American Legislative Exchange Council adopts energy security ARC model

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)’s draft model legislation, which bills itself as a “common sense energy agenda for the future,” has now become official model policy.

The Affordable, Reliable and Clean Energy Security Act (Energy Security-ARC) states: “Energy Security is paramount to economic growth. Energy Security that is Affordable, Reliable, and Clean leads to prosperity for our families and communities.” The legislation was drafted by ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force.

According to ALEC, member-submitted draft model policies such as Energy Security-ARC are “discussed, debated, and voted on by ALEC task force members. Policies that receive final approval by legislators on the ALEC Board of Directors become official ALEC model policy.” The model policy is then disseminated to policymakers across the country in the hope that it will eventually be introduced in, and adopted by, state legislatures.

Energy Security-ARC has four sections. The first calls for energy security, declaring that a fuel source “must be primarily produced domestically within the United States,” and that the “infrastructure necessary to deliver energy to the customer should minimize reliance on foreign nations for critical materials or manufacturing.”

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States imported roughly 8.51 million barrels of petroleum per day (b/d), 76% of which (6.48 million b/d) is crude oil. Some 52% of petroleum imports to the United States came from Canada, with another 11% coming from Mexico, 5% from Saudi Arabia, 4% from Iraq, and 3% from Brazil. Virtually all the natural gas imported by the United States comes from Canada.

The second section, concerning affordability, states that an “affordable” energy source must “have a stable and predictable cost,” be cost-effective and less expensive compared with other forms of energy resources, and be “readily available 24/7.” “Renewable” energy sources such as wind and solar would not meet these criteria.

The third section, covering reliability, establishes that for an energy source to be considered reliable, it must “be readily available to meet energy demands 24/7 with minimal interruptions during high usage periods,” and, when used for power generation, must have a “minimum” capacity factor of 50%. It must be capable of dispatchable electricity output at any time and able “to ramp up or down electricity generation within one hour” in order to stabilize the electrical grid. This resource must also have the ability to “complement and provide backup to renewable energy sources during periods of low availability.”

The fourth section declares that this energy source must be clean; it defines “green” energy as a resource that either “releases reduced air pollutants,” is generated by nuclear reactors, or is generated by natural gas.

Energy costs have significantly risen under the Joe Biden–Kamala Harris administration. According to a recent analysis from The Heartland Institute, Biden’s energy policies have sent costs upward by $2,548 since 2021. This is due to a 23% increase in the price of residential electricity, a 19% spike in the price of industrial electricity, a 69% explosion in the price of home heating oil, a 52% rise in the price of oil, and a 32% increase in the price of natural gas.

Cameron Sholty, executive director of Heartland Impact, The Heartland Institute’s advocacy arm, noted: “It’s important that state lawmakers are well-versed in the challenges facing their electrical grid and have conversations and policy ideas at the ready because these challenges are not going to subside as new technologies like EVs [electric vehicles] and data centers expand operations.”

“States can be part of the solution and be leaders in their states and regions and can play a pivotal role in ensuring the long-term geopolitical and economic security of the country,” he continued.

“Rapidly rising energy prices are not accidental. They are the predictable result of Biden’s war on abundant, affordable and reliable energy,” the Heartland analysis states.

“Despite the fact that his climate agenda is directly responsible for the steep rise in energy prices, the Biden administration does not seem to be bothered whatsoever by the blunt reality that higher energy prices are making life much more difficult for the overwhelming majority of Americans.”

Tim Benson is a senior policy analyst at The Heartland Institute, a national, free-market think tank headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

ALEC is “America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.” Its Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force “operates under the principles of free-market environmentalism . . . to promote the mutually beneficial link between a robust economy and a healthy environment, to unleash the creative powers of the free market for environmental stewardship, and to enhance the quality and use of our natural and agricultural resources for the benefit of human health and well-being.”

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