PERRY BEGGED TO SAVE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS FROM CLOSING: Utility company First Energy is asking the Energy Department to save a big chunk of its nuclear power plant fleet after announcing Wednesday that it would shut down three of its facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

• What it wants: Reports indicate First Energy is asking for some version of a federal “must-run” order that directs grid operators to keep “all eligible” power plants in the mix.

The company wants Energy Secretary Rick Perry to “find that an emergency condition exists,” while asking him to “promptly compensate at-risk merchant nuclear and coal-fired power plants,” according to a letter from the company obtained by Bloomberg.  

• The options: The shutdowns will take up to three years, and grid operators may consider bringing new plants online in that timeframe as a better solution. PJM Interconnection, the federally regulated grid operator, still must sign off on the company’s scheduled closures.

First Energy, in announcing the scheduled plant closures, asked Ohio and Pennsylvania officials to take steps to establish policies to save the plants.   

• Bad precedents: The Energy Department has rejected such requests in the past. And the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Perry’s proposal to give the plants market-based incentives.

Nevertheless, as a new report issued Thursday by the Atlantic Council points out, the nuclear industry is approaching a crisis that the Trump administration must do something about.

The report says a policy discussion is “urgently needed” and that the administration should bring together industry, policymakers, researchers, and other key groups to engage in a “constructive dialogue.”

• Add nuclear to energy dominance: The president’s “energy dominance” agenda emphasizes energy technology exports, but the emphasis has generally been on natural gas and coal exports.

“Although there is clearly a strong fossil-fuels orientation behind the ‘energy dominance’ theme, it is important to consider whether, and how, nuclear power fits into this strategy, and the implications of developments in the United States for the U.S. competitive position vis-a-vis China and Russia,” the report reads.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] 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.

PERRY PROMOTES NATURAL GAS EXPORTS, AS HE STAYS PUT: Energy Secretary Rick Perry wasn’t blowing smoke when he told John this month that he would not be taking over the Department of Veterans Affairs.

That pick went to President Trump’s personal physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, in a Wednesday evening announcement.

• It’s Perry’s energy shop: While Jackson adjusts to his nomination, Perry wrote an op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer Thursday, touting the first liquefied natural gas exports on the East Coast to be shipped from the Cove Point facility in Maryland.

Ohio and East Coast LNG: The facility may prove important to shale gas producers in Ohio looking to export their product.

Perry credits the opening of the facility “in large part to the president’s policies,” noting that one  of the nation’s most “important exports in the coming years will be energy.”

• Need for infrastructure: “We have recently become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but fully realizing the benefits of America’s energy abundance will require investments in new pipelines, railways and ports,” Perry wrote.

• Six more on the way: He touts the Maryland facility and one on the border of his home state of Texas and Louisiana, Sabine Pass, as examples of the types of infrastructure that will be coming online to make energy exports a reality. Six more natural gas export facilities are under construction and nearly ready for commercial operation, he said.

“Once online, these facilities will enable the export of more than 10 billion cubic feet of [liquefied natural gas] per day to our friends and allies around the world,” Perry wrote. Germany used about 90 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2010.

LAWSUIT TARGETING ZINKE AND REPEAL OF FOSSIL FUEL ‘LOOPHOLE’ EXPANDS: A group of conservation groups are looking to join states in suing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke over what they describe as a loophole that allows fossil fuel companies not to pay their fair share of royalties when producing on federal lands.

• Joining the states: The states of New Mexico and California filed the initial lawsuit against the Interior Department in the waning days of 2017.

• Repeal illegal: The states argued that the Trump administration’s repeal of an Obama-era rule that covers the valuation of publicly owned coal, oil, and natural gas is illegal and an affront to taxpayers. The Obama administration’s rule closed a loophole that fossil fuel companies have used to avoid paying full royalties to the federal government.

• Benefiting coal exports: “This has particularly been an issue with coal exports, where international prices are often higher than domestic ones,” the conservation groups argue. “The 2016 rule required that royalties be paid at full market value when federal minerals leave an energy company’s hands, not based on an internal transaction.”

• Zinke is law-bound: They argue that the Zinke is “bound by law to seek fair market value for the use of public lands and their resources,” according to a summary of the groups’ arguments. They argue that “Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Interior Department failed to explain why previous government findings that the valuation rule was crucial in guaranteeing that return are no longer valid.”

• Who wants to sue? The Natural Resources Defense Council filed for the right to intervene. Also included in the request to intervene in the lawsuit are the Northern Plains Resource Council, the Wilderness Society, and the Western Organization of Resource Councils. Briefings in the case are slated to begin in June with a hearing expected in October in District Court of Northern California.

EPA PRESSED TO SLOW DOWN ON ROLLING BACK VEHICLE FUEL STANDARDS: Global automakers and advocates are warning the Environmental Protection Agency to slow down as it prepares to declare that stricter President Barack Obama-era fuel-efficiency rules for vehicles are “not appropriate.”

• Ford focus: Top executives at Ford Motor Co., in anticipation of the EPA’s decision, are urging the Trump administration to not roll back the Obama standards, which would require automakers to nearly double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

The company says the agency should preserve one national program vehicle emissions program by not revoking California’s waiver that allows the state to adopt stricter efficiency standards.

• Go your own way: The federal Clean Air Act since 1967 has allowed California, because of severe air pollution problems it faced caused by smog, to set its own fuel efficiency regulations that can be tougher than the national standards. Other states can follow California’s standards instead of the national rules. Those states account for about one-third of the U.S. auto market.

• ‘Prize fight’: Robbie Diamond, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy, told the Washington Examiner he hopes EPA takes steps to begin broader negotiations with California, rather than declaring an intent to weaken the standards.

“We are sort of in the opening moments in a prize fight,” Diamond said. “The fighters have not entered the ring, everyone is talking and laying out positions, and we hope when the EPA makes their statement, it leaves room to continue the discussion. We are asking the administration to overlook ideology and reach an agreement with California.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES FREEZING PENALTIES AUTOMAKERS PAY FOR MISSING STANDARDS: The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed undoing an Obama-era rule that increased penalties for automakers that violate fuel-efficiency standards by more than 150 percent.

The auto industry had petitioned for scrapping the rule, arguing that it would cost more than $1 billion to comply.

The fine has been scheduled to rise from $5.50 to $14 for every tenth of a mile per gallon that companies fell short of the standards for model year 2019 vehicles.

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS URGE PRUITT TO BLOCK CALIFORNIA’S VEHICLE EMISSIONS WAIVER: A coalition of conservative groups, meanwhile, urged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Wednesday to revoke California’s ability to set its own strict fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles.

• ‘Costly mandates’: “The EPA has a responsibility to American citizens, but not one to promote solutions that require expensive taxpayer-funded infrastructure spending and subsidies, particularly at questionable environmental gains,” the groups wrote in a letter to Pruitt. “The American people deserve better, and if you do not act fast, come April 1, people across the state of California will be facing unrealistic and costly mandates which threaten their basic right to choose.”

The 11 groups on the letter include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, and Americans for Tax Reform.

INTERIOR SEEKS INDUSTRY INPUT INTO DRILLING OFF ALASKA’S COAST: The Interior Department on Wednesday asked for public comment about potential drilling in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s coast.

• Open Sesame: The proposal is part of the agency’s offshore oil and gas leasing program announced in January, under which Interior proposed opening nearly all federal waters to drilling, including 19 sales off the Alaska coast.

The Trump plan has received bipartisan criticism, with almost all coastal governors expressing opposition to allowing drilling off their shores, for fear of spills and harm to tourism.

But local politicians support drilling off Alaska’s coast. The state is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenue to support its budget.

• Balancing act: Interior’s proposal to drill in the Beaufort Sea asks companies to nominate areas where they might bid in a 2019 sale, and also mention areas too environmentally sensitive to drill.

The proposal will appear in Friday’s Federal Register, starting a 30-day comment period ending April 30.

• ‘Fast-track’ process: Environmental groups accused the Interior Department on Wednesday of acting prematurely in announcing the proposal, noting the agency has not finalized the 2019-2024 offshore leasing plan.

“Planning for a Beaufort lease sale this early in the process of crafting Trump’s five-year plan is a clear sign that the decision to include the Arctic has already been made,” said a coalition of environmental groups, including the Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and others. “This Beaufort sale is about giving a win to the Alaska delegation by starting the process to fast-track getting leases into the hands of the oil industry without full, fair and open debate.”

HOUSE PANEL BLASTS PUERTO RICO POWER UTILITY FOR TRYING TO ‘DISCREDIT’ CORRUPTION PROBE: The House Natural Resources Committee fought back at Puerto Rico’s state-run, bankrupt power utility Wednesday after the utility sought to discredit a probe being conducted by the congressional panel into allegations of corruption.

The Republican-led committee announced this month it is investigating charges of corruption against the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, which has struggled to manage the restoration of power on the island after Hurricane Maria.

• ‘Simply ridiculous’: “In many respects, the power restoration on the island is not being competently managed,” said Katie Schoettler, a spokeswoman for the committee. “To try to discredit detailed reporting by one of the largest newspapers in Puerto Rico is simply ridiculous and an insult to hardworking journalists dedicated to uncovering these corrupt practices.”

Schoettler was responding to a statement released by PREPA’s board of directors Wednesday declaring it was complying with the committee’s probe but criticizing its merit.

• Allegations mount: PREPA this year suspended three employees without pay as it investigates 25 cases of bribery involving employees responsible for restoring power after Hurricane Maria, PBS News reported in January.

El Vocero, a San Juan newspaper, wrote that the employees had requested as much as $5,000 to reconnect power.

CANTWELL SEEKS PROBE OF ZINKE’S REASSIGNMENT OF CIVIL SERVANTS: Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and other colleagues, asked the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday to investigate Zinke’s reassignment of senior career civil servants.

• ‘Lower morale’: “We are concerned that mismanagement of this program could lead to premature retirements, lower morale within the federal workforce, higher costs for the department, and discourage talented professionals from entering the [Senior Executive Service],” wrote eight Democrats on committees from both chambers that oversee federal worker issues.

The Democrats say the Interior Department has reassigned as many as 33 civil servants, which has prompted a review by the agency’s inspector general. The lawmakers say the reassignments may have been politically motivated.

ENERGY DEPARTMENT PARTNERS WITH NASA ON ‘TRANSFORMATIVE IDEAS’: The Energy Department announced Thursday morning a partnership with NASA to host an energy technology competition.

The agencies are seeking “transformative energy concepts” in technologies such as fuel cells, batteries, solar power systems, and small fission power systems.

Companies and inventors can submit their ideas through April 29.

The top 10 finalists will be invited to present their ideas to NASA and DOE, in addition to other energy and space experts and potential investors, at the 2018 NASA iTech Cycle II Forum in June in New York City.

RUNDOWN

Reuters Firms complain of contaminated crude from U.S. reserve

New York Times It’s the no. 1 power source, but natural gas faces headwinds

Wall Street Journal Oil giant shell wants to sell you electricity

InsideClimate News A renewable energy battle is brewing in Arizona

Huffington Post Leaked memo shows EPA tells employees how to downplay climate change

New York Times $9.5 billion purchase by Concho is latest sign of West Texas oil boom

Washington Post Ice cores show Greenland’s melting is unprecedented in at least four centuries