Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today considered legislation U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman wrote to highlight the relationship between energy and water, and to us each resource more efficiently.

Bingaman pointed out that large amounts of water are used in the generation of electricity.  On the flip side, it takes a lot of energy to treat and delivery water supplies.  This interdependence requires the adoption of policies that integrate energy and water solutions.  Doing so will ensure that we minimize the extent to which one resources use undermines the use of the other.

“Energy and water are crucial components of modern life.  Production of energy and freshwater are inextricably linked.  Each is required for the production of the other, and neither resource is routinely considered in developing management policies for the other.  As population density continues to increase in already water-stressed regions, it is crucial that the United States develop new policies that integrate energy and water solutions,” Bingaman said.

As examples of how energy and water are linked, Bingaman reported that power derived from coal, natural gas, oil and nuclear accounts for the use of approximately 40 percent of our nation’s freshwater.  Natural gas plants can use as little as 7,500 gallons of water per megawatt hour, while some nuclear power facilities can use as much as 60,000 gallons per megawatt hour.  The water actually consumed by these facilities is much less, but varies widely depending on the type of fuel.

Petroleum also uses a significant amount of water, and given that as a nation we are shifting away from imported oil to homegrown biofuels, water for use in transportation fuels is expected to increase. 

Bingaman’s Energy and Water Integration Act contains several provisions aimed at gaining a greater understanding of how energy and water are linked, so that policymakers can make more informed decisions.

The bill calls for three key studies related to energy production:

• A National Academy Energy-Water Study, which will assess water use associated with developing fuels in the transportation sector, and the water consumed in different types of electricity-generation.

• A Department of Energy Study that will identify best available technologies and other strategies to efficiently minimize water use in electricity generation.

• A Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Study to evaluate energy use in storing and delivering water from Reclamation projects, and identify ways to reduce such use through conservation, improved operations, and renewable energy integration.

The Energy and Water Integration Act also taps the Department of Energy to report on the energy consumed in water treatment and delivery activities, and requires DOE to develop a roadmap for research and development aimed at reducing water usage. 

Finally, the bill establishes a list of priorities for the BOR’s Brackish Groundwater Desalination Facility in Alamogordo, emphasizing the incorporation of renewable energy with desalination technologies. 

“The time has come for us to create energy policies that account for water usage, and vice versa,” Bingaman said.  “I believe this bill is the place to start.”

Bingaman was pleased with the support his initiative received by witnesses who testified before the Energy Committee.  There was broad consensus on the need to better integrate energy and water policies, and several of the witnesses offered additional ideas that will likely be considered as the Committee proceeds with the legislative process.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Energy Committee, is a cosponsor.