Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
THE FIRST STEP: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is kicking off a process to usher in long-promised grid reforms to ease the building of electric transmission lines critical to speeding the growth of renewables onto the grid.
FERC, at its meeting yesterday, issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking calling for public comment on potential changes to transmission siting, regional coordination, funding for projects and oversight on customer costs.
It’s the first time in 10 years that FERC has tackled comprehensive transmission reforms, with the commission unanimously agreeing its piecemeal approach to expanding the transmission system is not responsive enough to the changing electricity mix.
Interstate transmission lines are critical to transporting electricity from places, typically rural areas such as the Great Plains, that have an abundance of wind or solar to consumers in population centers that don’t generate significant renewable electricity.
FERC’s move is just the first step in a multistep process, but analysts say the commission is clearly prioritizing transmission project buildout, which often stalls out due to public opposition at the local level since primary siting authority lies with individual states, not the federal government.
President Joe Biden‘s goals of carbon-free power by 2035 and net-zero emissions across the entire economy by 2050 will require a doubling or tripling of the U.S. transmission system, according to a report from the Energy Systems Integration Group, a nonprofit organization that advises on grid planning.
Jeff Dennis, managing director and general counsel of Advanced Energy Economy, a group representing clean energy companies, told me that FERC is looking to promote “holistic transmission planning” in a way that recognizes the different benefits of new lines, including providing resilience and enabling states to meet clean electricity goals.
“Today we take these individual things transmission does and bucket them out,” Dennis said. “FERC is recognizing that approach is not capturing all the benefits of transmission and not identifying all the transmission needed when we have such a rapid shift of the generation mix happening now.”
Could FERC follow the Texas model? Dennis noted how FERC is specifically asking for comment on requiring transmission developers to “identify geographic zones that have the potential for the development of large amounts of renewable generation.”
That means the commission could be looking to implement a federal version of “Competitive Renewable Energy Zones” successfully used in Texas that helped the state build a vast network of transmission power lines delivering wind power that had been stranded in West Texas and the Panhandle to urban areas such as Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.
FERC is weighing whether it can require transmission providers to identify zones across the country where renewables need to be constructed and plan transmission to access those zones.
“It’s a clear indication they see the Texas model as successful and modern and are looking to whether FERC can replicate that on a national scale,” Dennis said.
One more important thing: FERC is also exploring whether it should redefine who benefits from new transmission to allow the costs of projects to be spread more widely among users across the entire line.
Generally, new transmission lines are paid for by power generators building new projects, such as a wind farm, that require more transmission capacity.
But electricity users across different states that are connected to the same grid would benefit from the new transmission because they would be paying cheaper power prices resulting from more wind energy. So, those customers should bear some of the costs, say proponents of reforming the rules.
“FERC is looking at whether the current practice is unjust and unreasonable and if it should not be allowed,” Dennis said.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writer Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] or for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
THE EU AND US DIP INTO A CARBON TRADE FIGHT: The European Union rolled out a plan this week to impose “climate tariffs” against countries that lack aggressive emissions-reduction policies, potentially presaging a trade conflict that could complicate the fight against global warming.
Not to be outdone, Senate Democrats as part of a sprawling $3.5 trillion infrastructure and climate spending plan this week pledged to impose a “polluter import fee” on exporters of carbon-intensive goods, though it is far less detailed than the EU’s plan.
Taken together, the moves show that government leaders are embracing mixing protectionist trade policy with combating global warming, an issue that requires international cooperation to address, as I wrote in a story published today running in our magazine.
“Depending on how it evolves, you could have a situation where this could undermine the possibility of forming a carbon club between the U.S. and its allies,” said George David Banks, an international climate adviser to former President Donald Trump who is now a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Read more on the stakes and potential for conflict.
BIDEN POURS COLD WATER ON TRUMP SHOWERHEAD RULE: The Department of Energy moved to overturn a Trump administration change to the definition of a showerhead meant to let more water flow.
A proposed rule change posted in the Federal Register today reverts to an Obama administration standard requiring an entire showerhead fixture to meet a limit of 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
Trump pushed his Energy Department to alter the standard by loosening decades-old water conservation standards for showerheads after repeatedly complaining about weak water pressure from showers, which he said disrupted his quest for “perfect hair.”
The Trump administration’s definition would have allowed each showerhead nozzle, even if there are several in a single fixture, to meet the 2.5 gallons per minute standard.
DEMOCRATS FORCE VOTE ON BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL: With just a few remaining weeks of the legislative session ahead of a monthlong recess, Democrats amped up the pressure on tentative Republicans to back a $1 trillion bill that would fix aging roads, bridges, and waterways as well as combat climate change.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer scheduled a test vote for Wednesday that will determine whether there is enough GOP support to advance the bipartisan measure to the floor for debate and eventually pass it, the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio reports.
The bill requires 60 votes to advance, which means at least 10 Republicans will have to vote alongside Democrats in support of the bill.
Schumer’s move angered Republicans, who are awaiting more details about the cost and scope of the bill — which was negotiated by centrists in each party — and are working on ways to broaden weak support in their party.
“It was a surprise to most of us,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune of South Dakota told reporters. “There are members who want to vote for a bill, and I know that they are proceeding in good faith on negotiations, but I think setting an artificial deadline is going to make it harder, not easier.”
Democratic-only package teed up too: Schumer set a second deadline, also on Wednesday, calling for Democrats to finalize a resolution that provides the framework for a much larger spending package that would pay for universal day care, free community college, elder care, climate change mitigation, and expanded Medicare services.
Only Democrats are expected to support the $3.5 trillion budget resolution that, unlike most legislation, can pass with 51 votes instead of 60.
BIDEN DEFENDS LIFTING NORD STREAM 2 SANCTIONS: Biden lifted sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to entice Germany’s government to cooperate in safeguarding Ukraine from Russian aggression, the president said yesterday alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference covered by the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc.
During the joint press conference at the White House, the president reiterated his “view on Nord Stream 2 has been known for some time” but added, “Good friends can disagree.”
“By the time I became president, it was 90% completed, and imposing sanctions did not seem to make any sense,” he continued in the ornate East Room. “It made more sense to work with the chancellor on finding out how she would proceed based on whether or not Russia tried to essentially blackmail Ukraine in some way.”
Biden said both he and Merkel asked their “teams to look at practical measures we can take together and whether or not your energy security, Ukrainian security, are actually strengthened or weakened based on Russian actions.”
In her remarks, Merkel said the two leaders have “come to different assessments as to what this project entails,” but said they agreed that Ukraine will remain a transit country for natural gas.
US-GERMANY CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP: Biden and Merkel also said the U.S. and Germany are launching a partnership to strengthen collaboration on combating climate change and developing clean energy technologies in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
According to a White House fact sheet, the two leaders promised to work together to mobilize climate finance to help developing countries, address short-lived climate pollutants such as methane, develop new hydrogen technologies, increase the adoption of electric vehicles, and prevent the use of energy as a “coercive tool” (a clear nod to protecting Ukraine from Russia).
SPEAKING OF RUSSIA..: White House climate envoy John Kerry tweeted yesterday that he met with Russian government leaders this week “to discuss the urgency and seriousness of the climate crisis and explore shared solutions.”
In a joint statement, the two countries — which are at odds on other issues — agreed to take “significant efforts this decade” to reduce emissions to keep the world on pace for net-zero.
They also noted the importance of enhancing carbon sequestration by forests and other ecosystems, and vowed to cooperate on climate-related issues in the Arctic and conduct satellite monitoring of methane emissions, among other things.
US OFF PACE FROM MEETING BIDEN’S PARIS TARGET: The U.S. has no shot of reaching Biden’s Paris Agreement pledge to cut emissions by at least half by 2030 based on the current state of federal and state policy, the Rhodium Group projected in new research yesterday.
The U.S. is on track to reduce emissions 20% to 22% below 2005 levels by 2025, and from 20% to 26% by 2030, absent additional policies.
Biden obviously is planning tons of additional action, but the research underscores that the administration reaching its Paris goals is contingent on Congress passing substantive infrastructure and clean energy legislation.
GREENLAND HALTS NEW OIL EXPLORATION: Greenland’s liberal government has halted all new oil exploration after deciding the price of extracting the crude is too high when considering the “impact on climate and the environment.”
“International investments in the energy sector in recent years are moving away from oil and gas and into renewable energy. It is therefore natural that we emphasise business on the opportunities of the future and not on the solutions of the past,” said Pele Broberg, the Greenland government’s minister for business, trade, foreign affairs and climate.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated there could be 17.5 billion undiscovered barrels of oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas offshore Greenland, although the island’s remote location and harsh weather have limited exploration.
The move comes a few months after the International Energy Agency warned that new oil and gas development must immediately stop across the globe to reach net-zero global emissions.
ENERGY DEPARTMENT AIMS TO FAST-TRACK APPROVAL OF ROOFTOP SOLAR: The Energy Department unveiled a new web app yesterday to automatically review and approve permit applications for residential solar panels.
The app, dubbed the Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus or SolarAPP+, is intended to cut the soft costs of solar installations, which remain a barrier to homeowners installing solar on their roofs.
Despite the cost of solar power falling 90% over the past decade, solar permitting processes vary widely across the country, with some customers waiting weeks to months to get approval. Solar installers tend to avoid working in areas with difficult permit processes, DOE notes.
The Rundown
Washington Post Biden administration proposes sweeping protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
Bloomberg Top carbon market launch won’t help China tame emissions yet
E&E News Convicted tree spiker: Stone-Manning knew plans in advance
Calendar
TUESDAY | JULY 20
10:30 a.m. 2123 Rayburn. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on oversight and investigations will hold a hearing entitled, “Stopping Digital Thieves: The Growing Threat of Ransomware.”
WEDNESDAY | JULY 21
10 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing to examine “the potential cybersecurity threats facing our nation’s infrastructure.”
THURSDAY | JULY 22
10 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s subcommittee on chemical safety, waste management, environmental justice, and regulatory oversight will hold a hearing to examine “current issues that adversely affect environmental justice communities.”
TUESDAY | JULY 27
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to examine White House budget request for the Department of the Interior for Fiscal Year 2022.
