House Oversight Chairman Comer Seeks Probe of Energy Secretary Granholm’s ‘Misuse’ of Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testifies before a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources about the 2023 budget for the Department of Energy, in Washington on May 5, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter on Wednesday to U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm inviting her to testify before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The letter requests Ms. Granholm to appear on May 15 at a scheduled committee hearing to provide testimony over a variety of issues, including the alleged “misuse” of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the Energy Department’s halt on liquified natural gas (LNG) transports, her personal taxpayer-funded electric vehicle road trip last summer, and increased spending, among others.

“The Committee has held hearings with Department spending levels, energy efficiency standards, critical minerals, and nuclear energy,” Mr. Comer wrote. “The expansive nature of these topics and your direct involvement as the leader of the Department necessitates your participation in this hearing.”

The letter goes on to say that the DOE has failed to provide Ms. Granholm’s availability to testify before the Oversight Committee despite multiple scheduling attempts with her staff over the past two months.

“My staff first conveyed to the Department my intention to invite you to a hearing in March by contacting your staff on January 23, 2024,” the letter continues.

The initial date proposed was March 6 but the letter says that Ms. Granholm’s staff declined, citing she would not be available for the hearing.

“Two months have gone by since that first outreach. Yet, despite numerous interactions between our staffs, the Department continues to fail to provide your availability for proposed hearing dates or specific details as to why you would be unavailable.”

The letter says that Mr. Comer’s office had offered Ms. Granholm additional hearing dates, including April 30, May 1, May 15 or 16, and June 12 or 13, but the Energy Department “has declined to provide your availability.”

“The Department has indicated to my staff that the Department will only make the Deputy Secretary [David Turk] available to testify on the proposed dates in May or June,” wrote Mr. Comer.

He added that it is “unacceptable” that the Energy Department has been “unable to perform a basic scheduling function” regarding the availability of the department secretary.

“To avoid any further delay in scheduling this hearing, and to reiterate my invitation for you to testify as opposed to a subordinate official, I now write to you directly to invite you to appear,” the letter continued.

Ms. Granholm is asked to confirm her appearance to testify and to submit written testimony at least two business days before the hearing.

SPR at Lowest Level in Decades

The SPR was established during the 1973-1974 oil embargo that disrupted oil imports and drove up oil prices.

Oil reserves are stored primarily in underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast and Louisiana. These sites have the capability to store hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil.

President Joe Biden inherited an SPR of 638 million barrels when he took office in 2021, according to the Department of Energy SPR Annual Report for 2022 (pdf).

However, shortly after taking office, the president responded to rising gasoline prices and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the most aggressive drawdown on the SPR in history.

Over two and half years, the Biden administration released 291 million barrels of the nation’s SPR, bringing the nation’s reserves to 347 million barrels—the lowest level since 1983.

The Energy Department has refilled some of the reserves; the SPR currently sits at 362 million barrels, well below its capacity of 713 million barrels.

Last summer, the Biden administration canceled its planned acquisition of 6 million barrels of oil to help replenish the SPR. Months earlier, the Department of Energy bought back 6.3 million barrels.

Some analysts fear that low stockpiles could put the nation at risk during an actual supply emergency, such as a natural disaster or war.

“In the meantime, with the reserve at its lowest level in 40 years, the U.S. could be vulnerable to oil price shocks,” John Shages, former head of the SPR at the Energy Department, told Bloomberg in July 2023. “It also means during domestic supply crunches, the nation will be left at the mercy of global exporters like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the rest of the OPEC+ cartel.”

At the current pace, it could take decades to refill, he warned.

LNG Pause Investigation

Earlier this month, the Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the DOE after the Biden administration announced in January its order blocking new LNG export licenses, specifically between U.S. firms and non-Free Trade Agreement countries.

President Biden cited concerns about the U.N.-predicted “climate crisis” and that the administration would be reevaluating the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, energy security, and the environment.

In a March 18 letter to Ms. Granholm, House Republicans called on the DOE to turn over all documents and communications with the White House about the LNG export pause by April 1.

“At a time when war is ongoing in Ukraine, and tensions are rising in the Middle East and Asia, it is particularly important that allied nations can rely on the United States for reliable, long-term fuel supply,” they wrote.

Days later on March 21, Texas, along with 15 other states, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the LNG export pause.

The states have asked a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to overturn the pause, arguing it is unlawful and raises “serious questions of national security,” according to the court documents.

Bryan Jung and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.