Tuesday, State Senator Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, was re-elected as the Chairman of the Alabama Legislature’s Committee on Energy Policy.
The Energy Policy Committee is tasked with making recommending to the Governor and the State Legislature on courses of action to tackle in addressing Alabama’s many energy challenges.
“It is an honor to once again lead this team of citizen-legislators, as we work with Governor Ivey’s administration to craft policies that will encourage the development of cheap and reliable energy sources,” Ward said. “These are unprecedented times in the energy industry, and we need policies that breakdown the intrusive government regulations that so often hold the private sector back from delivering innovative energy solutions to consumers.”
The Energy Policy committee is made up of thirteen state legislators, including four members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and four appointed by the President Pro Tem of the State Senate. Rep. Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) is currently the Speaker and Sen. Del Marsh is the current Pro-Tem.
According to a study by Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM), the total economic impact of Alabama’s energy industry in 2015 was $13.22 billion. Additionally, the AUM study found that the energy industry generates 124,000 jobs in Alabama.
“In so many ways, Alabama is at the forefront in producing cheap, reliable energy for the country,” Ward said. “The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is the second-largest nuclear facility in the U.S., we rank fifth in the nation in electricity generated from biomass or wood and wood waste, and we have the third-highest number of offshore oil rigs in the country.”
“Alabama’s energy companies are doing inventive work and my goal is that we have policies in place that will reward innovative solutions, which will lead to reduced energy prices for families and businesses,” Ward concluded.
Cam Ward is also the Chairman of the influential Senate Judiciary Committee and serves on a number of committees and task forces working on prison issues, sentencing reform, and juvenile justice reform.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Alabama is the second-largest hydroelectric power producer east of the Rocky Mountains, after New York.
There are nearly two dozen hydroelectric dams on the state’s rivers typically supply almost 8 percent of electricity net generation.
In 2018, Mobile was the largest port of entry for U.S. coal imports by volume and the fourth-largest port for coal exports.
Alabama’s Browns Ferry nuclear power plant, with three reactors, is the second-largest nuclear electric generating facility in the country after only Arizona’s Palo Verde nuclear power plant.
Alabama ranks 6th among the states in electricity net generation, and typically about one-third of that electricity is delivered to our neighboring states.
Alabama is the fifth-largest producer of electricity from biomass, and the state has the third-biggest timber acreage among the Lower 48 states.
