Julie Fedorchak
02/03/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/03/2026 15:53
Fedorchak calls out blue states for policies driving up energy costs, urges FERC action on reliability risks
Washington, D.C. - During an Energy Subcommittee hearing on FERC oversight, Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) challenged claims that Republican energy policies are driving higher costs, highlighted North Dakota's record of low-cost, reliable power, and urged federal regulators to move faster to address growing reliability risks identified by North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Fedorchak also pressed leadership at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on permitting delays, litigation backlogs, and regulatory reform timelines.
ON ENERGY COSTS, RELIABILITY, AND NORTH DAKOTA'S MODEL:
Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak: First of all, I want to set the record straight for a minute. A lot of blame has been made in this committee on Republican policies driving up energy costs. The other boogeyman for increased energy costs is the big tech companies. This chart (Image 1) shows clearly what's going on. You can't really tell the difference between the grades. But the state in this chart that has the lowest energy costs is my state of North Dakota. That is because we have, in a very principled way for decades, followed simple fundamentals that provide low cost and reliability. Those are your drivers. Cost and need drive the investments in the system. And when you do that over time, you get a result like this.
What happens when you don't do that? You get the results in the blue states. Those states have very aggressive goals. These are also the states that have risk of running out of power, and where you have risks of not having enough gas in your pipelines to meet demand when the weather gets cold like in Winter Storm Fern. These are just the facts of the system. I just wanted to point that out. You all know this. I'm saying this more to colleagues on the other side of the aisle who continually blame us for rising costs.
Secondly, I want to just highlight [these maps]. You are also very familiar with these maps (Image 2). These are the maps of the NERC reliability assessment. This map up here is what drove me to run for Congress. After 12 years as a state utility regulator, seeing the policies that are occurring all over our country-and really the step by step dismantling of our power grid and our systems-I decided I need to take my expertise, come here, and try to fight for just common sense energy policy. That's it. It shouldn't be partisan. This is the fundamental need in our country. It provides the baseline for everything we do. I urge you all to focus on this, because this has gotten worse. We have more parts of the country at high risk and elevated risk of not having enough power to meet demand, and that's today or in the very near future. That is before we even talk about meeting the ever-growing appetite of AI, which is also a very serious national security issue. So whatever you need help with, whatever tools you need to focus on this, consider me as an ally. I want to help you in any way that I possibly can.
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ON WHAT CONGRESS CAN DO TO SPEED UP FERC'S WORK:
Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak: Commissioner See, you said that the electricity markets are not designed for today's challenges. I agree with you, we have to change things. Chair Swett, could you just briefly outline some of the things that you think Congress can do to allow you all to do your work faster?
Chair Swett: Thank you for the question. There are several items for us today that Congress could help with. First of all, as we just discussed, when it comes to permitting federal projects, either putting a timeline on state analysis or inability to effectively veto projects when it comes to things within their jurisdiction-but fully respecting the states' rights, which I do personally- that would be very helpful. Across FERC's jurisdiction, limiting the amount of litigation that can happen. Perhaps, if there were a clock on when or how you could appeal a FERC decision, that would certainly give more certainty to market participants because as someone who personally knows, some of these cases can be appealed for decades. That would be certainly helpful.
ON REVIEWING AND REFORMING FERC RULES:
Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak: Chair Swett, you mentioned one of the things that I'm really excited about-that you're going through all of FERC's rules and regulations, looking at where you've kind of exceeded your authority or jurisdiction, and also things that just don't make sense. Can you just briefly tell us what the timeline is on that? And can you provide a report to us when you complete that work?
Chair Swett: I am happy to provide any information that you and your staff would like. The timeline is the entirety of my tenure. As long as I have the honor of having this job, I am going to be looking at a critical eye. When I entered the building, there was a huge backlog of very difficult items that had not been acted on by the commission for a multitude of reasons. There was not a quorum, and we cannot act unless we have a majority vote, or some items don't have statutory deadlines. Some were simply too hard to reach consensus on, and I prioritized right away trying to clear that backlog. That's one way, and I will continue to do so as we work through things.
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