Energy

Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.
May 13, 2021
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Ex-Nuclear Head Baranwal: Tax Credit for Existing Nuclear Plants Could ‘Level the Playing Field’
In her 18 months heading the Energy Department’s Nuclear Energy office, Dr. Rita Baranwal repeatedly emphasized that keeping existing nuclear plants in operation is one of the best ways to ease the power grid’s process of decarbonization. So reports from earlier this month that the Biden administration is considering taxpayer subsidies to keep nuclear facilities from closing — which DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm has since confirmed — came as welcome news to Baranwal and to the industry at large. A production tax credit could “level the playing field” with other power sources like solar and wind, she told me. 

 

Baranwal also said that when it comes to nuclear energy, she expects the Biden administration to maintain the same priorities of her office, a rare instance of potential policy continuity for the rare topic that tends to have some backing from both sides of the aisle. For more on this, and on the specific projects Baranwal expects will persist as the Biden DOE takes shape, see our full interview here

 

Top Stories

  • The Colonial Pipeline restarted the flow of fuel yesterday evening, but its operator said bringing operations to full capacity may take days after a ransomware attack forced the major network to shut down on Friday. (The Wall Street Journal) Citing the attack, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that has been in the works for months to improve the nation’s cybersecurity, which encourages improved cybersecurity within the private sector, better safeguards for the software supply chain and better government response to significant attacks. (Bloomberg)
  • The Environmental Protection Agency released its “climate indicators” data for the first time since the Trump administration paused its publication in 2016, illustrating global warming-related changes to the U.S. landscape in recent years and marking the first time the EPA has acknowledged the impact that humans have had on these changes. The report, which came alongside an updated website, described how the country has entered an unprecedented phase in warming, citing developments including the destruction of Alaska’s permafrost and an escalation of summer heat waves. (The Washington Post
  • Tesla Inc. CEO and founder Elon Musk walked back his announcement earlier this year that the company would accept bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing concern over the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal.” Musk’s announcement via Twitter prompted at least a 12 percent drop in the cryptocurrency’s value against the dollar. (CNN)
  • The Federal Reserve has held private supervisory conversations with large banks pressing them to disclose how they are incorporating climate risk into their decision-making, per four people with knowledge of the matter. The Fed expects lenders to share data on internal risk-management checks that test how their balance sheets would perform under different climate change scenarios, though it has not specified how to undertake those analyses, the people said. (Reuters)
 

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Events Calendar (All Times Local)

 

What Else You Need to Know

General
 

EPA rescinds Trump rule allowing public to weigh in on agency guidance 

Rachel Frazin, The Hill

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Wednesday that is rescinding a Trump-era rule that would have enabled public input on agency guidance. 

 

EPA water nominee commits to ‘enduring solutions’ in confirmation hearing

Zack Budryk, The Hill

Radhika Fox, President Biden’s nominee to be the Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for water, on Wednesday pledged to “listen to all sides in order to find enduring solutions” in a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

 

Senate Finance Committee to consider clean energy legislation this month

Naomi Jagoda, The Hill

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday that his panel would start to consider bills related to jobs and infrastructure this month, with the committee first taking up legislation focused on clean energy.

 

Biden’s climate envoy Kerry to visit Italy, Britain, Germany

Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry will travel to Italy, Britain and Germany from Thursday to May 19 for talks on “enhancing global climate ambition” ahead of a U.N. climate summit in November, the White House said on Wednesday.

 
Climate Change and Emissions
 

What if Space Junk and Climate Change Become the Same Problem?

Jonathan O’Callaghan, The New York Times

Changes to the atmosphere caused by carbon dioxide emissions could increase the amount of debris that stays in orbit.

 

Startup That Rates Carbon Offsets Finds Almost Half Fall Short

Will Mathis and Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg

Sylvera Ltd, a London-based startup that uses satellite imagery to try and bring more transparency to the murky world of carbon offsets, raised $7.8 million to expand its business. 

As the Climate Warms, Could the U.S. Face Another Dust Bowl?

Nathaniel Scharping, Yale Environment 360

Improved agricultural practices and widespread irrigation may stave off another agricultural calamity in the Great Plains. But some scientists now believe that two inescapable realities— rising temperatures and worsening drought —could still spawn a modern-day Dust Bowl.

 

Germany maps path to reaching ‘net zero’ emissions by 2045

Frank Jordans, The Associated Press

The German government adopted an ambitious plan Wednesday to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2045, five years earlier and with deeper cuts than previously planned.

 
Renewables and Storage
 

Solar surcharge: how US power firms try to make people pay for going green

Haines Eason and Emily Holden, The New Territory and Floodlight

In states like Kansas, energy companies want to impose charges on people who produce their own power with rooftop arrays.

 

Biden bets offshore wind will fix his climate jobs problem

Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

Offshore wind offers President Biden one of his best opportunities to marry his climate and jobs agendas. It comes as his administration approved the nation’s first major wind project off the East Coast.

 
Oil, Gas and Alternative Fuels
 

White House seeks to calm panic buying as Southeast gas stations run dry

Ben Lefebvre, Politico

The Biden administration is trying to ease the supply panic that started this weekend.

 

U.S. Pipeline Watchdog Rebuffed Call for Cybersecurity Rules

Ari Natter, Bloomberg

The federal agency charged with protecting the nation’s pipelines hasn’t imposed any mandatory cybersecurity requirements since its creation in wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — despite dire warnings from the intelligence community about vulnerability to hackers.

 

St. Croix refinery halts operations after raining oil on local residents once again
Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post

Limetree Bay, which received a key permit under Donald Trump, has had several accidents since starting operations on Feb. 1.

 

Enbridge continues Straits pipeline operation, defying Gov. Whitmer’s deadline

Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press

In defiance of an order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to cease operations by Wednesday, Canadian oil transport giant Enbridge continued to flow 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids through Line 5, its controversial, 68-year-old twin pipelines on the Straits of Mackinac lake bottom.

 

Pipeline Hack Points to Growing Cybersecurity Risk for Energy System

Brad Plumer, The New York Times

Energy infrastructure has increasingly come under assault, and analysts said the attack that cut off fuel supplies this week should be a “wake-up call.”

 

Why the Colonial Pipeline Shutdown Is Causing Gasoline Shortages

Max Rust and Roque Ruiz, The Wall Street Journal

With few refineries of its own, the East Coast relies on gasoline, oil and jet fuel transported from the Gulf Coast.

 

BP dodges new climate target calls as activist pressure grows

Anjli Raval and Attracta Mooney, Financial Times

Shareholder support for the demands of campaign group Follow This more than doubles.

 
Transportation
 

Crackdown on Emissions ‘Defeat Devices’ Has Amateur Racers Up in Arms

Roy Furchgott, The New York Times

A recent court decision against a maker of aftermarket parts, coupled with the new possibility of criminal charges, has jolted an industry.

 

Biggest Lithium Miner Gears Up to Tap Major Lode From Old Cars

Yvonne Yue Li, Bloomberg

The world’s biggest lithium miner wants to extract more of the battery metal from old cars as demand surges and aging electric vehicles are traded in.

 

Shift to electric vehicles poses threat to US union jobs

Claire Bushey, Financial Times

United Auto Workers frets over the prospect of fewer jobs and a non-unionised supply chain.

 

BHP, Rio, Vale launch contest to cut haul truck emissions

Reuters

The world’s top three iron ore miners on Thursday launched a competition to crowdsource efficient ways to deliver power to battery-electric haulage truck fleets as they strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

 
Electricity, Utilities and Infrastructure
 

America is facing unprecedented utility debt. Here’s what might help.

Alexandria Herr, Grist

Unpaid power, gas, and water bills “reflect the grinding level of poverty in the United States.”

 

How New York Could Build Publicly Owned Electricity Without Taking Over Dirty Plants

Alexander C. Kaufman, HuffPost

A candidate for New York City comptroller has a novel idea for a municipally owned solar utility in a city with little space for giant panel farms.

 
Environment, Land and Resources
 

Rare plants to be reviewed amid New Mexico oil and gas fight

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will take a closer look at two rare plants found only in northwestern New Mexico to see if they warrant protection under the federal Endangered Species Act as environmentalists push to stop oil and gas development in the region.

 

Asian Cities Face Greatest Environmental Risks, Report Shows

Bloomberg

Globally, 1.5 billion people live in cities that are at high risk from pollution, water shortages, extreme heat and natural hazards.

 
Coal/Nuclear
 

Nuclear Tax Credit Would Mean ‘Level Playing Field’ With Other Renewables, Former DOE Head of Nuclear Says

Lisa Martine Jenkins, Morning Consult

Former head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy says news of the Biden administration’s consideration of production tax credits to keep nuclear plants afloat would give nuclear equivalent footing with wind and solar producers.

 

GOP’s Barr Proposes Helping Coal Country With Rare Earth Mining

Joe Deaux and Daniel Flatley, Bloomberg

GOP Representative Andy Barr is proposing legislation to expedite approval for coal companies to mine rare earths and other minerals critical for the electrification revolution the Biden administration covets.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

Pipelines Have a Role in Our Energy Present and Future

Guy F. Caruso (Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies), Morning Consult

The small but vocal anti-pipeline chorus continues to grow louder every day in the wake of the Biden administration’s decision not to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline as it undergoes additional environmental review, which comes after nearly four years of safe operation. The high-profile project featured prominently in Earth Day demonstrations, trended on social media and sparked petitions calling for its closure. If pipeline opponents were hoping for a definitive statement in President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress, they were sorely disappointed.

 

Elon Musk Conveniently Ignored Bitcoin’s Inconvenient Truth

Lionel Laurent, Bloomberg

Where does the future of money end and the “hustle” begin?

 

Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack Isn’t Just a Tech Problem

Liam Denning, Bloomberg

Preventing further breaches means learning to deal with a multiplying set of threats.

 
Morning Consult