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SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Energy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/ TRUMP TO LUNCH WITH PERRY AMID NORTH KOREA TALKS: President Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry are scheduled to sit down for lunch Monday afternoon, as a planned meeting at the White House with ethanol companies gets postponed.
First, Perry’s lunch: The Energy Department isn’t saying much about Monday’s visit between Perry and the president. An agency official could confirm only that the meeting was happening.
But it could have something to do with North Korea. Although Perry’s expertise is not in nuclear physics as was his predecessor Ernest Moniz, he does run a federal agency that represents the forefront of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts. Trump is planning to meet with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un after being asked last week. The president would require the Energy Department to be an integral part of his team to discuss any plan to reduce North Korea’s nuclear weapons arsenal and program. Perry recently swore in Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty to be administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which under Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal would comprise nearly half of the Energy Department’s funding. She has a background in nuclear nonproliferation and combating weapons of mass destruction. Ethanol meeting scrapped: Meanwhile, on the domestic front, some of the largest ethanol producers from Iowa had planned to sit down with Trump at the White House Monday. But the ethanol talks have been canceled. Pushback against Cruz: Monte Shaw, the head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, told the Washington Examiner Friday that the ethanol producers were slated to deliver new studies to Trump showing a plan floated by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would devastate the ethanol industry. Cruz had suggested a plan to cap the price of renewable identification number credits, or RINs. Independent refiners are required to buy the expensive RINs to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard. But Shaw and others say Cruz’s plan would not be the “win-win” deal the senator had imagined between Iowa corn farmers and oil refiners. Dancing with stars: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn suggested it would take more finesse to hash out a deal. “We got to figure this out,” the Texas Republican said Friday at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. But it’s a “delicate dance” that will take time. His office is drafting legislation, but details are being kept close to the vest as his staff meets with all sides. 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. U.S. HARDENS NATION’S POWER PLANTS SEVEN YEARS AFTER JAPAN DISASTER: The federal government is plugging away with a plan to make sure a nuclear power plant catastrophe never befalls the United States, similar to the Fukushima disaster in Japan seven years ago.
Remembering the meltdown: The nuclear disaster unfolded after a 9.0 earthquake hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The enormous tidal wave, or tsunami, that resulted from the quake caused the real problems. It resulted in the largest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in the former Soviet Union.
Radiation spill at Daiichi: The tsunami knocked out the back-up power supply to the Daiichi nuclear power plant in the Fukushima prefecture. With the power supply cut, the water pumps couldn’t keep the reactors cool, resulting in core meltdowns and a number of explosions. Today, radiation levels have made nearly all the surrounding towns and villages uninhabitable. Herds of radioactive wild boars roam the streets. U.S. vigilant: The Obama White House called for a review of safeguards at the nation’s nuclear plants. Seven years later, all of the nation’s 99 reactors comply with Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations established in the wake of the disaster, according to the commission. New emergency rules go into effect: However, the reactors that are of the same or similar design to the Japanese Daiichi power plant still have some work to do. The commission ordered all boiling-water reactors with Mark I and Mark II designs to achieve “full compliance” with new venting requirements beginning at the end of June 2018. So no to reactor explosions: The requirements would keep the reactor vessels from exploding if a similar scenario occurred in the United States where the reactors could not be cooled. Hydrogen gas had built up in each of the Japanese plant’s six reactors, resulting in significant explosions and making it easier for radioactivity to spread into the environment. The new requirements would make sure the U.S. plants can vent off excess heat and gas “so you would not have the catastrophic explosions seen at Fukushima,” Scott Burnell, NRC spokesman, told John. FIRST NATURAL GAS EXPORTER ON EAST COAST GETS UNWELCOME ATTENTION: Activists are targeting infrastructure related to Dominion’s Cove Point liquefied natural gas export terminal in Maryland, using people and tractors to block workers from finishing work on a compressor station Monday.
Bad for bats: The activists led by AMP Creek’s Council argue that the compressor station, which helps move shale natural gas from Pennsylvania for export, is endangering a bat species in the area as well as the pristine wilderness there.
From toddlers to tractors: The group said community rangers were out early Monday morning to “prevent tree-cutters from continuing to do irreversible harm to the 13.3 acres of forest, which includes habitat of the endangered northern long-eared bat. It is the second protest at the site in a week.” NEW FOSSIL FUEL PROTEST TREND AIMED AT EXPORTS: The protests mark one of the first to target infrastructure related to a LNG exporter.
Ready to ship Trump’s agenda: The export terminal finished its final commissioning last month and is preparing shipments to Europe. Natural gas exports are a key part of President Trump’s energy dominance agenda.
Oil exports also in crosshairs: Pushback against other export-related projects also surged over the weekend in Vancouver, Canada, against a pipeline expansion being built by U.S. company Kinder Morgan, the nation’s largest energy infrastructure company. The pipeline is seen as an alternative to the Keystone XL, and will more than double Canada’s oil exports to Asia from 300,000 barrels a day to well over 800,000 barrels. Thousands turned out to protest the new pipeline, which also attracted pro-oil counter protesters. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the pipeline is in Canada’s national interest. POWER GRID OPERATORS TELL FERC THEY CAN MEET RESILIENCE NEEDS: Regional grid operators mostly expressed confidence Friday that they could overcome reliability challenges to the electricity system, as energy generation transitions away from around-the-clock coal and nuclear to natural gas and renewables.
Mandate from FERC: The nation’s federally overseen grid operators, which run about 70 percent of the U.S. power supply, faced a Friday deadline to report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the state of the electricity system’s resilience, or its ability to bounce back from a major disruption such as this year’s bomb cyclone in the Northeast.
Survey says: The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which runs the bulk of the Midwest power grid, said in its comments to FERC that its market does “not have any imminent or immediate resilience concerns.” Similarly, the New York Independent System Operator said it is confident in its ability to efficiently and reliably meet New York’s energy needs. New England fuel problems: The grid operator for New England, however, outlined significant problems in its market, although it did not ask FERC to take a specific action. “In New England, the most significant resilience challenge is fuel security — or the assurance that power plants will have or be able to obtain the fuel they need to run, particularly in winter — especially against the backdrop of coal, oil, and nuclear unit retirements, constrained fuel infrastructure, and the difficulty in permitting and operating dual-fuel generating capability,” the grid operator said Friday in its comments to FERC. PJM seeks price reform: PJM Interconnection, covering 13 states from Illinois to the District of Columbia, was the only operator to recommend specific actions. PJM prefers an approach in which all power sources could receive enhanced payments. It has proposed a solution that would allow plants to set their own prices. FERC CHAIRMAN ADDRESSES HEALTH CONCERNS: FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre addressed concerns about his health on Sunday night, releasing a statement sharing that he was diagnosed this summer with a small, asymptomatic brain tumor. The tumor was treated successfully with surgery, said McIntyre, who is a recent appointee of President Trump. “I was advised at the time that, with the surgery and subsequent treatment behind me, I should expect to be able to maintain my usual active lifestyle, including working full time, and that expectation has proven to be accurate,” McIntyre said. SCHWARZENEGGER TO SUE OIL COMPANIES FOR ‘FIRST DEGREE MURDER’: Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday he is going to sue big oil companies for “first degree murder.” The Republican told Politico he is talking to several law firms about taking on oil companies in court.
Comparable to tobacco: The actor compared oil to the tobacco industry, and said both are “knowingly killing people all over the world.” Schwarzenegger said the tobacco industry had to pay millions of dollars for hiding that tobacco had adverse side effects, and said he hopes oil companies will have to do the same.
“The oil companies knew from 1959 on, they did their own study that there would be global warming happening because of fossil fuels, and on top of it that it would be risky for people’s lives, that it would kill,” Schwarzenegger said Sunday. Schwarzenegger suggested oil companies have warning labels on its products that are “killing people,” just like tobacco products. MURKOWSKI SAYS STEEL TARIFFS COULD RAISE COST OF ALASKA NATURAL GAS PROJECT: Sen. Lisa MurkowskI, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Friday that Trump’s tariffs on imported steel could add $500 million to the cost of a major natural gas export terminal planned in her home state of Alaska. “The back of the envelope numbers with these tariffs, we might be in a situation where it might be as much as half a billion dollars added on the most expensive infrastructure projects that we have seen with this country,” the Alaska Republican said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
Exporting to China: Alaska in November struck a $43 billion joint development deal with China on an 800-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from the North Slope to Asia.
‘Confusing message’: Murkowski also said the tariffs complicate relationships with countries that are importing more U.S. oil and natural gas, such as South Korea. “It sends a confusing message,” she said. OFFSHORE DRILLING WORTH $590 BILLION IN ECONOMIC BOOM, OIL INDUSTRY SAYS: The oil and natural gas industry on Friday urged Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to maintain his offshore drilling plan and open up federal waters from coast to coast, saying it would bring in almost $600 billion for the economy. The American Petroleum Institute released four studies commissioned by the oil industry that found the offshore drilling proposal could contribute up to $590 billion to the U.S. economy within two decades.
Time’s up: Friday night was the deadline for the public to comment on Zinke’s proposal to massively expand drilling in federal waters. More than 600,000 comments were filed.
Coast to coast: The American Petroleum Institute studies released Friday, written by Calash and Northern Economics, project the Atlantic could see $260 billion in new economic activity, while the Pacific can earn $160 billion. The Eastern Gulf could see $118 billion in total spending over 20 years. SAUDIS’ HUGE PUBLIC OFFERING LIKELY DELAYED UNTIL 2019: Saudi Aramco, the largest national oil company in the world, is unlikely to move forward with its planned public offering this year, according to multiple reports Sunday. Aramco had long been expected to begin trading on the stock market this year, but the Saudis are likely to wait until 2019 to make what would be the world’s biggest initial public offering. Trump has tried to persuade the Saudis to list Aramco on the New York Stock Exchange. The London Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange are also leading candidates to host the IPO, if it goes forward. RUNDOWN New York Times Trump rollbacks target offshore rules ‘written with human blood’ Bloomberg U.S. oil export surge means OPEC’s output cuts may be doomed Washington Post How a climate skeptic marginalized for years at the Interior Dept. rose to prominence under Trump Wall Street Journal Top Mexican presidential candidate, a leftist, plots big shake-up for Mexico’s oil industry New York Times Hotter, drier, hungrier: How global warming punishes the world’s poorest Quartz India attempts to take pole position in the world’s clean-energy transformation |
CalendarMONDAY, MARCH 12 8:30 a.m., 1999 Jefferson Davis Highway. Energy Department’s Office of Science holds a meeting of the National Science Foundation Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. tvworldwide.com/events/DOE/180312/ 9:30 a.m., St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Interior, Energy and Environment Subcommittee field hearing on “The Historic 2017 Hurricane Season: Impacts on the U.S. Virgin Islands.” 2 p.m., 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council holds a debate on “Nord Stream 2: What the U.S. and Europe Can and Should Do.” 3 p.m., 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program. TUESDAY, MARCH 13 8:30 a.m., 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Global CCS Institute holds its seventh annual D.C. Forum on Carbon, Capture and Storage. 8:30 a.m., 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Md. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds its 30th annual Regulatory Information Conference, March 13-15. ric.nrc.gov/registrationclosed 8 a.m., National Harbor, Md. The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) holds its ninth annual Energy Innovation Summit, March 13-15. arpae-summit.com/Press/Press-Passes 12:45 p.m., 1616 P St. NW. Resources for the Future holds a discussion on “The Impacts of Lower Natural Gas Prices on Employment in the Manufacturing Sector.” rff.org/events/event/2018-03/impacts-lower-natural-gas-prices-employment-manufacturing-sector 1:30 p.m., 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The U.S. Energy Association holds a discussion on “Can Algae Really Do CCU? Status and Potential of Biological Carbon Capture and Use.” usea.org/event/can-algae-really-do-ccu-status-and-potential-biological-carbon-capture-and-use 7 p.m., 1875 K St. NW. Envirorun holds a discussion with David Herring, communications and education director in NOAA’s Climate Program Office. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 All day, Washington Marriott at Metro Center. American Council on Renewable Energy holds its annual Renewable Energy Policy Forum. All day, 555 Pennsylvania Ave.. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute holds its Energy Summit: A World in Transition. THURSDAY, MARCH 15 8 a.m., 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council holds a discussion on “Strategic Oil Product Stockholding: International Experience and U.S. Prospects.” 10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee holds a committee hearing titled “An Overview of the National Science Foundation Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2019.” 12:30 p.m., 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The School for Advanced International Studies holds the Energy in China conference. eventbrite.com/e/energy-in-china-tickets-43900939893?aff=es2 |
