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Electricity Grid Resilience: Climate Change is Expected to Have Far-Reaching Effects and DOE and FERC Should Take Actions, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate
From the Document: "According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, changes in the earth's climate are under way and expected to increase, posing risks to the electricity grid that may affect the nation's economic and national security. Annual costs of weather-related power outages total billions of dollars and may increase with climate change, although resilience investments could help address potential effects, according to the research program. Private companies own most of the electricity grid, but the federal government plays a significant role in promoting grid resilience--the ability to adapt to changing conditions; withstand potentially disruptive events; and, if disrupted, to rapidly recover. DOE [Department of Energy], the lead agency for grid resilience efforts, conducts research and provides information and technical assistance to industry. FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] reviews mandatory grid reliability standards. This testimony summarizes GAO's [Government Accountability Office] report on grid resilience to climate change. Specifically, the testimony discusses (1) potential climate change effects on the electricity grid; and (2) actions DOE and FERC have taken since 2014 to enhance electricity grid resilience to climate change effects, and additional actions these agencies could take. GAO reviewed reports and interviewed agency officials and 55 relevant stakeholders."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2021-03-10
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Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Issues Regarding the Inclusion of Refined Petroleum Products as Part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate
This document contains the statement of Frank Rusco of the GAO before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on May 12, 2009 on the topic of the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve. "Since the SPR, the largest emergency crude oil reserve in the world, was created in 1975 a number of arguments have been made for and against including refined petroleum products. Some of the arguments for including refined products in the SPR are: the United States' increased reliance on imports and resulting exposure to supply disruptions or unexpected increases in demand elsewhere in the world, possible reduced refinery capacity during weather related supply disruptions, time needed for petroleum product imports to reach all regions of the United States in case of an emergency, and port capacity bottlenecks in the United States, which limit the amount of petroleum products that can be imported quickly during emergencies. For example, the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the concentration of refineries on the Gulf Coast and resulting damage to pipelines left the United States to rely on imports of refined product from Europe. Consequently, regions experienced a shortage of gasoline and prices rose. Conversely, some of the arguments against including refined products in the SPR are: the surplus of refined products in Europe, the high storage costs of refined products, the use of a variety of different type of blends of refined products-'boutique' fuels-in the United States, and policy alternatives that may diminish reliance on oil. For example, Europe has a surplus of gasoline products because of a shift to diesel engines, which experts say will continue for the foreseeable future. Europe's surplus of gasoline is available to the United States in emergencies and provided deliveries following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2009-05-12
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Federal Energy Development: Challenges to Ensuring a Fair Return for Federal Energy Resources, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives
From the GAO [Government Accountability Office] Highlights: "This testimony discusses GAO's work related to ensuring a fair return on resources from federal lands. To do this work, GAO drew on reports issued from May 2007 through September 2019 and preliminary observations from ongoing work. GAO reviewed relevant federal and state laws, regulations, and policies; analyzed federal data; and interviewed federal, state, and industry officials, among others."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2019-09-24
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Oil and Gas: Interior's Restructuring Challenges in the Aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives
"The Department of the Interior oversees oil and gas activities on leased federal lands and waters. Revenue generated from federal oil and gas production is one of the largest nontax sources of federal government funds, accounting for about $9 billion in fiscal year 2009. Since the April 2010 explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon, Interior has been in the midst of restructuring the bureaus that oversee oil and gas development. Specifically, Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees onshore federal oil and gas activities; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE)--created in May 2010--oversees offshore oil and gas activities; and the newly established Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is responsible for collecting royalties on oil and gas produced from both onshore and offshore federal leases. Prior to BOEMRE, the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) Offshore Energy and Minerals Management Office oversaw offshore oil and gas activities and revenue collection. In 2011, GAO identified Interior's management of oil and gas resources as a high risk issue. GAO's work in this area identified challenges in five areas: (1) reorganization, (2) balancing responsibilities, (3) human capital, (4) revenue collection, and (5) development of existing leases."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2011-06-02
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DOE Loan Programs: DOE Has Made More Than $30 Billion in Loans and Guarantees and Needs to Fully Develop Its Loan Monitoring Function, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives
"DOE's [The Department of Energy's] Loan Programs Office administers the LGP [Loan Guarantee Program] for certain renewable or innovative energy projects and the ATVM [Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing ] loan program for projects to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles and components. Both programs can expose the government and taxpayers to substantial financial risks if borrowers default. These risks are considered in calculating credit subsidy costs. Such costs represent the estimated net long-term cost of extending or guaranteeing credit, in present value terms, over the entire period the loans are outstanding (not including administrative costs). The law requires that the credit subsidy costs of DOE loans and loan guarantees be paid for by appropriations, borrowers, or some combination of both. This testimony focuses on (1) the status of DOE's loan programs and (2) the findings in GAO's [Government Accountability Office] May 2014 report on the extent to which DOE has developed and adhered to loan monitoring policies for its loan programs. This statement is based on a series of GAO reports from 2007 through 2014 that noted concerns about DOE's implementation of the loan programs."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2014-05-30
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Statement of Frank Rusco, Acting Director, Natural Resources and Environment, before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate: Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Options to Improve the Cost-Effectiveness of Filling the Reserve, February 26, 2008
"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was created in 1975 to help insulate the U.S. economy from oil supply disruptions and currently holds about 700 million barrels of crude oil. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the SPR storage capacity from 727 million barrels to 1 billion barrels, which it plans to accomplish by 2018. Since 1999, oil for the SPR has generally been obtained through the royalty-in-kind program, whereby the government receives oil instead of cash for payment of royalties on leases of federal property. The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) collects the royalty oil and transfers it to DOE, which then trades it for oil suitable for the SPR. As DOE begins to expand the SPR, past experiences can help inform future efforts to fill the reserve in the most cost-effective manner. In that context, GAO's testimony today will focus on: factors GAO recommends DOE consider when filling the SPR, and the cost-effectiveness of using oil received through the royalty-in-kind program to fill the SPR. To address these issues, GAO relied on its 2006 report on the SPR, as well as its ongoing review of the royalty-in-kind program, where GAO interviewed officials at both DOE and MMS, and reviewed DOE's SPR policies and procedures. DOE provided comments on a draft of this testimony, which were incorporated where appropriate."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2008-02-26
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Letter to Mary L. Landrieu, Lamar Alesander, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Tom Latham from Terrell Dorn, Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues and Frank Rusco, Director, National Resources and Environment Regarding Economic and Other Implications of Switching from Coal to Natural Gas at the Capitol Power Plant and at Electricity-Generating Units Nationwide, May 1, 2008
"Elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several synthetic chemicals--in the atmosphere resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels and other sources have the potential to cause significant changes in the earth's climate. These potential impacts include shifts in sea level and weather patterns and could pose threats to coastal and other infrastructure. Concerns about the potential impacts of climate change have led the Congress to consider legislation that would place binding, nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and the House of Representatives' leadership has initiated efforts to decrease emissions attributable to its operations. Nearly all of the greenhouse gas emissions from House operations consist of carbon dioxide and are associated with electricity purchased from utilities and the combustion of fossil fuels in the Capitol Power Plant (CPP), which provides steam and chilled water for heating and cooling the Capitol building and 23 surrounding facilities. The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) operates CPP. In June 2007, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House of Representatives released the Green the Capitol initiative (the initiative) at the direction of the Speaker and the Majority Leader. Among other goals, the initiative calls for the House of Representatives to operate in a carbon-neutral manner by the end of the 110th Congress (December 2008). Carbon-neutral, as defined in the initiative, means that operations produce no net contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative outlines several strategies to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, including operating CPP with natural gas instead of coal to meet the needs of the House."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Dorn, Terrell G.; Rusco, Frank
2008-05-01
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Offshore Oil and Gas Oversight: Actions Needed to Address Leadership Commitment Deficiencies at Interior, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on the interior, Energy, and Environment, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives
From the statement of Frank Rusco: "As you know, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident-which resulted in 11 deaths, serious injuries, and the largest marine oil spill in the history of the United States-raised questions about the Department of the Interior's (Interior) oversight of offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico. […] On October 1, 2011, Interior completed the reorganization of MMS [Minerals Management Service] by splitting BOEMRE [Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement] into the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is responsible for leasing and resource management, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which is responsible for reviewing drilling permits, inspecting offshore drilling rigs and production platforms, and developing regulations and standards for offshore drilling. BSEE's mission is to promote safety, protect the environment, and conserve resources offshore through vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement. […] In this context, my testimony today discusses the findings from our report being issued today on BSEE's leadership efforts in implementing key strategic initiatives to improve its (1) safety and environmental oversight and (2) internal management."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2017-03-21
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Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Preliminary Observations on the Emergency Oil Stockpile, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Energy, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives
"Over 4 decades ago, Congress authorized the SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve]--the world's largest government-owned stockpile of emergency oil--to release oil to the market during supply disruptions and protect the U.S. economy from damage. The SPR is managed by DOE [Department of Energy]. According to DOE's strategic plan, the SPR benefits the nation by providing an insurance policy against actual and potential interruptions in U.S. petroleum supplies caused by international turmoil and hurricanes, among other things. The SPR also helps the United States meet its obligations, including to holding reserves of oil or refined petroleum products equaling 90 days of net petroleum imports, as one of 29 members of the IEA [International Energy Agency]--an international energy forum established to help members respond to major oil supply disruptions. The SPR held almost 674 million barrels of oil at the end of September 2017. This testimony primarily focuses on preliminary observations from ongoing work on (1) DOE's use of the SPR in response to domestic petroleum supply disruptions, (2) the extent to which the SPR is able to respond to domestic petroleum supply disruptions, and (3) how other IEA members structure their strategic reserves and extent to which DOE has examined these structures. GAO [Government Accountability Office] reviewed past work from August 2006 through September 2014 and DOE and IEA documentation. GAO also interviewed DOE and IEA officials, as part of GAO's ongoing work."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2017-11-02
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High Risk: Agencies Need to Continue Efforts to Address Management Weaknesses of Federal Programs Serving Indian Tribes, Statement of Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment, Testimony Before the Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate
"GAO's High Risk List identifies federal program areas that are high risk due to their vulnerability to mismanagement, among other things. GAO added the federal management of programs that serve Indian tribes and their members to its February 2017 biennial update of high-risk areas in response to management weaknesses at Interior and HHS. This testimony provides examples of actions taken and progress made by these agencies to address the five criteria GAO uses for determining whether to remove a high-risk designation (leadership commitment, capacity, action plan, monitoring, and demonstrated progress)."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Rusco, Frank
2018-06-13
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