WHAT MCCONNELL’S EXIT AS GOP LEADER MEANS FOR ENERGY POLICY: Washington was shocked by the sudden news of Mitch McConnell not running for another term as the Senate Republican leader. But soon after, what erupted on the Hill was the inevitable question of who’s running to replace him.
It’s been long rumored that the “three Johns” – Sens. John Cornyn, John Thune, and John Barrasso – would run to replace McConnell. Cornyn announced on Thursday he would officially be launching a bid for the top slot, while Thune and Barrasso have not.
McConnell’s legacy on energy and the environment: McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who’s maintained power for nearly two decades, has been a fierce advocate for coal – an industry that has been dying in large parts of the U.S. McConnell has frequently gone after Democrats for policies that would transition away from the industry toward renewables – calling it a “war on coal.” Notably, during the Obama administration, McConnell and his staff worked to help governors block the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules requiring states to reduce carbon emissions from coal-powered power plants.
He’s also most known for shaping the judiciary under the Trump administration – leading the charge to help confirm a conservative supermajority on the highest court of the land. Notably, the court has weakened the power of the EPA and environmental regulations.
The potential successors: The potential successors to McConnell echo many of his views regarding protecting fossil fuel industries and his rhetoric blasting Democrats for their environmental agenda.
“There’s no material difference between any of them,” LCV Senior President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfield told reporters during a press conference for their 2023 environmental scorecard assessments. “While I think in some ways, Senate Republican leadership may compare favorably to the House Republican leadership in this moment, when it comes to protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, the lands that we cherish – we are concerned that whoever succeeds him would continue in the same direction.”
Here’s a breakdown of those that have announced or are rumored to run (keep in mind, however, that other candidates could possibly launch a “dark horse” bid:
John Barrasso: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member would bring his policy chops to the gig if he were to become the next GOP leader – raising energy and environmental issues to the highest rings of congressional leadership.
“John Barrasso knows more about energy than most senators,” Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, who sits on ENR, told the Washington Examiner. “I’m a geologist, and he knows more about energy than I do.”
Currently, Barrasso is working with ENR Chairman Joe Manchin to outline a permitting deal that would streamline approvals for energy projects, ranging from natural gas to renewables. But the Republican committee leader is arguably one of the most conservative voices on energy and environmental issues – earning a “zero” on LCV’s 2023 environmental report card, released Wednesday. Thune and Cornyn have both received a 6.
Furthermore, he’s launched probes into DOE officials over conflict of interest claims. Teaming up with Republicans on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, he’s gone after the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office top official, Jigar Shah, over claims that Shah gave preferential treatment to organizations he previously had affiliations with. Most recently, Barrasso called on the DOE inspector general to open an investigation into Shah.
John Cornyn: Representing the top oil and gas state in the nation, the Texas Republican and former GOP whip is well known around the chamber as being a bipartisan dealmaker – much like McConnell. Cornyn helped to lead the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act – while Barrasso and Thune voted against the bills. He’s also been supportive of renewable technologies, such as wind and solar – which are spread throughout his home state.
Plus, he’s been a significant proponent of hydrogen, introducing legislation that would support the deployment of hydrogen technologies and infrastructure.
John Thune: The Senate Minority Whip hails from South Dakota, the nation’s fourth largest ethanol producer, and a state where renewable resources provide about 84% of the state’s electricity net generation.
With his state being a key player in the ethanol industry, Thune has opposed biofuel blending exemptions for small refiners, arguing that granting these exemptions would exacerbate economic challenges the industry faces.
Furthermore, the senator hasn’t strayed away from the topic of climate change and reducing carbon emissions. Along with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, he has introduced a bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to update its greenhouse gas modeling to use the Argonne National Lab’s GREET Model, which is used to evaluate the lifecycle of emissions.
As always, the reminder: There could still be a dark horse that enters the leadership race. Sen. Rick Scott launched a challenge to McConnell after the 2022 midterms – and lost. Still, the Florida Republican floated a cryptic message on Wednesday following the McConnell news – stating that this was an “opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.”
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writers Breanne Deppisch (@breannue_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email bdeppisch@washingtonexaminer dot com or nancy.vu@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
DOE SIDES WITH INDUSTRY ON HYDROGEN TAX RULES: Energy Department officials are pushing for Treasury to relax its proposed guidance on hydrogen tax credits, citing concerns that the draft rules are too stringent and do not allow industry enough time to embark and fund the massive, costly expansion.
Instead, one source familiar with DOE’s hydrogen position told E&E News they are pushing for a
“grandfathering” option, which would allow earlier projects that have not yet met the strict tax rules proposed by Treasury to receive the subsidies.
One of the proposed pillars of the requirement would require hydrogen made by electricity from a verified low-carbon source, such as solar power, which could threaten large-scale growth in the near term.
“Their starting point is any form of additionality will limit the amount of available hydrogen, which in turn reduces the possibility of a hydrogen economy actually starting,” the outlet reports, citing a source familiar with DOE’s hydrogen discussions.
Bigger picture: The news comes just days after leaders of all seven hydrogen hubs sent a letter to the Biden administration pushing for less restrictive tax credit requirements, citing concerns with the three pillars of eligibility.
As Nancy reported yesterday, this could be a major stumbling block for the Biden administration as it works to reach its goal of producing more than three million metric tons of clean hydrogen per year. Read more on that here.
SHELL TO SELL ONE-FOURTH OF ITS U.S. SOLAR ASSETS: Shell has put up roughly one-fourth of its U.S.-based solar generation and storage assets up for sale, according to marketing documents obtained by Reuters, totaling roughly 10.6 GW of solar and storage assets in various stages of development across the country. The total value of the projects remains unknown, though the document said the decision will allow it to better “focus on executing on Shell’s integrated power markets strategy.”
Why it matters: It’s the latest indication that newly minted CEO Wael Sawan intends to make good on his vow to focus on Shell’s most profitable projects, even if it means investing less in renewables or other low-carbon efforts.
Since the start of his tenure last January, the company has exited a number of floating offshore wind projects, reduced investments in the hydrogen space, and announced plans to reduce staff in its low-carbon solutions division, among other things.
…MEANWHILE, U.S. UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR INSTALLATIONS REACHED A RECORD-HIGH IN 2023: The U.S. installed a record-high amount of utility-scale solar projects in 2023, according to the research group Kayrros—with growth expected to shatter that record again in the next 12 months.
The new installations come after two years of supply chain shortages, trade disruptions and other bottlenecks that stymied growth and delayed many utility-scale projects, the group notes.
As those eased, the U.S. added 15 GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 2023, the report found—a whopping 60% jump from the previous year, and a trend that is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2024.
Biggest increases: Texas, the Midwest, and the East Coast all saw the largest jumps in solar capacity, with Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) adding a whopping 18.3 MW of new capacity to its grid, followed by MISO and PJM.
Expectations for 2024: The U.S. Energy Information Administration is also expecting record growth this year. In its Short-Term Energy Outlook, the body said it expects more than 125 GW of new solar installation this year, with more than half of the new utility-scale solar capacity planned for three states: Texas at 35%, California at 10%, and Florida at 6%.
COMMERCE DEPARTMENT PROBES CHINESE EV SECURITY RISKS: The Biden administration is investigating Chinese-made EVs and whether the cars could be a security risk by gathering the personal information of drivers and sending it back to Beijing.
As our Christopher Hutton reports, the probe will be led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and will focus on whether or not Chinese EVs and “smart cars” sent to the U.S. are gathering user data or personal information from U.S. drivers and sending it abroad.
U.S.-made vehicles also collect data on drivers in many cases—which ranges from location data to driving habits, among other things. But the Biden administration and members of Congress are concerned about the level of access China could obtain about drivers, roads, and infrastructure through their EVs.
In a worst-case scenario, China could remotely access the EVs and even disable them, the Commerce Department noted. “Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese-connected vehicles on American roads that could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by somebody in Beijing,” Raimondo said in a statement. “So it’s scary to contemplate the cyber risks, espionage risks that these pose.”
The news comes just one day after Biden issued an executive order empowering the Justice Department to block the sale and sharing of U.S. data with “countries of concern,” including Iran and China. Read more from Christopher here.
ICYMI: HOUSE APPROVES BIPARTISAN NUCLEAR BILL: House lawmakers passed a bill yesterday aimed at bolstering U.S. nuclear power projects, voting 356-35 to approve the effort.
The Atomic Energy Advancement Act would streamline the approval and permitting process for nuclear projects and bolster the development and construction of new reactors.
The overwhelming approval of the bill, which was backed by 166 Democrats, indicates just how much the needle has shifted toward embracing nuclear power as a means of carbon-free power generation. It’s also similar to the Senate legislation approved earlier this year.
“There’s a lot of overlap” between the Senate and House bills, Sen. Tom Carper, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and co-sponsor of the legislation, told us. Both seek to reform the NRC and allow for faster licensing of nuclear plants.
Still, there are some key differences: Notably, the House bill seeks to change the NEPA review process for nuclear reactors and ease some of the lengthy permitting and review processes, which would likely be a tougher sell in the Democrat-majority Senate.
The House legislation would also grant a 40-year extension of the Price-Anderson Act—a law that protects U.S. nuclear plants from financial liability in case of an accident—compared to the shorter 20-year expansion included in the Senate bill.
Next, the two chambers will work together in hopes of reconciling the bills. Carper said these discussions are already happening at the staff level. Read more on that here.
RUNDOWN:
Financial Times Companies pull back on sustainability advice as demand shifts
