The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will examine the President’s $31.7 billion budget request for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2020. Energy Secretary Rick Perry will testify on the department’s priorities, including $2.3 billion to secure energy independence, $5.5 billion in science funding and about $23.7 billion to modernize the aging U.S. nuclear deterrent as well as strengthen grid cybersecurity. Budget Fact Sheet

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will issue its Monthly Energy Review, providing data on energy production, consumption, prices and trade. Renewables generated a record 742 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity in 2018, double the amount produced in 2008. About 90 percent of renewable capacity additions were wind and solar, largely driven by federal and state policies as well as declining costs.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will discuss the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, which aims to protect the major waterway from the effects of a prolonged drought. The precious life-sustaining liquid is required in the production of almost all forms of energy and increasing water scarcity threatens the operation of thermal and hydroelectric plants throughout the region.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will consider President Trump’s nomination of David Bernhardt to be Secretary of the Interior. Bernhardt has been acting secretary since Jan. 2, following Ryan Zinke’s resignation amid multiple ethics probes. He served as the department’s top lawyer under President George W. Bush and worked as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy will co-host the Security Investment for Energy Infrastructure Technical Conference to discuss current cyber and physical security practices in the energy industry. The agencies will consider the types of current and emerging security threats and explore how federal and state authorities can provide incentives and cost recovery for security investments to address them.