Energy Update: Week of January 27

Friends,

Welcome to Super Bowl week.  We are early today because I am reporting LIVE from Energy Central…HOUSTON!!!

Lots of hype for this week’s Super Bowl. I expect it will be a good game as it’s clear that SF and KC are the two best teams in the league. The Vegas line is staying close and don’t expect it to be much more than a pick’em. And once again, Saturday’s NHL All-Star was impressive.  I love that 3-on-3 format.

And despite the recent controversy, the 62^nd Grammys were awarded last night at the Staples Center in LA, a night overshadowed by the tragic loss of NBA great Kobe Bryant, his daughter and 7 others in a helicopter crash.  The big Grammy winner was Billie Eilish, who pretty much swept the Album, Song and New Artist categories, among others.  MOST IMPORTANTLY, Tool won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the Fear Innoculum song, 7empest. And who couldn’t be moved by Chris Cornell winning a posthumous award in the category of Best Recording Package, a career-spanning boxed set of 15 classics and two unreleased tracks, including his cover of Prince's “Nothing Compares to U” as well as album artwork from Pearl Jam bassist and long-time friend Jeff Ament.  Also, Chicago, Roberta Flack, Iggy Pop and Public Enemy were among the lifetime achievement honorees.

Impeachment still soaks up much of the oxygen in DC, but last week, the WOTUS re-write took center stage when EPA head Wheeler announced the change at the NAHB conference in Las Vegas.  This week, we expect House Climate legislation and a House Highway bill to start to emerge.  Keep on the lookout for those.

Not else much in Congress this week, but House Resources discusses public disclosure on climate and another panel discusses water legislation while a House Energy panel will look into wildfire mitigation and electric blackouts.  The Senate Environment Committee hears from stakeholders on the Chemical Safety Board on Wednesday, while House Science look at US competitiveness..

There are a bunch of good events off the Hill this week.  On Wednesday, BPC hosts the EIA Energy Outlook while on Friday, Yale hosts a forum on the future of carbon-friendly cement.  And speaking of cement, check out the New York Times article on the new Road App from MIT and others that turns a smartphone into a tool to track potholes and measure overall road quality while improving the environment.  Finally, this is Waste Management’s Phoenix Open week.  The golf tournament starts on Thursday – the same day they host their annual Sustainability Forum with former Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry. 

Congrats to our friend Don Santa, who after a long energy career as the head of INGAA and before that as a FERC Commissioner, is retiring. 

Super Bowl Sunday!!!   Get those squares.  That’s all for today, call with questions.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932

FRANKLY SPOKEN

“EPA and the Army are providing much needed regulatory certainty and predictability for American farmers, landowners and businesses to support the economy and accelerate critical infrastructure projects. After decades of landowners relying on expensive attorneys to determine what water on their land may or may not fall under federal regulations, our new Navigable Waters Protection Rule strikes the proper balance between Washington and the states in managing land and water resources while protecting our nation’s navigable waters, and it does so within the authority Congress provided.”

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on the new EPA Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

ON THE PODCAST

GTM Podcast Talks Green Hydrogen – On this week’s Interchange podcast from Greentech Media, Stephen Lacey and Shayle Kann sort through the renewed interest in hydrogen from renewables. Less than 1 percent of all hydrogen produced today comes from renewables. But the vice president of Siemens Middle East just predicted that green hydrogen will assume the mantle of the “new oil” in the coming decades. A lot of big industrial companies and oil majors are taking another serious look at hydrogen.  In an era of extremely cheap renewables that are increasingly being curtailed, hydrogen production could finally become an attractive use case, due in part to the emerging regulatory pressures on existing hydrogen production.  Interchange host Stephen Lacey talks with Ben Gallagher, an expert on emerging tech at Wood Mackenzie. He’s the author of a new piece of research on the green hydrogen market. Ben will help us understand what’s different about today’s hydrogen hype.

FUN OPINIONS

LA Daily News: Cal Biz Leader Challenges NatGas Bans – Thomas Lawson, a California African-American business leader and president of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition wrote in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Daily News and other Southern California regional papers looking at how to address California’s climate change issues in a way that works for minority communities.  Lawson says minority communities know that one of the most pressing issues in our community is the rising cost of living and housing affordability. He adds “one-size-fits-all policies and viewpoint exclusion rarely work to address pressing problems, and climate change is no different.  Policymakers should embrace multiple forms of energy, including natural gas and renewable natural gas to achieve our goals.”  Finally, He challenged a recent piece in the NYT on the NAACP that argued they were being manipulated by industry groups.  Lawson said when coalitions and minority groups like the NAACP embrace these solutions or work alongside industry to solve these problems, we should celebrate, not criticize them.

FROG BLOG

NYT: MIT Mapping Potholes by Phone – A great new article in the New York Times highlights a new app from a far-flung group of engineering students from MIT, Harvard and Birzeit University in the West Bank that turns a smartphone into a tool to track potholes and measure overall road quality.  The students’ test users have already come up with some surprising data (or not so surprising for those familiar with Boston-area streets): The roads around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are worse than the roads around Birzeit University. The surface streets in Cambridge have the roughness index of a well-maintained dirt road said Franz-Josef Ulm, faculty director at MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub, who is guiding the students in developing their app, called Carbin.  Poor road quality increases fuel consumption, Professor Ulm said. That was on his mind a couple of years ago during an educational exchange visit to Birzeit University, one of the top engineering schools in the Middle East. Fuel is expensive there, and for some Palestinians, transportation costs rival those of rent and food. He realized that if there was a way to map road quality, drivers could plan trips that cost less and reduced wear and tear on their cars.  Although drivers don’t realize it, they compensate for poor roads by pressing a little harder on the accelerator. So to maintain a constant speed, they burn more fuel and spew out more carbon dioxide. The quality of highways has a small effect on fuel consumption, but Professor Ulm said road quality could account for 10 to 15 percent of fuel use in urban settings.

IN THE NEWS

New WOTUS Rule Rolls out – EPA released its long-awaited regulation to remove millions of miles of streams and roughly half the country's wetlands from federal protection. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule replaces the previous definition of protected waterways. Here are the links to the Rule, Fact Sheets, and Press Release are below.

EPA Press Release: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-army-deliver-president-trumps-promise-issue-navigable-waters-protection-rule-0 

Pre-Publication Rule: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-01/documents/navigable_waters_protection_rule_prepbulication.pdf

Fact Sheet: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-01/documents/nwpr_fact_sheet_-_overview.pdf

SEJ Hosts Seminar, Releases Guide – From Australia to the Arctic to your neighborhood, environment and energy news is already heating up as 2020 kicks off — and the election promises to add fuel to the fire. On Friday, the Society of Environmental Journalists rolled out its 8^th annual "Journalists' Guide to Energy & Environment" at the National Geographic Society's auditorium in Washington, DC. Watch the video recording here.

Study: German Rejection of Nukes Bad Policy – A new study by the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research suggests Germany’s rejection of nuclear power was an expensive and possibly deadly miscalculation. The paper examines the impact of the shutdown of roughly half of the nuclear production capacity in Germany after the Fukushima accident in 2011, using hourly data on power plant operations and a novel machine learning framework to estimate how plants would have operated differently if the phase-out had not occurred. We find that the lost nuclear electricity production due to the phase-out was replaced primarily by coal-fired production and net electricity imports. The social cost of this shift from nuclear to coal is approximately 12 billion dollars per year. Over 70% of this cost comes from the increased mortality risk associated with exposure to the local air pollution emitted when burning fossil fuels. Even the largest estimates of the reduction in the costs associated with nuclear accident risk and waste disposal due to the phase-out are far smaller than $12 billion.

Former Abraham Aide Taking Over International Energy Forum – Special congrats to our friend Joe McMonigle, former aide to Sen. and Energy Sect. Spence Abraham.  Joe is moving to Riyadh next summer having been elected the next Secretary General of the International Energy Forum, the largest gathering of energy ministers from both producing and consuming countries.  The IEF’s 70 member countries represent 90 percent of global supply and demand for oil and gas.  Joe will serve a four year term that starts August 1, 2020.  The Secretary General is the CEO and Head of Mission of the IEF which is headquartered in the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

WM Phoenix Open Set Features Sustainability Roundtable – Waste Management hosts the 2020 Phoenix Open this week in Arizona. Known as “The Greatest Show on Grass,” the Waste Management Phoenix Open has gained legendary status for being unlike any other tournament on the PGA Tour. From the notorious 16^th hole and star-studded Birds Nest music festival to the biggest names in professional golf, this event also features the annual Sustainability Forum on Thursday featuring WM CEO Jim Fish, former UN climate official Christine Figueres and former Secretary State John Kerry.

Cleantech Forum Set for SF – Today through Wednesday, the Cleantech Group Holds its 2020 Cleantech Forum in San Francisco.

USEA Hosts WY Carbon Research Team – The US Energy Assn will host a forum today at 11:00 a.m. with Wyoming Infrastructure Authority Exec Director Jason Begger. In 2014, the State of Wyoming formed a private/public partnership with utilities to construct and operate a one-of-a-kind carbon research facility at Basin Electric Power Cooperative's Dry Fork Power Station, the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC).  Five years later, researchers are working on novel technologies to improve and commercialize carbon capture and utilization methods.  Wyoming's multi-faceted, technology driven approach is advancing not only efforts in the U.S., but how carbon can be effectively managed across the globe.

AWEA in Iowa – The American Wind Energy Association holds a climate policy/renewable energy panel today at 11:00 a.m. CST in Des Moines with business leaders and renewable energy experts to discuss Iowa's wind energy leadership in addressing climate change.  Live Stream is here.

CSIS to Look at Australia Fires, Climate Links – The Center for Strategic & International Studies holds a conversation on Friday at 5:00 p.m. on the impact of the Australian bushfires on regional politics, public opinion, the health of the population, and national economic growth. The event will also discuss the cataclysmic scale of the fires and the potential climate change drivers that have helped spread of the fires. 

ACORE Holds Forum in San Antonio – The American Council on Renewable Energy is hosting its annual DISTRIBUTECH International transmission and distribution event Tuesday through Thursday in San Antonio. The event addresses technologies used to move electricity from the power plant through the transmission and distribution systems to the meter and inside the home. The conference and exhibition offer information, products and services related to electricity delivery automation and control systems, energy efficiency, demand response, renewable energy integration, advanced metering, T&D system operation and reliability, communications technologies, cyber security, water utility technology and more.

USEA Holds CCUS Workshop – The US Energy Assn is hosting a CCUS Roadshow starting tomorrow. The D.C. workshop is the first in a series of day long programs in six different cities on Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. Speakers are leading experts on CCUS in the United States and are taking their time to give you their insights, experiences and expectations over seven sessions. The goals are to present the latest developments and activities in these areas and to reach the broader and growing stakeholder community looking to CCUS for large scale CO2 management. This workshop and roadshow will give insight for finding commercial opportunities in supplying and developing projects, infrastructure, 45Q tax credit, corporate responses to CSR/ESG and carbon management. Other topics to be discussed include new areas such as waste plastics destruction, carbon neutral petro-chemical feedstocks, transportation fuels and electricity generation.

House Resources Panel Discusses Water, Disclosure Legislation – The House Natural Resources Water, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee holds a hearing tomorrow on H.R. 4891 (116), the "Western Water Security Act of 2019"; H.R. 5316 (116), the "Move Water Now Act"; and H.R. 5347 (116), the "Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water Assistance Act." The Committee’s Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee also holds a hearing on "The Importance of Public Disclosure Requirements for Protecting Human Health, the Climate, and the Environment," focusing on H.R. 5636 (116), the "Transparency in Energy Production Act of 2020."

House Energy to Look at Fires, Power Shutoffs – The House Energy and Commerce’s Energy Subcommittee holds a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on the impact of wildfires on our power sector and the environment.  PG&E CEO Bill Johnson, Co-op CEO David Markham and several other experts will testify.

Senate Commerce Focused on Infrastructure – The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee holds a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. that will provide an overview of the Build America Bureau and the U.S. Department of Transportation Rural Transportation Initiatives.

NSF Resilience Forum to Look at Disaster Response – The National Science Foundation holds a natural disaster resiliency forum tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in 2325 Rayburn to see and experience NSF-funded research aimed improving human response to natural disasters.  There will be a host of university speakers and Rebecca Morss of NCAR.

Howard Hosts Water Forum – Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m., Howard University holds a discussion on global innovations in water technology.

BPC to Host EIA Energy Outlook – On Wednesday, EIA will release its 2020 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) at a public event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center. EIA releases its Annual Energy Outlook each year to provide updated projections of U.S. energy markets.  The event will feature a presentation by EIA Administrator Dr. Linda Capuano followed by a panel discussion on the challenges and market trends facing the electricity sector, including Southern’s Charles Rossman. The Annual Energy Outlook provides modeled projections of domestic energy markets through 2050, and it includes cases with different assumptions about macroeconomic growth, world oil prices, and technological progress. The EIA, the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, is the nation’s most authoritative source of data, forecasts, and analysis of the U.S. energy market.

Senate Enviro to Hear From Chem Safety Board Stakeholders – The Senate Environment Committee holds a hearing on Wednesday to get stakeholder perspectives on the importance of the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

House Science Look at Competitiveness – The House Science Committee holds a hearing Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. on U.S. competitiveness in critical technologies.

House Tax Committee Looks at Infrastructure –The House Ways and Means Committee is hosting a hearing on funding and financing for infrastructure investments at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Forum to Look at German Energy Issues – On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the An American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) holds a roundtable will examine energy markets and security in Germany and Europe. The aim of this event is to explore from a transatlantic perspective the evolution of EU energy policies and what impacts deeper European integration and a stronger EU foreign policy voice would have on European energy transition, security of supply, and trade with Russia.

Experts to Discuss Test Reactor – On Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Dr. Kemal Pasamehmetoglu. executive director for the Versatile Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, will discusses the project with other officials. The Versatile Test Reactor is an experimental fast neutron nuclear reactor that could start up by 2026.  Our friend and former Rep. Ed Whitfield, as well as Irfan Ali of Advanced Reactor Concepts and Cyril Draffin of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council join. 

EESI Forum to Look at EE Jobs – The Environmental and Energy Study Institute holds a briefing on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in CVC to hear from a panel of experts about how energy efficiency programs create jobs and deliver direct meaningful savings to constituent homeowners, consumers, and businesses—all while reducing the stresses and strains on our energy system.  Speakers include Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Molly Cripps, Christopher Hess of Eaton and several others. 

Reporters to Discuss Climate Challenge – The DC Climate Citizens Lobby hosts a forum on Wednesday night at Busboys and Poets with Mother Jones Rebecca Leber, TIME’s Justin Worland and others to discuss climate.  

ACORE Webinar Growth, Investment – The American Council on Renewable Energy holds a State of the Industry webinar at 2:00 p.m. on the outlook for growth and investment in 2020.

Yale Forum on Carbon Neutral Construction Set – On Friday, AIA Connecticut, in collaboration with the CT Green Building Council will host an important Net Zero Schools Summit in Rudolph Hall at the Yale School of Architecture. The event hosts and sponsors will assemble a group of thought leaders and experts from across the country to discuss the issues of sustainability, carbon sequestration in construction, and construction methods to achieve Net Zero schools and move the design and construction industries toward a carbon positive future.  The Summit’s goal is to host a candid discussion of sustainability and design of Net Zero schools with a goal of providing actionable information for the stakeholders behind school design and construction as it relates to carbon impacts of the built environment.

Super Bowl LIV – Sunday February 2^nd

IN THE FUTURE

Iowa caucuses – Monday February 3^rd

State of the Union – Tuesday February 4^th

International HVACR Conference Set – The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo is set for February 3^rd to 5^th in Orlando.  The AHR Expo is the world’s largest HVACR event, attracting the most comprehensive gathering of industry professionals from around the globe each year. The Show provides a unique forum where manufacturers of all sizes and specialties, whether a major industry brand or innovative start-up, can come together to share ideas and showcase the future of HVACR technology under one roof.

Forum to Look at CCS – The Atlantic Council holds a forum on Wednesday February 4^th at 3:00 p.m. to look at the global status of CCS technologies.  This event explores the current status of carbon capture and storage, the next generation of CCS projects, policies, and technologies taking shape around the world, and the important role they play in global decarbonization.

ASE Holds Policy Summit – The Alliance to Save Energy Policy holds its Policy Summit on Wednesday, February 5^th at 8:00 a.m. in 562 Dirksen. This year the event explores energy efficiency policy priorities in the 116^th Congress.

Forum to Look at CO2 Utilization – The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute holds a forum on Wednesday February 5^th at Noon to look at CO2 utilization as part of a larger umbrella of CCS technologies to mitigate emissions contributing to global climate change. This session will look at how the technology can complement other types of permanent sequestration of CO2 (via both Enhanced Oil Recovery and Geological Sequestration) and, particularly, applications in industrial, mining, and oil& gas sectors.  The workshop will start with a presentation from Moji Karimi, CEO of Cemvita Factory. Cemvita has partnered with Occidental Petroleum and BHP on commercial applications.  The presentation will be followed by a panel of experts looking at how utilization fits within the significant growth of CCS projects and policy & regulatory support for utilization, particularly in a US context.

State Energy Officials Look at Policy Issues – The National Association of State Energy Officials 2020 Energy Policy Outlook Conference and Innovation Summit will be held on February 5^th to 7th at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.  The conference will examine the key policies and initiatives needed to drive modernization and resilience across our energy infrastructure – grid, pipelines, buildings and transportation.

WCEE Relaunches Book Club – The Women's Council on Energy and Environment (WCEE) is relaunching its book club meeting on Thursday February 6^th at Café du Parc at 5:30 p.m. This month’s book is WSJ reporter Russell Gold’s "Superpower - One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy."

EPA Speaker to Address Enviro Law – ELI hosts the Environmental Law 2020 conference on February 6 – 7^th at the Washington Plaza Hotel in D.C.  Peter Wright, Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, will deliver the keynote address on the second day of the program.  Prior to serving at the EPA, Mr. Wright was managing counsel for environmental, health, and safety matters for Dow Chemical Company. In addition to federal and state-led remediation matters, he also oversaw Dow’s Superfund site responsibility. You can see a complete agenda and other program details here.

National Ethanol Conference ready for Houston – The National Ethanol Conference is set for February 10^th to 12^th in Houston at the Marriott Marquis.  The forum focuses on marketing, legislative and regulatory issues facing the ethanol industry.

Sustainable Energy Factbook Forum Set – BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) will be releasing the 2020 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook in Washington, DC, on February 13^th.  In its eighth year, the Factbook provides new industry information and trends for the U.S. energy economy, with an in-depth look at the energy efficiency, natural gas and renewable energy sectors as well as emerging areas such as digitalization, micro-grids, offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable natural gas.

Forum to Look at Coastal Resilience – EESI holds a briefing on Thursday February 13^th at 2:30 p.m. looking at the actions being taken to manage increasing temperatures, flooding, and other coastal hazards impacting communities and ecosystems in the Great Lakes region. This briefing will showcase nature-based solutions for climate adaptation in rural and urban settings, and show how cutting-edge technology and traditional practices can be used to create resilient communities.  The panelists will describe the collaborative process between federal, state, and local stakeholders in collecting, sharing, and acting on scientific data to inform policy decisions around adaptation and help communities define and achieve their resilience goals. These projects can serve as a model for other regions experiencing similar issues.

Powell, former DOE Official headline CCS Forum – The Global CCS Institute holds its 9^th annual DC Forum on March 3^rd The Forum features stakeholders from across the private sector, the government, and the NGO community to discuss how we supersize the next wave of carbon capture projects. Policy incentives in the United States, such as 45Q and California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, are driving dozens of new projects across various sectors including power, industrials, and transportation fuels. Speakers will include former DOE official Julio Freedman (now at Columbia), ClearPath’s Rich Powell, DTE’s Mark Rigby and Louisiana State Energy Officer Jason Lanclos.

ACORE Policy Forum Set – The 2020 ACORE Policy Forum is set for March 4^th at Convene.  This year, the event will address the most important issues facing the renewable energy industry, such as the implications of the 2019 tax extenders agreement, the prominence of climate in the 2020 election and more. Panelists and keynote speakers will explore a variety of topics within four key themes, including the latest from Congress, Clean Energy Standards, Climate and Power Markets/Transmission.

Solar Conference Set for SD – Infocast is holding its Solar + Storage Finance & Investment Summit on March 17^th at the Omni LaCosta Resort in San Diego.  The forum focuses on innovative deals, discuss structures and investment challenges, and assess the opportunities that come with implementation and integration.