WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE FERC NOMINEES: The White House announced on Thursday a slate of three picks for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – nominees that will be facing a time crunch as they look to be confirmed before one of the current commissioners ends her term in June.
Here’s what we know about the nominees:
Judy W. Chang: Currently serving as a managing principal for business consulting firm the Analysis Group, Chang previously worked as the former undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions for the state of Massachusetts – advising on policy for the Commonwealth’s energy sector and creating strategies to fight climate change. Chang has taught as an adjunct lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. She also serves as an ambassador for the Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Initiative, and is a founding member of the New England Women in Energy and the Environment.
David Rosner: An energy analyst for FERC and currently on detail for Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Rosner’s nomination to the agency is a significant promotion. During his time at FERC, he worked on efforts for the agency’s rulemaking on energy storage resources, electric transmission, offshore wind integration, fuel security, and natural gas coordination. Rosner was also a senior policy advisor at the DOE’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and an associate director at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin recommended Rosner to the White House – a major boost to Rosner’s chances of confirmation. Manchin has blocked confirmation of other nominees, such as former FERC Chair Richard Glick, whom the Energy chairman criticized for floating a proposal that would expand the environmental review process for new pipelines and liquified gas terminals.
Lindsay S. See: A pick from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, See is the solicitor general of West Virginia, managing litigation for the state. Notably, See argued on behalf of red states and fossil fuel groups in West Virginia v. EPA – in which the Supreme Court issued an opinion later in 2022 that reeled in the EPA’s authority in regulating carbon emissions from power plants.
See also defended West Virginia’s EPA in a case highlighting water pollution concerns over construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. See argued it was unnecessary to remand the case back to the EPA and further delay the project.
Reactions to the noms: “It’s a good package,” Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper told the Washington Examiner. “Anyone by themselves, I guess we could be a bit critical, but I think it’s a package that scratched a lot of itches.”
Fresh off the news, a number of members on ENR stated they haven’t had time to review the nominees – but will in the coming days.
Former GOP Energy Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski stated that she was glad to see the White House picked nominees for the body, noting that she was recently asking about the status of the request.
“We need five FERC commissioners, and I believe very strongly the more we have, the better off we are,” said Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado.
The body is a bipartisan commission, and Chang and Rosner are expected to fill the Democratic slots, while See will likely fill the Republican seat. If they’re all confirmed, the slate is expected to fill its complement – something that hasn’t been seen since 2022.
Why time is a factor: Confirmations for nominees involves a series of hearings and votes – a process that can take several months. But, Democrats will need to move fast here: Allison Clements, arguably the most left-leaning commissioner on the body, is not seeking another term – and her current term will end in June. However, she could still serve up until the end of the year – but it’s unclear if she would step down beforehand.
If the confirmation process isn’t completed by the next Congress, the political make-up of both the Senate and the White House could significantly change – altering the fate of some of the nominees, and undercutting Democratic efforts to ensure that the commission has a Democratic majority.
“There’s a known saying that haste makes waste, but we need to move on this,” Carper said.
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.
OIL EDGES HIGHER AMID ANTICIPATION OF OPEC+ DECISION: Oil prices were rising this morning, with Brent Crude and WTI up more than 1.5%, as traders anticipated an OPEC+ decision on extending production cuts sometime in the first week of March, Reuters reported.
“Sticking to the voluntary production cuts until the end of the year would be a strong signal and should therefore be seen as price-positive,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch told the outlet.
Oil prices were relatively stable for most of February, with Brent mostly trading between $81 and $83 for the last three weeks of the month. Stronger-than-expected economic reports in the U.S. have lifted expectations for demand, while signs of slowing from China and Europe have provided a counterbalance.
FOREIGN NUCLEAR POWER UPDATE – CANADA TO EXPEDITE APPROVALS: Canada Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said that the government will accelerate approvals of new nuclear projects, although it will not exempt them from environmental reviews.
The reform comes in response to a Canadian Supreme Court ruling that the law mandating climate assessments for new projects infringed the rights of provinces.
The changes would be limited to addressing the ruling but “we do have some ideas that as to how we can make the process more efficient and respond to the thoughts and aspirations of the provinces,” Wilkinson told Reuters.
The energy minister for Ontario, which gets 50% of its power from nuclear, has said that it would be impossible for Canada to meet its emissions goals if reviews mean that it takes seven to 10 years to build a reactor in the province.
United Arab Emirates gets fourth reactor at nuclear plant running: A fourth nuclear unit has now started up at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the UAE, making the plant the “largest single source of clean electricity in the UAE and wider Arab World,” the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
When the new unit is connected to the grid, the plant will have a capacity of 5,600 megawatts of electricity, to meet 25% of the UAE’s electricity demand. The office claimed that, in the last five years, the UAE has added more clean electricity per capita than any other country, with 75% coming from the nuclear plant.
HAWLEY’S VOTE ON NUCLEAR COMPENSATION: Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted that he has secured an agreement for a floor vote on the reauthorization of a law providing compensation for Americans exposed to radiation by nuclear projects undertaken by the federal government.
The Missouri Republican was previously holding up passage of a stopgap spending measure that would fund the government up until two separate deadlines this month – March 8 and 22. After a meeting with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, Hawley was able to get a vote scheduled for reauthorization of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
This a long-sought priority of Hawley’s, along with Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who fought to include the measure in last year’s defense bill. Many of the beneficiaries would be residents of Luján’s state of New Mexico, the location of the Trinity test of the first nuclear weapon.
While it was included in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, congressional leaders had stripped the provision out due its hefty price tag (an estimated $147 billion for the NDAA version).
What the Hawley-Lujan bill did: The original bill would not only reauthorize RECA, but also expand the number of people eligible to receive compensation – including by creating a new benefit for people living near where the Manhattan Project waste was located in St. Louis – and promise a higher payout threshold of up to $150,000. However, Hawley has since modified the original amendment, reducing the cost of the proposal by $100 billion while also expanding coverage to victims in additional states, according to reporting from The Hill.
What to be on the lookout for: The measure will need 60 votes to clear the floor – and could face tough odds in the House. But, timing of passage here is crucial – reauthorization of RECA expires this spring.
EPA WATERS DOWN POWER PLANT RULE: The Biden administration is removing existing natural gas facilities from a regulation requiring power plants to cut their emissions, weakening the rule as the agency punts consideration of the controversial provision, Nancy reports.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will work to finalize standards to regulate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants in a rule that will come later this spring, but a regulation covering the entire fleet of natural gas facilities would be considered at a later date.
“As EPA works towards final standards to cut climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, the Agency is taking a new, comprehensive approach to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines, as well as cover more pollutants including climate, toxic and criteria air pollution,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
Climate hawks upset: Climate hawk Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized the move, arguing it made “no sense” to exclude existing gas power plants if they contribute to most future carbon emissions from the power sector.
“Making a rule that applies only to coal, which is dying out on its own, and to new gas power plants that are not yet built, is not how we are going to reach climate safety,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “EPA promises that some future proposed rule will address these emissions, but time is not on our side, and the agency’s generally lethargic rulemaking pace does not leave one optimistic.”
Timing is of the essence: It’s unlikely that the rule will be finalized anytime soon, leaving open the question of whether the regulation will get the ax under another Trump presidency if the former president takes the White House in November. Read more from Nancy here.
SMOKEHOUSE CREEK FIRE IS LARGEST IN TEXAS HISTORY: The Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle has exceeded 1.1 million acres and is the largest wildfire in the history of the state, according to local authorities.
As of Friday, the local fire was only 15% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service, and has now merged with another wildfire.
The spread may not be over. The agency stated that wildfire activity could increase over the weekend “due to strong winds and dry fuels.”
At least two people have died from the wildfire. Read more on that here.
RUNDOWN
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Financial Times World-first carbon border tax shows teething problems
