Episode 127 | Legislative Lessons | NAYGN Conference (Live)
This was my third year hosting the NAYGN—Carolinas Conference (4th panel with them overall). It’s a unique challenge—what do you discuss with an audience that is easily the most brilliant in the energy sector?
I thought it might be fun to discuss public policy. What could be further from STEM than politics? My guests this year were:
Public policy can save or kill the nuclear sector. Two slides (in the slideshow above) show that several plants this decade were either saved or closed due to political/public pressure.
With my panelists, I wanted to show the differences between states (Texas = Deregulated; North Carolina = Regulated), and lobbying roles (Ryan = In-house; Lorena = “Hired Gun”; Connor = Trade Association).
“I started in the oil & gas industry at the beginning of the fracking boom,” says Connor. “That level of excitement is what I’m feeling right now [with nuclear].”
Lorena says Texas’ priorities in 2021 were focused on the winter storm which cut power across the state for days. With regard to nuclear, Lorena says challenges were coming from both sides of the isle.
“The biggest conversation is cost,” she says. “And then you get the other side of the isle asking, ‘What are we doing with all the waste?’” Texas passed two bills in response.
“There was a recognition of cost but there was also a recognition that we need baseload generation,” says Ryan of North Carolina’s recent legislative session. Their legislature passed a modified version of a bill to increase carbon free and reliable energy.
In addition to policy, we also discussed the tools of the trade, namely, trade associations like NEI. I recounted an experience I had in Texas on behalf of a fracking company, where the state rep asked who from the association was in support of our technology.
“It’s, ‘Where’s the association? Are we all on the same page?’” says, Lorena, joking, “’Let them take the bullet before we come in!’”
Ryan says Connor and NEI were extremely effective in North Carolina, providing subject matter experts from around the country to make the case for nuclear. Connor says in one case, an anti-nuclear Congressman was so swayed by a visit, he insisted a new Small Modular Reactor project be build in his district.
“These [subject matter experts] bring a level of expertise that and genuineness that legislators appreciate,” says Ryan. “They appreciate that they’re living these things on a day-to-day basis. They’re bringing them answers very quickly to questions they have.”
We also discussed how attendees can participate in expert testimony and events like “lobby days” at the Capitol. I concluded the panel by noting that I’ve personally worked with lobbyists who were once engineers. Who knows, maybe our attendees will find their way to the policy side after all.
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