December 3, 2015

H.R. 8, or the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act, passed the House on December 3, 2015. The bill revises the federal authorization process within the Natural Gas Act to allow for expedited reviews for exporting or importing natural gas. The bill also includes measures to modernize electric infrastructure, to treat certain thermal energy projects as renewable energy projects in order to include these projects in the US federal electric energy purchase requirements, and to improve hydropower regulatory processes.

The act directs agencies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to complete multiple renewable energy strategies.  For example, the DOE is directed to implement education and training programs to assist in increasing the numbers of energy-related jobs. H.R. 8 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Sources: congress.gov, House Committee on Natural Resources