Utility’s soaring rates, plus congressional inaction, deal double blow to Tennesseans

Tuesday, like most of my House colleagues, I boarded a plane for Washington. As I walked through the Nashville airport, I saw a number of familiar faces — constituents who work at the airport, or commute through it as much as I do. I got the same question from each of them: “Are you going to Washington to finally make Congress go to work on energy?”

It was an unremarkable question. Energy is the leading issue of the day and Tennesseans are really feeling the pain of the high price of gasoline. Here is what is remarkable: the same constituents have been asking me the same question for the last five weeks while I have continued commuting to Washington throughout August, fighting for a clean up-or-down vote on an “all of the above” energy solution. My constituents’ attention is keenly focused on the issue, and with good reason.

The media have paid a lot of attention to the urban impacts of the high price of energy, and what consumers are doing to cut costs. The rural impacts are less well known. I represent the vast swath of rural Tennessee that runs between the Memphis and Nashville suburbs. The story my constituents have to tell is very different, and just as important.

In short: There isn’t a commuter train between Waynesboro and Clifton. My constituents simply don’t have a pay-more, drive-less option. Driving less would mean that the fields go untilled, the cotton does not get to the mill, and the kids miss baseball practice. It means that Tennessee hardwood does not make its way out of the forest and soybeans don’t get to the processing plants. The agricultural heartbeat of the Tennessee economy begins to slow.

To add insult to injury, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced last month that it will raise its rates by 20 percent. Founded to provide inexpensive hydroelectric power to rural areas in the South, TVA is a public-private venture. It provides a case study for how our nation’s energy policy is hurting every resident of the 7th district, from the big companies to the small farmers.

TVA generates most of its power from “clean” hydroelectric sources. While this is certainly environmentally responsible, my constituents will soon pay more because TVA put most of its energy eggs in one basket. A persistent drought in the South has cut into hydroelectric generation, forcing TVA onto the open market for energy sources to make up the difference. The 20 percent rate hike comes from the high market price of coal and natural gas.

Here is the rub for my constituents: America is awash in coal and natural gas! Unfortunately, federal restrictions keep us from pulling it out of the ground.

Environmentalists will tell you that they are protecting the planet from the surge of carbon emissions, but natural gas is a remarkably clean fuel and clean coal technology is improving every day.

Diversified energy sources could have helped TVA avoid the current crunch by keeping them off the open market when energy prices are high — in the same way an “all of the above” energy policy could help all Americans in our quest for energy independence.

My constituents are now facing higher electric bills as well as staggering gasoline prices.

These are expenses that rural Americans are far less able to escape than their urban counterparts. Congress owes them an “all of the above” solution that provides cheaper energy today, a menu of workable energy choices in the mid-range, and clean, renewable, energy independence in the long term. All they get from this body is roadblocks and excuses.

I will be passing through the Nashville airport again soon.  My constituents will ask me if we got to work and solved the energy problem. As I write this, all we have managed to do is name two federal buildings. I hope I have a better answer for them by the end of the week.

Blackburn is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.