Energy Update: Week of June 24th

Friends,

What an exciting weekend thanks especially to the idiots who charged the 18^th green at the Travelers Championships in Hartford as Scottie Sheffler was getting ready to putt for the victory. At some point I guess you just don’t realize you’re actually not helping the cause by doing things like running on the field at the Congressional Charity baseball game, painting Stonehenge or disrupting second-tier PGA golf tournaments.

Over the past week, we’ve been all-in on the Olympic trials for diving, swimming and track & field. As you may know, I was a college steeplechaser/runner and my wife Stacey was a diver at Arizona, so we’ve both been there and can’t get enough. Except for tonight: I am tuning in to Game 7 of the NHL finals in Florida as Edmonton tries to do something that hasn’t been done since 1942, overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals.  I will also be swapping channels to keep an eye on the Calder Cup Finals where the Hershey Bears (DC’s top farm team) look to close out Coachella Valley.  And kudos to our friend Matt Letourneau on Thursday/Friday last week who was up in Boston to see the NBA Championship parade for the Celtics!

The big story this week is Thursday’s Presidential debate.  Let’s get outside of the dumb remarks about Biden being “jacked up” or Trump mindless attacks, and let’s turn to a little more relevant substance for energy/climate issues. A bunch of enviro groups last week urged CNN moderators to ask questions about climate change.  That is an “easy ask” as I almost guarantee you, they will ask about climate change.  The larger question will be how many times they ask (my guess is not many) and what do the candidates say (Trump: wild slogans/unhelpful anecdotes; Biden: rambling about what he has already done even though climate activists don’t think it’s nearly enough). I know we will all watch on Thursday, even though it is so early in the campaign, because of its dumpster fire potential.

More importantly this week, all eyes are on the Supreme Court, which is expected to release several key decisions this week, including two key environmental decisions:

• Ohio v. EPA, which establishes legality of the federal “Good Neighbor Plan” for air quality
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which concerns whether the “Chevron deference” standard for executive rulemaking will endure

Most experts – including my colleagues here at Bracewell who specialize on this topic – see some, maybe even significant reform to the Chevron legal policy. In both cases, we will have our experts available for comments and should have some written materials pretty quickly, so please feel free to reach out.

FERC holds its regular June Open Meeting on Thursday which will be the last meeting for outgoing Commissioner Allison Clements and first for newly-sworn David Rosner. They are expected to vote on Venture Global's proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG terminal in Louisiana.

The Senate is out until after July 4^th but the House is back this week to handling funding for energy, environmental and interior programs. House Approps Chair Tom Cole is looking to finish all funding the bills prior to the August recess.  One hearing of note: the House Science Committee will hold the reschedule of DOE 2025 funding hearing with David Turk on Wednesday.  Expect a number of questions on LNG issues as remember in February and in April, the Committee sent letters asking the Administration serious questions on their prohibition on exporting US LNG and what are the National Labs study parameters.

A couple of other really interesting events this week. On Wednesday,  the US Chamber holds a critical mineral summit with DOE’s Jigar Shah, Reps. John James and Juan Ciscomani and former DOE official Alex Fitzsimmons, currently at Sila Nanotech. As well, C3 also holds a critical minerals summit on Thursday afternoon.  RFF holds a Wednesday webinar on improving electricity affordability in the clean energy transition and RealClear Dialogues holds Energy Future Forum focused on the intersection of technology, money and politics with EQT’s Toby Rice, former LA Sen. Mary Landrieu, former Energy Secretary Spence Abraham and former FERC Chair James Danley.

Another must see event is Thursday morning’s EPRI forum to explore how cutting-edge climate data can build a more resilient power system with speakers from DOE, NOAA, NASA, NERC and NASEO.  Expert panels will discuss the imperative of high-quality, localized climate data for system planning and how to utilize this information to identify infrastructure vulnerabilities and devise strategic, proactive solutions.

Finally, you may have heard about an “historic agreement” in a kids’ climate case with Hawaii. While it certainly is important and maybe historic, let me remind you this is an agreement that was forged with a very blue state that already is moving aggressively on its legislative policy side. The question is actually less about the state legislative action or legal agreement but will they in reality be able to implement the agreement. That is a significant point that is being lost in the coverage and will be a much harder task. 

Call with any questions.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932                                                                                                              

FRANKLY SPOKEN 

““The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.”

Alberto Brandolini (2013), which our friends at the American Energy Society applied to a number of claims in their note this week including energy independence, impacts of getting to Net Zero, FEMA/Insurance, Offshore Wind.  (Seemed appropriate given this week’s debate)

ON THE PODCAST

Energy Vault CEO Piconi Talks Long-term Battery, Gravity Storage – In this final episode of the USEA Power Sector Podcast series on energy storage, Rob Piconi, CEO and Board Chair of Energy Vault, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about his company’s unique multiple technology business model based on battery energy storage systems, gravity energy storage, and green hydrogen and about his perspective on the future of the energy storage sector and these technologies.

FUN OPINIONS

WaPo Ed Board: Ending Growth Won’t Save Planet – In a Washington Post editorial, the board writes curtailing economic growth will not save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Cutting carbon emissions produced by the global economy will require massive new green energy infrastructure and new clean technologies. In other words, growth and innovation. Proponents of untrammeled growth ignore the damage that it imposes on the environment and on human health. But that calls for mitigating the damage, not abandoning growth altogether.

FROG BLOG

Climate Fight Must Overcome Geopolitical Discord – In a Foreign Affairs essay, Harvard's Meghan O'Sullivan and Columbia's Jason Bordoff offers ways to prevent the clean energy transition from worsening geopolitical tensions — and even lessens them. "Diversification is surely necessary, but clean energy supply chains can't be scaled up with sufficient speed if China is removed from the equation altogether." Uniting behind a well-conceived and well-executed clean energy transition can bring about not only a more sustainable global economy but also a more peaceful and prosperous world.

FUN FACTS

Global Gas Flaring:  The World Bank released its annual Global Gas Flaring data late last week. Our friends at the Colorado School of Mines’ Payne Institute provides the data using its world-class satellite algorithms and capabilities. Flaring rose in 2023, after being slightly lower for the past three years. The US claimed the 4th spot (out of the medals) behind Russia, Iran, and Iraq.

IN THE NEWS

World’s First End-to-End Traceability for Wind Energy – A new, ground-breaking agreement between Ørsted, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy Grid Technologies and Circulor, the leading supply chain traceability solution, accomplished the world’s first end-to-end traceability of the copper used in the transformers of the wind turbines, giving unique visibility into the origin of this critical material. As the renewable energy transition accelerates, the significance of the increased demand for minerals and metals, such as copper, bauxite, and rare earth elements, will be essential for the construction of wind turbines and other energy transition technologies. The collaboration is a first-of-its-kind, setting a new standard for supply chain transparency within the wind industry, where visibility into all components containing critical materials is crucial. It also showcases the potential for traceability of copper supply chains to other critical sectors reliant on copper, such as transportation, electronics and construction, to work towards more responsible supply chains.

API, Truckers, Ag Groups Challenge Heavy-Duty Truck Rules – API, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, National Corn Growers Association and American Farm Bureau Federation filed a lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging EPA’s heavy-duty (HD) vehicle emissions standards for model years (MY) 2027-2032.

“Today, we are standing up for consumers who rely on trucks to deliver the goods they use every single day,” said API Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers. “The EPA is forcing a switch to technology that simply does not presently exist for these kinds of vehicles – and even if it were someday possible, it will almost certainly have consequences for your average American.”

“Small business truckers make up 96% of trucking and could be regulated out of existence if the EPA’s unworkable heavy-duty rule comes into effect,” said Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer. “This rule would devastate the reliability of America’s supply chain and ultimately increase costs for consumers. Mom and pop trucking businesses would be suffocated by the sheer cost and operational challenges of effectively mandating zero emission trucks, but this administration appears intent on forcing through its deluge of misguided environmental mandates.

“EPA has tried to impose a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing climate change by prioritizing electric vehicles over other climate remedies like corn ethanol,” said Minnesota farmer and National Corn Growers Association President Harold Wolle. “But while it could take decades to get enough electric vehicles on the road to make a dent in GHG emissions, lower carbon fuels such as ethanol are critical and effective climate tools that are available now.

“Farmers rely on heavy-duty trucks to transport livestock long distances, and they choose the most efficient routes to ensure the animals in their care remain on the vehicle for as little time as possible," said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “Unfortunately, heavy-duty vehicles that are powered by batteries have short ranges and require hours to charge. Impractical regulations will extend the amount of time on the road, putting the health and safety of drivers and livestock at risk if they need to stop for long periods of time to charge.”

In March, the Biden administration finalized new federal emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles (including commercial vehicles). In the final rule, EPA projects that there would need to be significant deployment of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) throughout the HD fleet to meet emissions standards. For example, over 40% of vocational vehicles (work trucks) would need to be ZEVs by MY 2032. Additionally, long-haul tractors (semi-trucks), which currently have no ZEV deployment, would need to go from zero percent today to 25% of the fleet by MY 2032.

AABE, EEI Partner on Strengthening Energy Workforce – The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) announced the signing of a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) to reinforce their joint commitment to strengthening the energy workforce. The MOU was signed during EEI 2024, EEI’s annual thought leadership forum. For decades, EEI, member electric companies and AABE have worked together to advance a shared vision to ensure greater participation in the development of energy policy, which is central to economic growth and job creation. This MOU will leverage this partnership to create more engagement opportunities between the organizations both in Washington, D.C., and at the state and local levels. This MOU builds upon new programming that EEI and AABE have developed together, such as the Executive Leadership Summit, which convenes industry executives, leaders from Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and national civic organizations, and elected officials to discuss best practices for expanding the diverse leadership pipeline. Beginning the leadership training process earlier in the careers of promising candidates by working with HBCUs and minority-serving institutions helps to expose students to the tremendous career opportunities in the electric power industry.

ACP, WoodMac Detail Record 1Q Energy Storage Deployment – A detailed new analysis from Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association says the US deployed 1265 MW of energy storage in the US in first-quarter, an 84% rise over the first three months of 2023. Across all segments, 2024 is expected to deploy 12.9 GW/ 35.8 GWh. The five-year grid-scale forecast increased by 5% qoq in MW-terms, largely led by an increased pipeline of announced projects. The pipeline increase brings the cumulative volume of new additions through 2028 to 62.2 GW. Over the next five years there will be more than 10 GW of residential storage deployments. Our five-year residential forecast increased by 8% qoq in large part due to declining system costs and emerging residential storage value streams. The five-year CCI forecast was cut 34% after the California Public Utilities Commission’s finalized their decision on community solar in May.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

FCHEA Looks at Tax Credit Transferability – FCHEA will be hosting a webinar tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. to provide an explainer on how this tax credit transferability market works and operates. On April 30^th, the Department of Treasury issued its final regulations on clean energy tax credit transferability rules. My Bracewell colleague Jenny Speck will be among the panelists.

AEI Hosts Gramm ESG Book Event – Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m., AEI host a book event on ESG investing featuring former chair of the Senate Banking Committee Phil Gramm. Gramm and co-author Terrance Keeley will join AEI President Robert Doar to explain the fundamental flaws behind ESG and discuss how we can restore to Wall Street the principles that promote opportunity and growth.

Turk Heads to House Science – The House Science Committee holds a hearing on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. that will be an overview of the DOE budget proposal for FY2025. DOE’s David Turk will testify and expect some questions on LNG issues. Remember, in February and in April, the Committee sent letters asking the Administration serious questions on their prohibition on exporting US LNG and what are the National Labs study parameters.

NEMA Holds Energy Efficiency Expo Set – The National Electrical Manufacturers Association holds its Future of Energy Efficiency and Electrification in the Built Environment expo on Wednesday on Capitol Hill in the Rayburn Foyer.  Rep. Darrell Issa and Paul Tonko will speak.

House China Committee Looks at Semiconductors, Steel – The House Select Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Committee holds a hearing on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. combatting the PRC's strategy to dominate semiconductors, shipbuilding and more. David McCall, International president of United Steelworkers is among those testifying.

Senate Ag Field Hearing to Look at Water Set for Colorado – The Senate Agriculture Committee holds a field hearing on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. in Burlington, Colorado on combating drought with innovation. Ag and water experts from Colorado and Kansas testify.

Wilson Looks at Decarbonized Shipping – The Wilson Center's China Environment Forum holds a virtual discussion on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on decarbonizing shipping from American, Chinese and European perspectives. The speakers will highlight the complex ownership, management, and political issues around shipping that are complicating actions to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of cargo ships.

RFF Forum Looks at Electricity Affordability – Resources for the Future (RFF) holds a forum on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. on improving electricity affordability in the clean energy transition.  The event is the next event in RFF’s Exposure 2024 webinar series on environmental justice. The expert panel will explore the steps regulators, legislators, utilities, and nonprofits can take to address electricity affordability.

ACP Holds Energy Storage Summit – The American Clean Power Association holds its Recharge Energy Storage Summit Wednesday to Friday in Portland, OR. The event features cutting-edge sessions, the latest technologies and industry leaders and experts from across the sector.

Nuclear Summit Set – In partnership with the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power, ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums hold the 2^nd Annual Nuclear Energy Security Summit Wednesday and Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This event brings together government officials, industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders to discuss critical issues facing the nuclear energy sector, including securing the supply chain, increasing resiliency and achieving sustainability. Reps. Mike Waltz and Chuck Fleischman will be keynoters.

RealClearEnergy Hosts Forum – RealClear Dialogues Energy Future Forum will be held on Wednesday and will focus on the intersection of technology, money and politics. The Forum is a one-day event featuring one-on-one conversations with the foremost experts across energy and environmental policy, capital markets, alternative energy, automotive, oil & gas, mining, nuclear energy and the grid. Speakers will include EQT’s Toby Rice, former LA Senator Mary Landrieu former Energy Secretary Spence Abraham and former FERC Chair James Danley, among others.

Hydrogen Tech Expo Set for Houston – The Hydrogen Technology Conference & Expo will be in Houston on Thursday and Friday. The event is dedicated to discussing advanced technologies for the hydrogen and fuel cell industry. The event brings together the entire hydrogen value chain to focus on developing solutions and innovations for low-carbon hydrogen production, efficient storage and distribution as well as applications in a variety of stationary and mobile applications.

EPRI Forum to Explore Climate Data, Reliable Power – On Thursday morning starting at 9:00 a.m. at EPRI’s Washington Office EPRI holds a forum to explore how cutting-edge climate data can build a more resilient power system. Expert panels will discuss the imperative of high-quality, localized climate data for system planning and how to utilize this information to identify infrastructure vulnerabilities and devise strategic, proactive solutions. The event features speakers from DOE, NOAA, NASA, NERC and NASEO.

Forum to Look at Climate Action, Economic Impacts – The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds a virtual book discussion on Thursday ta 9:00 a.m. on a book assessing the economic implications of climate action. Book editor Jean Pisani-Ferry, a senior fellow at PIIE and former top adviser to President Emmanuel Macron of France, presents important conclusions and recommendations of The Green Frontier: Assessing the Economic Implications of Climate Action, a new book released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

C3 to Look at Critical Minerals, Supply Chains – C3 Solutions is hosting a Policy Roundtable on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on Critical Minerals Access and Trade in The Nest at the Willard Hotel. The discussion will begin with keynote remarks from Chair Buddy Carter (R-GA) of the House Energy Committee. Following Carter’s remarks, the event features two policy discussions on how to meet our critical minerals needs. The first hour will focus on domestic access and feature remarks from Dr. Michelle Michot Foss, Fellow in Energy, Minerals, and Materials, Center for Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy Rice University. The second hour will discuss how we work with strategic allies to establish more secure and diverse supply chains. Leading this discussion will be Gracelin Baskaran, the director of CSIS’s Project on Critical Minerals Security.

CNN Presidential Debate – THURSDAY. The 90-minute debate, held in Atlanta will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

House Approps Panels Move Energy, Environment, Interior Bills – On Friday morning, the House Appropriations Interior/Environment Subcommittee holds a markup of the FY2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill at 8:00 a.m., while at 8:30 a.m., the Energy/Water subpanel holds a markup of the FY2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill.

IN THE FUTURE

Bloomberg Green Festival Set – The Bloomberg Green Festival will be held in Seattle on July 10^th to 13^th.  The event is a global collaboration between innovators, policymakers, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, musicians and more, to explore new solutions spanning the entire climate spectrum. The festival will cover four themes vital to creating practical, collective change: Technology and Innovation, The Climate Economy, Greener Living and Green Policy. Through dining experiences, performances, installations and cultural moments, guests will be immersed in interactive learning, participate in data-driven experiences and build relationships with world-renowned experts.