During a House Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-IN) questioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright about criteria for department reviews.
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00:00And I thank the chairman for his questions.
00:03This time I'd like to recognize my friend from Indiana, Mr. Mervin, for five minutes.
00:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:09Mr. Secretary, I thank you for joining us today.
00:13My district is in northwest Indiana.
00:16I'm home to BP Amico, one of the largest oil refineries east of the Mississippi River,
00:21also one of the top steel-producing regions in the nation.
00:25That being said, through the infrastructure bill, there were seven awarded hydrogen hubs.
00:28One of the hydrogen hubs was absolutely awarded within my district, the Mach 2.
00:35Current reports have shown that that is one of those department review programs
00:42that have been paused while you're reviewing it.
00:45I'd like to ask specifically, what is the criteria in which you are judging that specific project?
00:51Two, I just want you to know, with the theme in a bipartisan way,
00:55we are working with Senator Young.
00:59We've worked with the governor, then Holcomb, now Governor Braun, in Indiana,
01:04the state legislature, to set the table for the hydrogen hub.
01:07It creates 12,000 construction jobs.
01:11It allows for our steel industries to have a cleaner distribution by capturing carbon.
01:17It is a blue hydrogen, and it is something that will be transformational in economic development
01:25within my community.
01:27With that, I'd like to ask you what the current status is and the criteria of which you are judging it.
01:32Because, like you mentioned, you take your job deathly serious.
01:36I take work and wealth in my community deathly serious.
01:39And this is something that creates work and wealth, has passed the Congress,
01:43and is now being reviewed by the Department of Energy.
01:47Thank you, Congressman, for that question.
01:49And I've seen several articles or headlines as well that were canceling the blue state projects
01:55and advancing the red state.
01:57I don't even know where these rumors or this stuff comes from.
01:59They're not coming from us.
02:01I know it's not coming from you.
02:02But I'm saying it's all out there in the press.
02:04Everyone reads and hears.
02:05Look, we have made, and maybe to some people's frustration, zero decisions on projects yet.
02:11Because key to me was to get thorough data and a process, a process that was thoughtful,
02:17thorough, and deliberate.
02:19So what is the process and what is thorough data?
02:22Give me examples of that.
02:23So all of the hydrogen hubs today right now are being funded in feasibility studies.
02:29They're developing, you know, what's the economics going to be?
02:33Where's the capital sources coming from?
02:34Where the potential offtake is going to be at the end?
02:37So we are just looking the same way any business would look at investments.
02:41We're looking at the legal aspects, the technology, the engineering, the market.
02:45Is there offtake agreements for these that make them viable?
02:47So with the market, if I may interrupt.
02:49Yes, you bet.
02:50Both steel mills, Cleveland Cliffs, U.S. Steel, have created a system that could use hydrogen that would be through the carbon capture project that would be able to be used in the blast furnace to be able to make more globally competitive steel and put less carbon out in my district so we have cleaner air and cleaner water.
03:14Yeah, look, that's great.
03:16If it's a project that meets, it's got the co-financing lined up, the science, the engineering works, it looks viable, it's got an offtake agreement so it's not a bridge to nowhere, it's going to continue to go forward and be viable.
03:29Those are the kind of things that we're going to go forward with.
03:31Very good.
03:32We want to improve the energy system.
03:34My question is, or my statement, I want to work in a bipartisan way to make sure that this project comes to fruition.
03:41I have to face the Northwest Indiana Trades that wants to be able to create the apprenticeship programs that allow for the jobs to be filled of those 12,000 jobs.
03:50So the theme of uncertainty, how soon do you think those decisions will be made so that there can be a ramp up so that these investments can continue forward so that BP Amoco or BP and the steel mills and my technology and unions and non-unions and contractors can have certainty that this project is going to go forward because it was awarded, now it's held.
04:13And uncertainty is blowing up our economy.
04:15The funding for the feasibility study is ongoing.
04:20I don't think that's even done yet.
04:22I don't think we're actually holding it up.
04:24There probably is uncertainty of, are they going to fund it?
04:28So I get that.
04:29That's real.
04:30Certainly in the next few months, by the end of this summer, hopefully before the end of this summer, we will have run through all of the 400 or 500 large projects that are currently in the pipeline at the DOE.
04:42To me, it was key to get in the right people, to develop a series of processes.
04:46You used a key term, bipartisan.
04:48My whole life, I've been outspoken about energy my whole life, and I've always said energy should not be political.
04:55It's the basic infrastructure of human lives.
04:57And creating work and wealth in my district along with energy is something that should be done in a bipartisan way.
05:03I have United States Senator, Senator Young, sent a letter, and recently, United States Senator Banks and myself sent a letter in support of this in conjunction with the Trump administration unleashing energy and how this plays into domestic manufacturing.
05:17So these hit all those criteria.
05:19It's blue hydrogen.
05:20It hits the oil.
05:21It's carbon capture, and it creates jobs and wealth.
05:23So I look forward to working with you and having an open line of communication between my office and your department so that we can communicate accurately what is going on over the next few months.
05:34Then I have another question, if I may.
05:37Within your testimony, you talk about critical minerals.
05:40Just this morning at Ford Plant in South Chicago, they are going to halt production because of the lack of critical minerals on the braking systems.
05:48So one of the part of your testimony is how important it is to our national security, domestic manufacturing, and basically our economy on critical minerals.
05:59The current tariff system is halting minerals coming in from China.
06:03You're talking about critical minerals and how important they are.
06:06I want to give you an opportunity to speak to how we are going to speed up our critical minerals, our mining, and how we are going to do that so that people aren't losing jobs under this time of uncertainty.
06:18Critical issue, Congressman.
06:19Thank you for raising it.
06:21It truly is critical.
06:22For decades, China has worked to get a large controlling, in some case, complete control of supply chain of what seem like small businesses, but they're critical businesses, hence the term.
06:36You can't build the brake system without that magnet.
06:39And that's a great concern.
06:42There is a cross-agency effort in this government right now.
06:46Not a day goes by, not a Saturday or Sunday goes by.
06:50There is not a dialogue about how do we change this calculus on the ground.
06:55How do we develop capacity of mines, of refining, of production in our country of so many.
07:01Of the 50 critical minerals, we're 100% dependent on imports for 12 of them.
07:07We're up to 40 of them that we produce less than half of in this country.
07:11So, yes, it is a priority issue for us, and it's something you're going to hear a lot more about.
07:16But thank you again for raising that and for your bipartisan and job-focused sentiments on energy.
07:22Yes, and just in closing, the real life of that is that in Riverdale, a steel mill that is part of my local 1010, they just laid off people because the pinching of the auto industry.
07:33And I just received notice today they're going to be closing down or reducing workers within a plant near me.
07:4180% of those people live in my district.
07:43I will work with you in any way possible to close that gap to make sure that the minerals are there to make sure that those individuals are working and providing for their families.
07:51So, we take that deathly serious together, and I want to work with you in order to find solutions quickly so that there isn't this uncertainty and economic disruption to those people's lives.
08:04Fantastic, Congressman.
08:06Thank you for those words and for your passion.
08:07Thank the gentleman for his questions, and I would respectfully remind the members that we want to limit the first round of questions to five minutes so that everyone can have an opportunity.