Ellzey: “Fueling the Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains is holding a hearing titled "Fueling the Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity."

Subcommittee Chairman Jake Ellzey's opening statement as prepared for delivery:

Welcome to today's hearing, "Fueling The Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity."

Thank you to our witnesses for traveling here today and for sharing your expertise with the Subcommittee.

As Industy and the American people are increasingly moving to usiness-friendly states, American energy and water markets are being tested like never before. In my home state of Texas, the population has grown by almost 10 million residents over the last 20 years.

Expanded domestic manufacturing, grid buildout, and emerging technology are driving the highest demand on these resources in decades. In states like Texas with a rapidly growing population, we also need to ensure we have the water resources for new homes. While we welcome this growth, it brings with it a duty for this Committee, Congress, and state legislatures to ensure that its costs do not fall unfairly on Main Street.

Small businesses depend on reliable and affordable electricity and water. Aging infrastructure and rising demand means higher rates, slower upgrades, and less certainty. Especially as manufacturing jobs return to the United States and new technologies increase demand for reliable resources, small business owners cannot be left behind.

Today, we will hear about the efforts underway at the state level to respond to growing resource needs and how the federal government can best partner with government agencies, corporations, and rural electric cooperatives to plan for long-term sustainable growth.

While some states are investing directly in new energy and water supplies, others are adopting rate structures that require large users to pay for the upgrades they trigger, ensuring that American households and small-business ratepayers don't bear the upgrade costs. The variety of solutions presented today provide models for how communities across the nation can prepare for future growth.

With this unprecedented surge in demand comes an opportunity to support our small businesses in meeting this challenge head-on. Small businesses are an essential part of our energy and water industries. Local contractors, suppliers, rural electric cooperatives, and equipment manufacturers are central to building the generation, transmission, and water infrastructure needed to support economic expansion and the return of industry to American soil.

The ability for small businesses to bid on projects, scale workforces, and secure certifications will determine whether local communities enjoy the benefits of new development or see the work move elsewhere.

I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses about the state of America's existing electric and water infrastructure and how states are preparing to respond to growing resource demand, and how Congress can support small business needs through this rapid growth.

And with that, I now recognize the Ranking Member, Representative Morrison, for her opening remarks.

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