Thank you for your time today.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Cherrier can be found on 
page 52 in the appendix.]

    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Mr. Cherrier.
    We will now have an opportunity to hear from our last 
witness, Mr. Mancuso.

STATEMENT OF MATTHEW MANCUSO, DEAN, INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY, IOWA 
        WESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA

    Mr. Mancuso. Thank you, Chairwoman Smith, Ranking Member 
Ernst and the whole Senate Ag Committee for inviting Iowa 
Western to discuss the programming that we have here and the 
positive work force impact our graduates have on the economy.
    The mission of the college is meeting educational needs and 
improving the quality of life through programs, partnerships, 
and communities. We believe this renewable energy is a premier 
programs that does that. Renewable energy is one of the fastest 
growing industries in our area and we believe that we at Iowa 
Western play an integral role in developing the educated work 
force to make that happen. I am excited to share the 
programming that we have today.
    Just a little bit about Iowa Western, Iowa Western is the 
sole provider of higher education in Southwest Iowa. It serves 
several rural counties which equates to about 169,566 in 
population. The largest city is Council Bluffs, which is a part 
of the Omaha, Nebraska MSA. About two-thirds of our population 
is rural population. The renewable energy program helps serve 
those rural populations.
    Iowa Western first offered its first renewable energy 
program in 2009. Since then it has been through two major 
redevelopments. This is obviously to stay current with work 
force needs and renewable energy is an ever-changing field, 
even for how young it is.
    The current curriculum that we have, we believe is a 
premier program for renewable energy for our region. Iowa 
Western offers a renewable energy AAS degree, a wind turbine 
technician, and a solar install certificate. These programs 
work in alignment with each other to provide multiple pathway 
options for students in the renewable energy field. This 
purposeful alignment allows for students to enter and exit the 
work force and return for further education seamlessly. This 
flexibility is key to today's work force.
    The renewable energy AAS degree is a mixture. The students 
get both the wind turbine technician training and they also get 
a solar installation training. They get both of them.
    The wind turbine technician a two semester program. This is 
basically just the first year of the AAS degree. Students after 
that are able to climb and inspect the exterior and physical 
integrity of wind turbine. They also are able to do routine 
maintenance.
    The Solar Certificate is only a six-hour credit program. 
This is a program that is also taken by electrical and HVAC 
students.
    What I want to talk about in the work force area is that 
the solar is kind of feeding into other industries, and that is 
obviously a positive thing.
    Wind technicians work force demand is really high. In Iowa, 
it is expected to grow by 26.9 percent by 2025. Students who 
are seeking jobs as wind technicians and graduates from the 
wind turbine technician diploma, or the AAS, are quickly hired. 
On a weekly basis, these notices come from companies for hiring 
opportunities.
    The majority of the students in the career field of wind 
energy go back to rural Iowa to work. Other students start 
their careers in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota, and we find 
that a large majority of them do come back to their local 
communities that they grew up in. After a few years, many 
students have come back to where they originally are from.
    Solar energy is relatively new for the Midwest and Iowa, 
but it is the largest growing. Its jobs have increased by 268 
percent in the last decade in Iowa. Students graduating with 
the solar installation usually have to work as an electrician 
but also just recently, with the large commercial solar fields, 
these large construction companies who are building these are 
actually hiring our students at great rates. We get requests 
from them often, as well. We expect that to grow very much in 
the future.
    In closing, Iowa Western is interested in continuing to 
support and enhance renewable energy in rural communities 
through our renewable energy program. Iowa Western is committed 
to the success of the renewable energy industry by preparing 
educated students to meet the work force demand of the day. 
These students are passionate about renewable energy and many 
are interested in living in local rural communities.
    I thank you for everything you do for renewable energy in 
rural America and I look forward to your questions. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Mancuso can be found on page 
56 in the appendix.]

    Senator Smith. Thank you very much to all of our panelists 
and we will now begin a session of five minute questions 
amongst the members.
    I will start with a question for Chair Sieben. Chair 
Sieben, can you talk to us about the need for collaboration and 
coordination between the Federal Government and local 
governments and on-the-ground experts as we really want to 
reach our clean energy goals? Can you particularly address how 
renewable electricity is benefiting Minnesota's rural 
communities and how Minnesota provides a model for ensuring 
that local workers are benefiting from this opportunity?
    Ms. Sieben. Thank you for the question, Chair Smith. I am 
happy to try to answer that question.
    In Minnesota, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, the 
legislature directed the Commission to look at the 
socioeconomic benefits of new sources of generation. The 
Commission has asked utilities to report on the number of local 
jobs that are created in new construction projects. We have 
seen in construction projects in Minnesota that occurred prior 
to this request for reporting, less than 20 percent of license 
plates of workers were from Minnesota. Now that the Commission 
is asking utilities to report on job creation quarterly, we are 
seeing renewable energy projects employ 60 to 70 percent of 
workers that live within a 150 mile radius.
    As I said, just because we are asking these questions, the 
utilities, of course, are reporting on it. I think they are 
sensing the investment that comes when they build new renewable 
projects in rural Minnesota, that the community is more 
supportive of those projects because the tax benefits flow to 
the schools, to other local units of government, to farmers. It 
really, I think, is a model for asking these tough questions of 
utilities and developers to ensure that local communities see 
the benefit.
    The second point that I would like to make is that although 
it is not required by statute in Minnesota to pay prevailing 
wages, if there are any efforts that the Congress can take to 
level the playing field so that all jobs that are created in 
rural communities around renewable energy pay a prevailing 
wage, that will benefit local communities and local families 
even more.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Chair Sieben.
    Ms. Skor, I would like to turn to you with a question. I 
really appreciated your comments about how biofuels and 
renewable electricity can work hand-in-hand. I wonder if you 
could talk to us a little bit about your perspective on how a 
Federal low-carbon fuel standard would allow biofuel-powered 
vehicles and electric vehicles to work together. How could 
these two strategies be synced up to benefit renewable fuels 
like we produce so expertly in Minnesota and Iowa?
    Ms. Skor. Thank you, Senator, and I appreciate the question 
and your support.
    Many people agree that there is no path toward our clean 
energy future without using every tool in the toolbox. We are 
well aware that electric vehicles are an important solution and 
so are biofuels. It is important that we continue to recognize 
the innovation that is taking place in the biofuel industry. 
With respect to any forward-leaning carbon policy, most 
important is that you get the details right.
    There are a lot of different ways that you can account for 
the life cycle of the ethanol industry. Many of them actually 
disadvantage the ethanol industry. Important for us is that you 
have modeling that reflects the most current science and 
reflects all of the innovation that is taking place not only at 
the plant but also on the field.
    We would support the concept of a low-carbon fuel standard 
provided that you are technology neutral, provided that you do 
not have your thumb on the scale for one technology over the 
other. We need to evaluate all of the options on the table. All 
are going to be needed to deliver against our important 
progressive climate goals.
    We look forward to being a constructive partner. We look 
forward to having constructive dialog in that regard. We know 
that we are going to be used, along with electrification and 
other technologies, to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much. I appreciate that answer 
and I agree with you completely on the need to be technology 
neutral. That is a feature of the clean electricity standard in 
another sector that I am working on. It seems to me that our 
strategy should be to sync up our renewable fuels efforts and 
the efforts to electrify transportation to maximize the job 
opportunities that we want to see in rural communities, as well 
as maximizing our goals around cutting greenhouse gas 
emissions.
    Thank you so much and I turn now to Senator Ernst.
    Senator Ernst. Great. Thank you, Madame Chair.
    The first question will go to Mr. Cherrier. I came to the 
Senate just over six years ago, committed to cutting pork and 
working to remove unnecessary and burdensome regulations 
imposed on our farmers and rural economies and I remain 
absolutely committed to that cause.
    Mr. Cherrier, in your testimony, you mentioned the 
important role renewables play in CIPCO's generation portfolio. 
You also mentioned that system reliability depends upon the 
ability to back up intermittent wind and solar power with firm, 
flexible, and dispatchable capacity like coal and natural gas.
    Earlier this year, as part of the Biden administration's 
goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, current and 
former government officials released recommendations for how 
Federal agencies can achieve this goal. This included 
developing plans for retiring fossil fuel burning power plants.
    Can you talk about the importance for ensuring that any 
plans to retire any baseload capacity needs to be done 
thoughtfully, through incentives, and not through overly 
burdensome regulation that could result in stranded assets and 
risk electric co-ops ability to continue providing reliable, 
affordable energy to rural communities across the country?
    Mr. Cherrier. Thank you, Senator Ernst.
    I would like to say that we have made tremendous progress 
with the use of incentives and allowing the economics and 
reliability to drive the generation decisions. That has been 
critical for the utilities. We can see what the incentives have 
actually done, with CIPCO getting up to nearly 40 percent this 
year on renewables and we are already adding tremendous amounts 
of wind and solar in the next couple of years as a result of 
those incentives.
    We do need gas, coal, and nuclear. We saw it earlier this 
year in the polar vortex when we had several States that were 
rolling blackouts and total blackouts when plants were not 
available. Diverse generation is critical.
    CIPCO and in the Midwest and independent system operations, 
fossil plants really brought the power there that we needed, 
and did it economically. We saw gas prices go very, very high 
and all of the coal plants that were available were running. 
That is a critical element of this.
    We have seen some of the comments on keeping it affordable. 
Using the transition with incentives is by far the best way to 
do it, and allowing the utilities to actually make the economic 
and reliability decisions. We are already seeing fossil plants, 
many, many coal plants, being shuttered and closed simply 
because the economics are driving it. We are seeing a major 
transition in this country. The incentives, and we have seen 
the cost of renewables come down considerably but the 
incentives will drive it that much quicker.
    Senator Ernst. Very good. Thank you so much.
    Mr. Mancuso, partnerships are really important in rural 
America. Could you please talk generally about how wind 
developers in Iowa partner with farmers and other landowners on 
the siting of wind farms and how this can serve as an 
additional revenue source for our agriculture producers?
    Mr. Mancuso. Sure. Thank you, Senator Ernst.
    Actually, in my written testimony, I mentioned around 2020 
there was $30 million that were given to land leases for the 
wind turbines just in Iowa. Now that is supposed to grow to 
over $45 million in the next few years. These farmers can 
obviously have less financial stress. These farmers can then 
more efficiently farm their land.
    What I mean by that is they can purchase new and more 
modern equipment and then, obviously, not have that financial 
burden because the land leases that those wind turbines have.
    Obviously, right now it is a very precarious time for 
farmers and ranchers with the recent volatile markets and I 
know the individuals who have land leases for wind turbines 
have kind of weathered that storm a little better than let us 
say individuals who have not or farmers who have not.
    Lease payments can be different in costs and the amounts 
that you receive, but even if you had four or five wind 
turbines on your land it would be very beneficial for a farmer.
    Senator Ernst. Thank you, I appreciate that.
    In one of my 99 county tours in Iowa, in Northwest Iowa, 
very sparsely populated, it was brought to my attention that 
the wind turbines on a number of these properties, actually the 
taxes drawn from those wind turbines enabled that very small 
rural school district to remain in place. That is one thing, as 
well. It is just one of those secondary and tertiary benefits 
of having these wind turbines in our most rural areas. A lot of 
our school districts face declining enrollment and the added 
benefit of those dollars in the community is very, very 
helpful.
    Thank you to the witnesses. I appreciate it.
    Senator Smith. Thanks so much.
    I believe next we have Senator Klobuchar, who is 
participating virtually, for five minutes of questioning.
    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much to my colleague, 
Senator Smith, for your leadership on this Subcommittee and 
also for having the wisdom to put so many Minnesotans on the 
panel.
    I will start out with actually the environmental benefits 
of biofuels, which I think it is overlooked and misunderstood a 
lot. I will ask this of you, Ms. Skor, there was a recent 
study, of course, from Harvard--I consider that the University 
of Minnesota of the East--showing the environmental benefits. 
Senator Thune and I introduced a bill to direct the Agency to 
update its modeling standards to reflect the latest science, 
and they are supposed to be updated.
    How would ensuring EPA is accurately accounting for the 
emissions from ethanol and biodiesel incentivize higher blends?
    Ms. Skor. Senator, thank you for the question and thank you 
for the bill. We hope that this bill does become law.
    We have ethanol plants today who are producing cellulosic-
advanced biofuels which have significantly higher greenhouse 
gas reduction above the standard 46 percent. They also bring 
additional value to the market, which also always comes back to 
the farmer.
    However, these pathways are not approved because EPA is 
using not the right kind of modeling. It is very important when 
we look at how EPA evaluates any policy moving forward, whether 
it is the RFS or whether it is looking at future carbon policy. 
They have to use the most up-to-date science that is reflecting 
the innovations taking place in the plant and in the field, as 
well.
    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
    That is why I was so disappointed with some of the recent 
reports that the Administration is considering, and we do not 
know if it is true, exempting oil refineries from the RFS 
obligations and lowering the amount of renewable fuel that must 
be blended. I recently led a letter with 14 leaders in 
Congress, urging them to reject those actions. Mr. Schlecht, 
can you briefly talk about the impact that exempting oil 
refiners from their RFS obligations would have in Minnesota and 
across the country?
    Mr. Schlecht. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar.
    The RFS is absolutely a critical standard for being highly 
impactful for supporting renewables, the renewable energy 
industry, as well as rural economies.
    As I look at our work with ethanol companies and biodiesel 
companies around the State, the impact that it has on corn 
producers, as well as on the rural economies, is absolutely 
that vital infrastructure that provides them the means to look 
at new innovation opportunities to remain resilient as we 
continue going forward and look at adopting these new practices 
that meet new lower carbon needs for consumers that are being 
demanded in the marketplace.
    It is an absolutely critical element. We highly support the 
RFS and our stakeholders, as well, and appreciate the question.
    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
    Ms. Skor, just quickly, is there any evidence that oil 
refiners are suffering from economic hardship right now as a 
result of the RFS?
    Ms. Skor. Absolutely not. There is no correlation to the 
price of complying with the RFS in refinery profits. This is 
something that has been affirmed by many experts, including 
EPA, several times.
    Senator Klobuchar. One large barrier is the fact that we 
have got not enough biofuel infrastructure. There has been a 
lot of people trying to block that that want to stop biofuels 
from hitting the market in a big way.
    Senator Ernst and I just introduced a bill to make 
permanent a USDA program that has been successful in expanding 
market access for biofuels by installing new blender pumps. I 
guess Ms. Skor or Mr. Schlecht, one of you, how can investments 
in biofuel infrastructure help?
    Ms. Skor. Senator, thank you for the bill. We absolutely 
support this. We have seen with previous programs of investment 
through USDA that those investments in infrastructure really 
help us have access to the markets. We need consumers to be 
able to access these low-carbon renewable fuels in all 50 
States at every fueling station.
    We know that retailers need the incentive, the 
infrastructure support. As we look, as Congress looks at 
investing in all types of clean energy, we have got to make 
sure that we are incentivizing the use of low-carbon biofuels.
    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
    One last question to my friend, Ms. Sieben, out there. 
Whirlwind Energy, from your perspective in working with rural 
communities, how does expanding renewable energy generation 
capacity benefits to not just big entities but small farms, as 
well help?
    Ms. Sieben. Thank you for the question, Senator Klobuchar.
    As we have seen in Minnesota, renewable energy, especially 
wind projects, have created tremendous economic development 
opportunities for small communities. We are seeing the impact 
of increased hiring of local workers, which leads to more 
careers in the renewable energy sector. We are also seeing 
increased manufacturing domestically of wind turbines and solar 
panel components.
    Combined with the tax benefits that come from renewable 
energy projects, it really is a holistic, helpful way to 
improve rural economies across Minnesota.
    As I said earlier, though, what we really need in Minnesota 
especially is more transmission. As of January, there are 533 
projects, renewable energy projects primarily, waiting to 
connect in the MISO queue, which total over 15 gigawatts of 
projects.
    Once again, investment in transmission will really help our 
rural economies and connect these renewable energy projects.
    Senator Klobuchar. All right. Thank you very much. Again, 
thank you, Senator Smith, for this great hearing.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Senator Klobuchar.
    Next, we have Senator Fischer for five minutes of 
questioning.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Smith. I appreciate 
this hearing today. I think it is extremely important.
    Ms. Sieben, if I could have you followup a little bit on 
your comments to Senator Klobuchar about the transmission 
infrastructure. I actually recently read from or heard from 
constituents about a large renewable project in Nebraska that 
is in jeopardy of failing because of the antiquated 
transmission infrastructure in that area.
    You have mentioned these projects do come with direct and 
indirect jobs, there is revenue boosts for the county and also 
the schools. We see reduced emissions. More importantly, we 
have a reliable energy source.
    Could you expound a little more about the relationship that 
we see between these infrastructure projects with transmission 
lines and the renewable project development that we hope will 
be able to occur?
    Ms. Sieben. Happy to, Senator Fischer and thank you for the 
question.
    As many members know, America's transmission grid is 
generally outdated and rather inefficient to support a modern 
economy. Many of the Nation's transmission and distribution 
lines were constructed in the 1950's and 1960's and have 
surpassed their 50 year life expectancy.
    We need to invest in transmission to bring these low-cost 
domestic sources of energy to consumers. It will help decrease 
bills overall. Any dollar invested in transmission is estimated 
to bring a $2 to $3 return on that investment.
    Failure to invest in more transmission will prevent 
economic development, as you talked about, Senator. Really 
importantly, failure to invest in more transmission is making 
the Nation more vulnerable to grid outages and national 
security threats.
    The need for transmission is really significant. It is 
estimated that renewable energy projects could be deployed at a 
rate two to three times more quickly if there was more 
transmission, especially in the Midwest but throughout the 
country.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Cherrier, currently Nebraska is the only State where 
every single home and business gets its electricity from a 
consumer-owned not-for-profit utility. Nebraska has 121 
municipalities, 30 public power districts, 10 electric 
cooperatives, and zero investor-owned utilities. We have a very 
unique system in the State of Nebraska.
    I think it also needs to have special consideration in 
order for the systems that we have--so they can be included in 
Federal incentive programs. The Administration is focusing on 
clean energy, so how can we ensure that Federal incentive or 
assistance programs for clean energy work for business models 
outside of the investor-owned utility providers?
    Mr. Cherrier. Well, thank you, Senator.
    I think the best way is really allowing the direct pay 
credits to be done. I think what you would find with changing 
to direct pay credits for both wind and solar would be a 
dramatic increase in renewable projects in Nebraska. Nebraska 
has great pride in being a public power State and with its 
cooperative and rural roots, and has done a phenomenal job of 
that.
    Also, the ability to have the new transmission lines, that 
is probably one of the biggest drawbacks from reducing carbon 
footprints is the lack of transmission. We have hundreds of 
gigawatts of capacity in renewables that are awaiting new 
transmission that could be developed.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you.
    Ms. Skor, I appreciated your comments about the EPA and 
being able to give industry and refineries more consistent 
direction on blending expectations. With all the see-sawing 
back and forth, it is really hard to have any kind of business 
model there and I think it is causing a lot of uncertainty for 
everyone.
    Give me a 10 second answer on that to highlight why it is 
so important that we address that?
    Ms. Skor. You are absolutely right, Senator. We are at a 
critical point in the economic recovery of rural America. A big 
part of our future success not only to recover lost demand but 
to propel growth in our job opportunities moving forward is 
getting the RFS back on track.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you.
    Thank you, Madame Chair.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much, Senator Fischer.
    Next, we will have five minutes of questions from Senator 
Bennet from Colorado.
    Senator Bennet. Thank you, Madame Chair, and thanks for 
hosting this incredibly important hearing. I know people in 
Colorado are going to be extremely happy that you had it, so I 
appreciate it.
    Mr. Cherrier, I appreciate you raising the importance of 
ensuring that electric cooperatives can access clean energy 
credits. As I am sure you know, from your time at Colorado 
Springs Utilities, the co-ops in Colorado are doing incredible 
work to transition to clean energy. I believe we should support 
them.
    That is why I recently led an effort in the Finance 
Committee to secure an amendment to ensure electric co-ops, 
public power, and Tribal Governments have access to direct pay. 
Could you talk a little bit about how direct pay provisions 
would help accelerate our transition to clean energy and what 
specific clean energy projects you would be able to advance of 
Congress allowed co-ops to access direct pay?
    Mr. Cherrier. Thank you, Senator Bennet, and I appreciate 
you being a champion for this issue.
    The direct pay credits will actually accelerate the 
projects that are probably already in planning for many of the 
utilities. It will reduce our cost by us being able to access 
those directly rather than using a tax-paying entity that is 
also taking profits and providing it to investors. We reinvest 
that money into the system.
    It is really critical and you have some phenomenal 
utilities out there, Tri-State and other ones, that have 
invested tremendously. I think you will see a great 
acceleration because they will have more funds directly 
available to them to continue to do that and we will see these 
renewable projects actually accelerating as a result.
    Senator Bennet. Thank you. I wanted to ask you another 
question.
    You mentioned, in your testimony, the importance of 
affordable high-speed broadband. As you know, in Colorado, 
electric co-ops like the Delta-Montrose Electric Association 
are doing incredibly impressive work to provide fast and 
affordable broadband, I mean competitive with the rest of the 
world, to some of the most rural parts of our State. I drew 
heavily on their example to write the BRIDGE Act, a bipartisan 
broadband bill I introduced last week with Senator King and 
Senator Portman. Our bill would help to deploy future-proof 
networks that meet much higher standards for speed, latency, 
and reliability than what the Federal Government has typically 
accepted in the massive subsidies that we have historically 
given to large telecom carriers instead of investing in 
communities like Delta-Montrose and ones like you represent.
    Could you expand on the mention of broadband in your 
testimony? What would fast gigabit speed broadband mean for our 
ability to transition to renewable energy in the 21st century 
grid?
    Mr. Cherrier. Well, I think you are actually seeing 
broadband as the issue that we saw for rural electric co-ops 
100 years ago. It is absolutely critical for the lifeblood and 
economic development of all our rural areas and being able to 
keep them up with the rest of the communities. They are behind 
on everything from health care, education, and everything else 
that they lack because of not having access to rural broadband.
    We have seen efforts over the last year where people have 
struggled with educating at home and other things as a result 
of that. This would quickly accelerate and allow businesses to 
be more rural and remote and it would greatly improve the 
economics for those businesses, all your constituents in those 
areas, too.
    Senator Bennet. Thank you for that testimony.
    Mr. Mancuso, I want to thank you for mentioning the 
importance of work force development. That is another thing 
that we really need to focus on in rural America. I often think 
we are failing to prepare our kids to compete in the modern 
economy. Fortunately, that is not the case with wind energy in 
Colorado. Much like Iowa, we have a rapidly growing wind energy 
sector on the Eastern Plains.
    Last summer, I had the opportunity to see it in action at 
Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Over a 
decade ago, the college had the foresight to create a wind 
energy technology program to train students for 21st century 
clean energy jobs. Today they are being hired into the high 
paying jobs even before they finish training.
    I just wonder, Mr. Mancuso, if you could give the Committee 
a sense of what the next generation of high paying clean energy 
jobs are going to look like? Are they going to be related to 
wind and solar or to storage, to batteries, buildings, the grid 
which we have talked about this morning? If you could talk a 
little bit about that.
    Mr. Mancuso. Thank you, Senator.
    To make easy, how I would answer that is all of the above 
is where we are going to see high paying jobs. The grid 
development is going to be very key. Once infrastructure is 
invested, or once we invest in our infrastructure, we will see 
those jobs take off.
    Now one of the caveats is that I do not know of a lot of 
those programs that are out there right now for grid 
development, so we would have to--we, as in the college--would 
have to develop those programs. The solar, the wind, those 
programs are now and those renewable energies are growing. 
Those are going to be in the near future, those two for sure.
    Senator Bennet. As I turn this back over to the Chair, I 
just want to say we have heard a lot of rhetoric in the last 
few months about the importance of investing quote 
``traditional'' infrastructure. That, it seems to me, will 
completely ignore the needs of rural America, which desperately 
need us to invest in the 21st century grid, not 19th century 
infrastructure. I hope we can come together in a bipartisan way 
to build the infrastructure that our country will need in the 
21st century.
    Thank you, Madame Chair.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much.
    We turn now to Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun. Thank you, Madame Chair.
    My first question is for Mr. Cherrier. I come from a State 
that has got a real mix of different energy alternatives. It is 
a growing State for wind, a lot of solar going on. Of course, 
we have been heavily dependent on coal over the years. Natural 
gas is up and coming.
    One thing I have noticed in traveling through Indiana is 
that you will get into certain counties that actually have 
signs at the county line ``No wind energy.'' I will not go over 
the reasons why, but you have got an adjacent county that has 
pushed it. You have got another county that does not want it.
    I am a big believer that you have got to always defer to 
that local input. I would like your opinion on just how it is 
playing out in Indiana and that urge, many times, for us to do 
things from afar to where we put our guidelines and policies in 
place, especially from here to the States. Sometimes State 
governments can be overbearing into their own counties.
    What is our kind of viewpoint on how that should work? How 
do you see it trending when you observe across the country?
    Mr. Cherrier. Well, local control is absolutely critical to 
the development renewables in rural areas. What we have seen is 
that, as we have seen in Indiana, many rural areas are setting 
up signs to debate what type of power. We have seen it for 
solar. We have seen it for wind now.
    I think the critical thing is to have a uniform set of 
processes that allows the landowners that want to be able to 
provide this, use this, and develop--whether it is wind or 
solar--it is absolutely critical to them. Also being respectful 
of joint landowners.
    I think having a uniform set of rules throughout the State 
is pretty critical because on a county-by-county basis it makes 
it very difficult to develop these projects that way.
    Senator Braun. Clarify, in terms of any input from the 
Federal Government that would weigh in in some type of way to 
homogenize the process, is that workable at all?
    Mr. Cherrier. I believe it is. I think the Federal 
Government can provide various incentives within the State and 
local levels to help provide and streamline these processes. I 
think it ought to be much encouraged.
    I think here in Iowa, we have had considerable wind 
development and we have had some resistance in certain counties 
where they have set up rules to slow down the development. They 
are looking for uniform processes. Being respectful of 
landowners or adjacent landowners when these are being 
developed is pretty key.
    Senator Braun. Well, I would hope that that uniformity 
never comes from here and that it is within the domicile and 
prerogative of the State.
    My next question is for Mr. Mancuso.
    Senator Bennet earlier talked about work force development. 
Indiana is the biggest manufacturing State per capita in the 
country. Wisconsin is very close. For my observation, in 
running a business for 37 years prior to being here, there has 
been an issue not only with State departments of education but 
especially high schools for not promoting or at least offering 
those options in terms of high demand, high wage jobs that most 
of us need. A State like Indiana, I think, ships out twice as 
many four-year degrees as we keep in-State.
    What is your observation in terms of what you are seeing at 
the grass roots level? Are high schools getting back to 
teaching these critical life skills, and especially pushing 
career and technical education pathways and minimally not 
stigmatizing that as an option?
    Mr. Mancuso. Yes, thank you for the question, Senator.
    I would say yes, high schools are moving back to the career 
and technical programming that they have missed over the last 
few decades in the high schools. A lot of times now, at least 
in Iowa and our neighboring State of Nebraska is what they are 
doing. They are partnering with community colleges either to 
concurrent enrollment or to sharing lab space to give those 
students those career and technical classes that they were 
missing before.
    A lot of our schools are rural so we have four rural 
centers that students are able to attend and get those career 
and technical classes. High schools are slowly and surely 
moving toward that.
    I will point out that Iowa is the No. 1 State for 
concurrent enrollment for high schools and high school 
students. We do have a large number of students in our centers 
each day from high schools going through a multitude of 
programs, both arts and sciences, transfer courses, and now--
moreso in the last five years--the career and technical.
    Senator Braun. Well, that is good to see and I think that 
right mix of making sure--especially for parents, probably the 
main stakeholders in the whole journey, along with their kids. 
We need to make sure that we are not misguiding, that we are 
not stigmatizing, and that we give the full range of options 
and then put it into practice.
    Thank you so much.
    Mr. Mancuso. Thank you.
    Senator Smith. Thank you, Senator Braun.
    Senator Ernst, I think we have time--I think all of our 
Senators who had wanted to ask questions have had a chance to 
ask questions. I think we could do a quick second round and try 
to wrap up in about 15 minutes or so.
    Let me just start that second round. I would like to start 
with Mr. Schlecht from AURI.
    Shannon, AURI, I think, brings a relentless focus on value-
add for agricultural products, especially renewables as a way 
of creating opportunity in rural places. Could you just discuss 
with briefly how Congress can better incentivize value-add 
programs that help farmers in rural places, especially in 
renewables but across the board?
    Mr. Schlecht. Thank you, Senator, for the question.
    AURI is fully focused on value-added agriculture and what 
we can do to advance post-harvest opportunities for our crops, 
whether they be corn, soybeans and across the livestock sector. 
I think what we have seen as a roadmap for ethanol and 
biodiesel has been a huge success in terms of how we think 
about policies and incentives for renewable energy and 
advancement in the value-added agriculture sector.
    Looking at that financial incentive and providing that 
structure and framework, that provides a marketplace that then 
incents more clean energy investment, gets investors to engage. 
Then the wealth just begins to flow into our rural economies as 
we see that consistent approach, which is the importance of the 
integrity of the RFS for our current situation as well as 
looking at new energy opportunities.
    Of course, infrastructure, which we have talked about as 
well through some questions is another critical piece of 
advancing value-added agricultural opportunities and 
incentivizing that infrastructure investment and bringing 
parties together to solve some of those challenges and create 
jobs and opportunities for rural America.
    We think a consistent yet flexible approach in some manner 
is required in terms of timelines to implement some of these 
opportunities, as well as the ability to work with a broad 
swath of value-added participants from producers to 
cooperatives to rural businesses and how we can work with each 
of them where they bring the most value to the value-added 
opportunity, again to really get that into the marketplace, 
start creating wealth for our producers and for the rural 
economies.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much.
    I have learned a lot from AURI about how, when you bring 
that kind of focus, and when you are also looking at the 
opportunities for value-add from byproducts of processing like 
ethanol, for example, you can just continue to maximize 
economic benefit.
    Mr. Cherrier, I wanted to thank you for mentioning my 
bipartisan bill with Senator Hoeven, the Flexible Financing for 
Rural America Act. I really appreciate your support and NRECA's 
support of that legislation. We have had a chance to hear about 
the importance of this and also the importance of direct pay.
    I want to just give you an opportunity to give us any 
further direction about what we need to be considering as we 
think about--as Senator Fischer pointed out--the municipal, the 
munis, no-profit munis and co-ops who are in a completely 
different environment than the large investor-owned utilities.
    Mr. Cherrier. Thank you, Senator. The Flexible Financing 
for Rural America program is absolutely critical to allowing 
low-cost expansion with the rural electric co-op. The program 
allows us to refinance at current low interest rates the same 
way the investor-owns can do a refinancing at any given time, 
depending on what rates they are seeing. It puts us in a more 
competitive position and allows us to do our mission more 
successfully.
    It is always good to keep in mind that we are a non-profit. 
Whatever we save in there goes back into the system, goes back 
into new generation, transmission, and so on.
    As far as the direct pay credits, we really anticipate that 
to be something that we can now develop the wind and solar 
projects on our own more cost effectively than we can with a 
taxable partner being involved in the mix. I think we can do 
more sooner and on a greater scale than we otherwise would be 
able to.
    Senator Smith. Thank you very much.
    I will turn to Senator Ernst for any additional questions 
you have and any closing comments you would like to make.
    Senator Ernst. Thank you.
    I just have one final question. Mr. Cherrier, as you had 
noted in your testimony, RUS has been an important partner to 
CIPCO over the many decades. As we continue to exercise 
oversight of USDA, but also as we begin discussions about what 
the next farm bill will look like, can you talk a little bit 
more about which programs under USDA Rural Development you 
believe are the most effective? Which ones might need 
improvements as we work to advance different programs that are 
supporting our rural economic development while also being good 
stewards of our taxpayer dollars?
    Mr. Cherrier. Senator Ernst, first of all, thank you for 
being such a supporter of rural development. It has been 
critical to our success. The RUS electric program is at the 
foundation of everything we do. A strong RUS makes for a much 
more efficient system, keeps us well funded.
    I think the areas that we can look at are continued support 
of the REDLAG program, the Rural Economic Development Loan and 
Grant Program. We have seen tremendous success there, and I 
think continuing on with that program will be greatly 
supporting rural development of business.
    The other one that we had talked about somewhat on here is 
broadband in rural America. It is really critical to remote 
health care, agriculture, development and use of high-speed 
broadband for new ways of doing agriculture and education are 
all absolutely critical that we have broadband throughout the 
country that is accessible. We have seen new maps that really 
show how unaccessible it is today.
    Senator Ernst. Thank you so much.
    I would like to thank all of our witnesses for being here 
today and sharing information that is so important to all of us 
that reside and work in rural America.
    Chairwoman Smith, thank you so much for the opportunity to 
share some thoughts about rural development today.
    Senator Smith. Thank you so much.
    I want to thank all of our witnesses for providing your 
perspective today. I also want to thank Senator Ernst for your 
partnership in planning the hearing today. I look forward to 
continuing this work on future Rural Development and Energy 
Subcommittee hearings with you and the work that we can do 
together.
    I note, as I think about the testimony that we heard today, 
the strong bipartisan threads across a range of issues but 
really all reinforcing this integral connection between 
renewables and the strength of rural economies. We had a strong 
discussion around the importance of infrastructure from 
transmission to broadband to blender pumps; the importance of 
flexibility particular for co-ops and munis and the value of 
incentives to drive the change that we are looking for and the 
opportunity that we are creating; the importance of job 
training, which is going to be so important, and keeping those 
job opportunities local.
    Also, I appreciate all of the comments about highlighting 
the importance of the RFS and the continued challenges around 
refinery waivers and limiting those.
    Then last of all, the importance of listening to local 
leaders and following local leadership in all ways.
    The record for this morning's hearing will remain open for 
five business days for members to submit additional questions 
or statements.
    With that, this hearing is adjourned.

    [Whereupon, at 10:55 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

      
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                            A P P E N D I X

                             June 22, 2021

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