Morning Consult Energy: What’s Ahead & Week in Review
 

Energy

Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.
March 26, 2023
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Happy Sunday, Morning Consult Energy readers!

 

It’s Brian Yermal filling in for Julia for this week’s Sunday newsletter. She’ll be back tomorrow to provide you with the latest energy news.

 

I hope everyone has been enjoying the start of spring so far and, for the sports fans in the audience, has had better luck during March Madness than I have. My alma mater, Penn State, got knocked out early, but it was nice to see PSU in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a while. My backup team, Maryland, also met defeat, so at this point the only “madness” going on near me is the “Mulch Madness” sale at my local plant nursery.

 

Speaking of my love for bad puns, last week was “Monument Madness” after President Joe Biden announced he would establish the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and the Castner Range National Monument in northern El Paso, Texas. The president also called for a study for a possible marine sanctuary off Hawaii — all part of an effort to meet a goal of conserving a third of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030.

 

Think you know what’s happening around the world in politics, consumer trends, public health, sports, the economy, entertainment and more? Take the new MCIQ quiz, and find out how well you understand public opinion — and catch up on stories you missed.

 

What’s Ahead

The Treasury Department said it will release proposed guidance this week for domestic sourcing requirements for electric vehicles to qualify for tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.

 

The delayed guidance for the $7,500 tax credits was supposed to be released at the end of 2022, but the Treasury temporarily waived the rules and pushed the release date to the end of March. The announcement is being closely watched by automakers who are waiting to see how they will switch their supply chains to more domestic sources. 

 

 

The House Rules Committee will meet Monday to discuss the Lower Energy Costs Act, the energy package introduced by House Republicans earlier this month.

 

The nearly 200-page plan – which has been slammed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as a “nonstarter” – contains measures that aim to boost fossil fuel production, speed up approvals of infrastructure projects and repeal major programs in the Inflation Reduction Act. GOP leaders are anticipating passage of H.R.1 in the House before the end of the month by using a limited amendment process. 

 

The package will likely fail in the Senate, but it is seen as a blueprint for the GOP’s energy priorities during this congressional session.

 

Week in Review

  • DOE: The Department of Energy released road maps for bringing advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen and long-duration storage into the energy mainstream, with a need of more than $200 billion estimated by 2030 in order to make it happen.
  • Louisiana: Residents of St. James Parish in Louisiana are calling for a moratorium on petrochemical plants as part of a federal lawsuit against the parish that alleges violations of civil rights, environmental justice and religious liberty. 
  • Nuclear: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission delayed a final decision on whether to license a project in New Mexico that would temporarily store tons of spent fuel from commercial nuclear plants, pushing the decision back to the end of May, as the agency said it needed more time to wrap up a final safety report amid staffing constraints. 
  • IPCC: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on rich countries and developing nations to aim for net-zero emissions by as early as 2040 and 2050, respectively, a decade earlier than most targets. 
  • Veto: As expected, Biden issued his first veto since taking office to block a repeal of a Labor Department rule that allowed for some retirement plans to take into account environmental, social and corporate governance factors when choosing investments, a policy that was targeted by Republican lawmakers and a handful of Democrats. The House failed to override Biden’s veto in a 219-200 vote.
  • WOTUS: U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown of Texas has paused the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” rule in Texas and Idaho as part of a preliminary injunction, as roughly half of all U.S. states are challenging the “WOTUS” rule. 
  • EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency plans to grant California a waiver to impose its own tailpipe pollution regulations — which are stricter than federal requirements — that will allow for the phaseout of diesel-powered truck sales in the state, according to three people briefed on the plans.
  • Oil majors: Big oil companies could be held criminally responsible for climate-related deaths, which could cost the industry billions of dollars, according to a new academic paper set to be published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
  • ESG: Property and casualty insurer Chubb said it will provide coverage only to oil and gas project clients that can prove they have measures in place to reduce methane emissions, such as detecting methane leaks and removing non-emergency venting. Chubb, which is the world’s largest property and casualty insurer, also said it will no longer offer coverage for oil and gas projects that do not allow for sustainable use in government-protected conservation areas in the World Database on Protected Areas.
  • Congress: Republicans on the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation that is seeking documents and other communications regarding the Biden administration’s climate funding in the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislation and how the Energy Department plans to manage the billions of dollars in added funds. As part of their investigation, the GOP lawmakers cited a report from the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General that warned about potential fraud and mismanagement stemming from the increased funding to the agency.
  • Batteries: LG Energy Solution Ltd. announced that it will invest nearly $5.6 billion to build a new battery-manufacturing plant in Queen Creek, Ariz., which the company said will mostly serve electric vehicle manufacturers in North America. LG Energy said the new complex will be the largest investment for a stand-alone battery-manufacturing plant in North America and meets eligibility requirements for the EV tax credits program under the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Air conditioners: The Energy Department is finalizing efficiency standards for window air conditioners and portable air cleaners, which the agency told The Hill would save consumers about $1.5 billion annually on their electric bills. DOE also expects the new regulations to reduce carbon emissions by 106 million metric tons over three decades.
 
Stat of the Week
 

$3 billion

The amount that Ford Motor Co. said its electric vehicle business, called “Ford Model e,” lost before taxes in the past two years, with a similar amount expected to be lost in 2023 as it continues to invest more in EVs.

 
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