The issue focused on the fact that the federal government is paying $2 billion annually to help pay for the upkeep of the country's aging power lines, but that the government has been paying only $1 billion.

"I don't think you can have a conversation about how to improve electricity security with only half of the money available," said Mark J. Perry, executive vice president of the Edison Electric Institute. "We're not asking for that much more. We have $2 billion of investment in the system