6.1a ERMUSR 03-13-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dear Public Power Advocates: With the presidential election of November 2016 bringing a change in leadership in the White House, we expect a busy year in the new Ad- ministration and Congress on a host of issues important to public power. The Senate is beginning the year with nomination hearings for President Donald Trump's cabinet picks, including those for the Department of Energy and Envi- ronmental Protection Agency. It will also vet nominations for important political appoint- ments, including commissioners for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Commod- ity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Federal Communications Commission.The House of Representatives began January with a flurry of legislative activity primarily focused on regulatory reform legislation and passing a budget resolution that lays the procedur- al groundwork for repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. The House is also expected to start work in earnest on tax reform legislation with the Senate following suit. The Association will be actively engaged on tax reform legislation, working to preserve the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds. President Trump has expressed a strong interest in infrastructure development. For public power, the preservation of tax-exempt financing is our top priority in 2017 and key for public power infrastructure development. Other issues we expect to be addressed in the new Congress include grid security, environmental policy, Endangered Species Act reform, and energy policy, including examination of Federal Power Act-related matters, such as wholesale electricity markets and the blurring of federal-state ju- risdictional lines. Other energy issues that may be considered are energy infrastructure (e.g., pipeline permitting reform, grid modernization, etc.), distributed generation, and reform of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. In addition to fighting to preserve our ability to issue tax-exempt municipal bonds, other priority issues include protecting against a "one-size fits all" approach to distributed genera- tion. There continues to be interest on the Hill to promote distributed generation through the imposition of federal directives. Another key priority is engaging in partnerships for a secure grid.There is strong interest in grid security matters and we anticipate oversight activities on cyber and physical security.The Association will continue to tout the benefits of information sharing and liability protection and the successful relationship between the electric industry and the government to protect the grid. Preparing for changing environ- PublicPower.org 1 183