Energy Update: Week of March 25th

Friends,

What a CERA Week! It was very busy and great to see everyone in person in Houston. Here are some of my takeaways: 1) There is some frustration/disappointment that things aren’t moving as fast as people thought they would on the IRA/Energy Transition because of various reasons like consumer reaction, supply chain, political and administrative challenges; 2) Politics and symbolism were clearly on display for this election year in appearances on the program and on the sidelines with WH advisor John Podesta, DOE Sect Granholm, John Kerry, Amos Hochstein, David Crane and many more; and 3) former WSJ reporter Steve Power - now at the Brunswick Group in Dallas, throws a killer CERAWeek reception!

BTW, that reminds me, the only reception that rivals Power’s is the epic Bracewell SEJ reception which the 22^nd version is in two weeks in Philadelphia.  Reach out if you are joining us or even interested in sponsoring! We will be calling you.

The first week of the NCAA was very entertaining. I was most excited to watch Oakland University (with  Hillsdale College grad transfer Jack Goehlke starring) and I felt they let NC State off the hook.  Purdue and Arizona, both perennial high seeds that disappoint, look awfully good in Rounds One and Two, alongside defending champ UConn and last year’s runner up San Diego State. On the women’s side, all high seeds rolled on into week two with #1 seeds Iowa and USC playing tonight. Frozen Four bids are out, Boston College is #1 and Boston U is #2. Denver and Michigan State round out the top four. Look for a good second round match up for BC who will likely get defending champ Quinnipiac. Finally, Ohio State won the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four last night at UNH with a 1-0 win over Wisconsin in a rematch of the 2023 final (the lady Badgers won last year 1-0 and in 2021 as well). It was the Lady Bucs’ second championship, winning in 2022.

It is Easter/Passover week and Congress is in a district work period for the next two weeks after it tied up the 2024 budget battle on late Friday/early Saturday. Things to watch this week include the IRS 45V public hearing today through Wednesday and the methane fee proposal comments that are due to EPA tomorrow.

DOE is also on the road this week selling its announcement this morning awarding more than $6 billion in more than 30 grants to help cut emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement, glass, chemicals, aluminum and pulp and paper.  Secretary Granholm will be in Ohio today and Michigan and Wisconsin tomorrow through Thursday doing a host of clean energy events. Undersecretary David Crane will be in Indiana at a cement plant with cement industry folks this morning.

Tomorrow, EPSA holds its 2024 Competitive Power Summit that will feature a day of expert panels and speakers discussing critical issues facing competitive power and the U.S. electric grid.

Finally, last night on 60 Minutes, there was a great segment on efforts to get the US to sign on to the UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty for military security and deep sea mineral access. It was highlighted by a letter last week released at the SAFE Summit on critical minerals from more than 500 Defense and National Security experts urging the Senate to support UNLOS.

MLB Opening days across the country are this week. Orioles host the LA Angels on Thursday while the Nats open in Cincinnati.

Call with questions.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932                                                                                                                                          

FRANKLY SPOKEN      

 “I'm pretty confident that the tax credits that we care about in the IRA are going to continue” even if Trump regains the White House and Republicans control Congress, “I would expect permitting to speed up significantly for onshore and offshore” oil leasing.

API Head Mike Sommers said in an interview with POLITICO, predicting that Biden’s landmark climate law would remain largely intact even if Trump wins in November

“It's hard to imagine an administration that would be less difficult to work with than the Biden administration. We have seen punitive policies and executive orders. We've seen punitive interpretations by the agencies on how the law should be acted out. It has been incredibly confusing.”

Toby Rice, chief executive of EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the United States.

ON THE PODCAST

Baker Hughes Alison Book Talks Energy on Madam Policy – Policy veteran and Baker Hughes’ super-smart Chief Sustainability Office, Allyson Anderson Book, joins Bracewell’s Madam Policy for an all-new episode. Allyson chats with hosts Dee Martin and Brittany Pemberton about her strategy for ESG reporting and harmonization, as well as her leadership role in diversifying the perspectives at the decision-making table.

FUN OPINIONS

Conservative Makes Case for IRA – In an op-ed in The Hill, ConservAmerica’s Jeff Kupfer writes conservatives can embrace the IRA as a policy to help improve the environment. The Inflation Reduction Act grew out of a partisan process and contained numerous problematic provisions. Conservatives had a right to be upset. But at this time, for both policy and politics, they should focus on refining and improving the energy provisions, not on pulling them up by their roots. That’s the conservative way.

FROG BLOG

LNG Pause Creates Havoc For Industry – In a column in Forbes, Senior Columnist Dipka Bhambhani writes CERAWeek usually revolves around supply, demand, and innovation, but this year, it been polluted by the contentious “pause” on U.S. liquefied natural gas. “Despite a record level of natural gas exports during the first six months of 2023, U.S. natural gas prices at Henry Hub averaged $2.48 per MMBtu, the lowest six-month average in over 35 years” outside of the Covid-19 pandemic, API said in its Impact Analysis of U.S. Natural Gas Exports on Domestic Natural Gas Pricing.

FUN FACTS

Storage Continues to Grow in US Market: US battery storage shattered deployment records in Q4 2023. It was UP 358%, compared to Q4 2022, and 101% over Q3 2023. Grid-scale deployment exceeded, for the first time, 3 GW in one quarter and nearly topped 4 GW.

IN THE NEWS

DOE Announces Grants for Hard-to-Decarb Industries – The DOE will award more than $6 billion in dozens of grants to help hard-to-decarbonize industries cut emissions. The industrial sector is responsible for roughly 25% of all the nation’s emissions and has proven difficult to decarbonize due to its energy-intense, large-scale operations. Iron, steel, aluminum, food and beverage, concrete and cement facilities are some of those involved in this initiative. Recipients of the funding, which is coming from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, include 33 demonstration projects in more than 20 states. Here are a few examples:

• Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation in Middletown, Ohio, will retire one blast furnace, install two electric furnaces, and use hydrogen-based ironmaking technology. The project aims to eliminate 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year from the largest supplier of steel to the U.S. automotive industry. (Sect Granholm is here today)
• Heidelberg Materials US, Inc. will build a system that captures and stores carbon underground at its plant in Mitchell, Indiana. The project aims to capture at least 95% of the carbon dioxide released by the cement plant, which will prevent 2 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. (DOE UnderSecretary David Crane will be here this morning)
• Century Aluminum Company plans to build the first new U.S. primary aluminum smelter in 45 years. The plant would double the size of the current U.S. primary aluminum industry while avoiding an estimated 75% of emissions from a traditional facility, with its energy-efficient design and use of clean energy, according to DOE. (SAFE offers comments on the Aluminum issues)
• Kraft Heinz will install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers to decarbonize food production at 10 facilities, including in Holland, Michigan.

Portland Cement’s Mike Ireland to AP and Politico:

“The United States can be a leader here.” Ireland said the innovative cement and concrete technologies being scaled in the U.S. can be adopted by developing countries in the Global South to build highways and buildings in a more sustainable way. This is what is “needed to develop what the industry considers the ‘heavyweight’ of carbon solutions: carbon capture, utilization and storage.”

Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC), which aims scale up renewable heating and cooling at their facilities, had five members and three solutions providers receiving funding include Diageo, Eastman, International Paper, Kraft Heinz, and Unilever, as well as Electrified Thermal Solutions, Rondo Energy, and Skyven. RTC’s Blaine Collison said these companies and projects will help “accelerate and scale industrial decarbonization using renewable thermal technologies including electric boilers, industrial heat pumps, thermal batteries, and solar thermal. And they’ll help scale transformative business models that enable more companies to deploy solutions faster.”

Ag Groups Urge Action on GREET, SAF – In a letter Friday, biofuels and farming groups urged the Biden administration to issue its delayed modeling update that will determine whether agricultural feedstocks qualify for the sustainable aviation fuel tax credit. They also expressed concern that the updated GREET model’s accounting of sustainable farming practices would make it more difficult for ethanol to qualify for the credit. That is not a concern for Gevo, whose CEO Patrick Gruber told reporters and a panel at CERA Week last Thursday that farmers the company is working with are already using smart climate ag techniques to boost their Carbon Intensity scores.

DOE Pushes Offshore Transmission Study – DOE released findings from the Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study, a two-year study evaluating transmission options to support offshore wind energy deployment along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. While immediate projects will connect individually to the onshore grid, the study finds that after 2030, strategically linking some offshore wind energy projects via offshore transmission networks will help lower electricity production costs, enhance U.S. grid reliability, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, while ensuring disruptions to oceanic ecosystems are minimal. This study informed the Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Action Plan, also finalized today, which outlines immediate actions needed to connect the first generation of Atlantic offshore wind projects to the electric grid, as well as longer-term efforts to increase transmission over the next several decades. The idea emerged in 2010 when transmission developer Trans-Elect and Google propose the Atlantic Wind Connection, an offshore wind backbone project that fell victim to local politics in New Jersey. 

ICC Accepts Code Appeals from Gas, HVAC Industries – The International Code Council’s Board of Directors today approved appeals from AGA, AHRI and others to the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code, moving problematic electric-ready provisions of the code to a non-mandatory appendix and presenting other provisions outside the code as a resource. The move protects the integrity of the code as a leading energy efficiency resource for states.

“The ICC Board of Directors made the right decision for the United States to be more energy efficient in removing these deeply problematic provisions from the code base. This is further confirmation of how natural gas and our delivery system are fundamental to protecting America’s energy security and achieving our environmental goals and economic prosperity,” said American Gas Association President and CEO Karen Harbert. “This ICC decision is the next in line of a long chain of events including the protection of fuel choice in 25 states and the rejection of a natural gas ban in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that indicate the future of natural gas in continuing to deliver efficiency, reliability, and affordability for American families.”

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) praised the ICC Board of Directors for addressing preemption concerns with the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) potentially conflicting with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Throughout the development process, AHRI emphasized the importance of avoiding preemption concerns and ensuring widespread adoption of energy-saving measures. The ICC Board's decisions to relocate potentially preempted provisions to a resource with cautionary notes, and provisions outside the scope and intent of building energy conservation to appendices is expected to enhance the code's adoption and increase energy efficiency goals for both residential and commercial buildings.

The 2024 IECC will have a powerful economic influence and will be incorporated by reference by federal, state, and local governments. Because it is developed by market participants or persons who may gain from its economic impacts, the IECC amendments must be based on an objective standard and developed through due process principles, including openness, transparency, and balance of interested parties. Read the ICC Board of Directors full decision on the 2024 IECC, here

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

Treasury Holds 45V Public Hearing – The Treasury Department will hold a public hearing today at 10:00 a.m. on the 45V hydrogen tax credit regulations.  The hearings will run through Wednesday.

EPSA Forum Set – The Electric Power Supply Association holds its 2024 Competitive Power Summit tomorrow. The event will feature a day of expert panels and featured speakers discussing critical issues facing competitive power and the U.S. electric system. Lunch Keynote is ACP’s Jason Grumet. Fireside Chats include NERC’s Jim Robb, GE’s Roger Martella and ND PUC Commissioner Julie Fedorchak. Other speakers include the Chamber’s Christopher Guith, API’s Dustin Meyers, INGAA head Amy Andryszak and many more. Panel moderators include our friends Catherine Morehouse, Tim Puko, Daniel Moore and Ben Marter.

NASA to Discuss Solar Eclipse – Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., NASA holds a media briefing with scientific and transportation agencies on plans for the April 8 total solar eclipse. Speakers include NASA head Bill Nelson, Director of the NOAA's Office of Space Weather Observations Elsayed Talaat, Federal Highway Administration Administrator Shailen Bhatt, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, NASA Eclipse program manager Kelly Korreck and NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. Livestream HERE

Forum to Look at Climate Risk Book – The Center for Global Development holds a virtual book discussion tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on Risk and Resilience in the Era of Climate Change, a new book by Vinod Thomas. The book highlights that the risks from climate change are already here, and that to respond the world needs to fundamentally alter its pattern of economic growth to be more sustainable. While the risks are well recognized, the tangible next steps needed to transform economies is lacking. In this book, Thomas provides a pathway forward with fundamental revisions to the teaching and practice of business and economics so that resilience, disaster prevention and global collaboration are key features of development practice and economic policy making.

DOE Holds Hydrogen Meeting – The March H2IQ webinar will be held tomorrow at Noon and feature an overview of hydrogen fuel dispensing for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. This session will be led by Shaun Onorato, a hydrogen systems engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This webinar will highlight the fueling protocols, dispensing hardware, codes and standards, and station architecture for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The presentation also includes research and development efforts underway at the Hydrogen Infrastructure Testing and Research Facility in Golden, Colorado.

GW Law Lecture to Highlight Politics, Planet – The George Washington University Law School holds its Spring 2024 International & Comparative Law Brand-Manatt Lecture tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. on politics for people and planet, discussing the new paradigm. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America.

EPRI to Look at AI, Utilities – On Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., EPRI continues its Washington Seminar Series to hold an exploration of AI's potential in the energy industry. The event will dissect practical applications in grid management, asset optimization, predictive maintenance, and more. Experts from EPRI, DOE, NVIDIA, and more will discuss AI and its importance in the energy sector. Panel 1 will dive into AI's ability to improve forecasting, analyze data, and operational optimization spanning efficiency improvements to renewable energy integration. Experts will share insights into tangible applications, prevailing challenges, and the innovative potential of AI as part of the power grid. Panel 2 shifts focus to AI’s potential role in addressing resilience and predictive maintenance, pinpointing equipment failures within and fortifying resilience initiatives. Discussions will encompass topics like wildfire detection mechanisms empowered by AI and strategies for proactive maintenance enabled by predictive analytics to bolster overall community resilience.

Forum to Look at Nuclear – On Thursday at 11:00 a.m., the American Nuclear Society holds an Advanced Reactor Roundup to get the latest developments from BWXT, Kairos Power, Oklo, and x-Energy.

Panelists include Oklo CEO Jake DeWitte, Peter Hastings of Kairos Power, BWXT’s Joseph Miller and Benjamin Reinke of X-energy.

USEA Talks CCUS in Fireside Chat – On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the US Energy Assn holds a Fireside Chat with Mike Moore and Ashleigh Ross on the evolution of the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Industry. Ross, VP and Head of Commercial Development & Policy at Carbon America, will long- discuss the eras of CCUS and what’s driven them, observations of the current dynamics at play and the trajectory we’re on, and lessons learned that should shape current efforts to ensure that we can build the CCUS ecosystems necessary for deep American decarbonization.

THE FUTURE

RFF Report Set For Release – Resources for the Future (RFF) holds an RFF Live Event, “The Global Energy Outlook 2024: Peaks or Plateaus?” on Tuesday April 2^nd. This event coincides with the release of the 2024 Global Energy Outlook—RFF’s annual report that synthesizes global energy market projections and analysis from leading energy organizations and corporations—and an accompanying interactive web tool. The only report of its kind, RFF’s 2024 Global Energy Outlook harmonizes analyses from other organizations to allow for a clear understanding and easy comparison of potential future energy markets, climate trajectories, and policy options at global, regional, and national levels. The event will feature an in-depth panel discussion on the long-term trajectory of the global energy system, along with contemporary issues such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, US fossil fuel exports, and more. In particular, the event will examine whether fossil fuel use will peak and then decline or whether it will plateau, remaining high for decades and scuttling international climate goals. It will also feature a discussion on the changing energy trajectory for China, the future of critical minerals, the role of controversial emerging technologies such as carbon capture and more.

Forum Looks at US Nuclear Issues – The Energy Innovation Reform Project and the Center for the National Interest are holding a special joint discussion of U.S. nuclear energy leadership and exports on Tuesday April 2^nd at 9:00 a.m. During the event, Assistant Secretary of Energy Dr. Kathryn Huff will share the Biden administration’s efforts to promote U.S. nuclear energy exports and respond to questions. Following her remarks, EIRP and CFTNI have organized a panel discussion moderated by Daniel Poneman, former Deputy Secretary of Energy and former Chief Executive Officer of Centrus Energy. Panelists will include former State Department advisor Paul Saunders, president of the Center for the National Interest; Kenneth Luongo, president of Partnership for Global Security and the Center for a Secure Nuclear Future and former director of the Energy Department’s Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation; and former Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and for International Security and Nonproliferation Stephen Rademaker. RSVP by email to Jordan Henry at jhenry@cftni.org

USEA to look at Fusion – On Wednesday April 3^rd at 11:00 a.m., the US Energy Assn holds a press briefing on fusion. The next virtual press briefing plans to get answers to the open questions, and to give the media a state-of-play look at the fusion landscape.

RMI to Launch Homebuilder Program – RMI holds the launch of the HomebuildersCAN program in Wednesday April 3^rd at 11:00 a.m.  The program focuses on a community aimed to educate and encourage builders in reducing carbon emissions associated with homes. Learn about membership benefits, such as working with experts to increase performance on embodied emissions and scale profitable climate-smart building practices.

SEJ Set for Philadelphia – The Society of Environmental Journalists annual meeting will be held on April 3-7, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. EPA head Michael Regan is expected to speak and the IN

Bracewell reception will be on again Thursday night!!!

Solar Eclipse Expected – On April 8^th, there will be a total solar eclipse. NASA holds a media briefing tomorrow with scientific and transportation agencies on plans for it.

RMI Looks at Virtual Power Plants – On Tuesday April 9^th at 2:00 p.m. , RMI holds a forum on Virtual power plants (VPPs) offering utilities and grid operators cost-effective, reliable, and resilient grid service solutions, while providing customers savings on their energy bills. This webinar explores principles for policy and regulation that can support the fair and efficient growth, integration, valuation, compensation, and advancement of VPPs.

WaPo Host Tipping Points Summit – On Thursday April 11^th at 9:00 a.m. Washington Post Live holds a compelling and high-powered summit with policymakers, innovators and civic leaders examining the tipping points at this critical moment. Speakers include John Podesta, MD Gov. Wes Moore and many more.

Hochstein, Bechtel Headline Columbia Energy Summit – On April 16, the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA holds its annual Columbia Global Energy Summit. This year’s day-long Summit will address myriad issues at the heart of today’s complex geopolitical, environmental and economic landscape, including the impact of climate change and the energy transition on geopolitics and security; the outlook for clean energy deployment in the face of growing policy support, as well as challenges such as interest rates, permitting reform and trade conflict; pathways to mobilize finance for clean energy in emerging and developing economies; energy justice imperatives; and the impact for energy and climate policy in key elections around the world in 2024. Speakers from around the world, including current and former minister-level officials, CEOs of major companies, leaders from civil society, and experts from academia and think tanks will offer valuable global and regional perspectives on critical challenges facing the global energy and climate community. Program highlights include Bechtel CEO Brendan Bechtel, former U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein and German State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action Jennifer Morgan.

Energy Thought Summit Set for Austin – Zpryme holds the 11^th Energy Thought Summit (ETS) in Austin, TX on April 15-18^th to look the industry’s past achievements, and opportunities that lie ahead. Industry pioneers, thought leaders, and visionaries, will address the boundaries of what is possible and shape a future powered by clean, accessible energy sources. Part of the event includes nominating six energy thought leaders from across the nation to be awarded 2024's Thought Leader of the Year. Our friend Bryan Hannegan of Holy Cross Energy is among the nominees.

EPA’s Uhlmann to Address Air Regulators – The Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA)holds its 2024 Spring Meeting on April 24-26^th in Indianapolis.  David Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for U.S. EPA’s Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance (OECA) will provide the keynote.

Cement Techs on Display at Denver Forum – The cement industry holds its 66^th annual IEEE Industry Applications Society (IEEE-IAS) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) Conference in Denver, Colorado on April 28^th to May 2^nd at the Colorado Convention Center. Keynoters include Baseball great Jim Abbott and geologist Rob McCaffery.

CLEANPOWER Set for Minnesota – The American Clean Power Assn holds its annual CLEANPOWER 2024 forum on May 6^th to 9^th at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota.

ACORE Holds NYC Finance Forum –   ACORE Finance Forum will be held on June 4-5 in New York City.