Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
MVP PIPELINE LATEST: The debt ceiling deal’s provision of expedited approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline came at a great time for the project, which recently won critical authorizations from the federal government but now faces another new setback tied to a Friday court ruling.
First, the D.C. Circuit news: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded several orders issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from years back that had extended MVP’s construction timeline and allowed the project’s developer to resume work after it faced adverse court decisions.
Sierra Club and other petitioners challenged FERC’s orders, arguing they should be tossed because the commission did not perform supplemental environmental analysis to accompany its decisions. The petitioners noted significant erosion events around the pipeline and various state water quality violations on the part of MVP’s developer.
The court did not vacate FERC’s orders but determined the commission “inadequately explained its decision not to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement addressing unexpectedly severe erosion and sedimentation along the pipeline’s right-of-way.”
The remand orders mean FERC will have to either perform and SEIS or give a full explanation for declining to do so.
Things to consider: In an MVP-less debt ceiling deal scenario, project proponents would be able to justify both pessimistic and optimistic feelings about the project’s future. The Fourth Circuit in early April vacated West Virginia’s water quality permit for the pipeline.
On the other hand, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had greased the skids with her endorsement of the pipeline. She requested in her April letter to FERC that “if there is any further Commission-related action on this project, it proceeds expeditiously.”
Well, now there’s commission-related action on the project after the D.C. Circuit’s ruling.
But MVP is in the deal: And it gets the all-star treatment. The legislation declares completion of the MVP to be in the national interest for serving natural gas demand and says the pipeline will reduce emissions and “facilitate the energy transition.”
It also approves all authorizations needed for the pipeline and limits litigation against those approvals.
The two Virginias: The debt ceiling package’s approval of MVP is an encore of late-2022 politicking.
Prominent liberal members such as Rep. Raul Grijalva condemned the package for approving the pipeline, as are members in the congressional delegation of Virginia, where the pipeline terminates.
Sen. Tim Kaine was one of nine Democratic no-votes when the Senate took up Sen. Joe Manchin’s permitting bill at the end of the last Congress, the first of a series of legislative proposals from the West Virginia delegation seeking unilateral approval of the pipeline.
Kaine’s office said yesterday he plans to introduce an amendment to strip the debt ceiling legislation of language approving MVP.
In the lower chamber, Virginia’s six Democratic representatives have all signed onto an amendment to do the same, Rep. Jennifer McClellan’s office announced this morning.
A word from MVP: A spokesperson for the project welcomed the deal supporting MVP, which she said has been subjected to “an unprecedented level of legal and regulatory review,” and singled out Manchin’s work lobbying for the pipeline.
“It was the leadership and unwavering commitment of Chairman Manchin who first recognized the importance of MVP to our nation’s energy security and spearheaded the development of broad, bipartisan support for the completion of MVP,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to us.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Jeremy Beaman (@jeremywbeaman) and Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep). Email [email protected] or [email protected] 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.
MANCHIN TRAILING JIM JUSTICE IN NEW POLL: Manchin would face some steep odds against Republican Gov. Jim Justice if the election for the two-term senator’s seat were held today, according to a new poll from East Carolina University.
Justice holds a 22-point lead over Manchin, which shakes out to 54% support in favor of Justice to Manchin’s 32%.
Manchin, who has yet to announce his reelection campaign, is facing criticism from Republicans and some tough ads targeting his support for the Inflation Reduction Act. Critics slam the law as a big green giveaway to President Joe Biden, although Manchin has firmly defended the law as an all-of-the-above energy bill.
BOEM FINALIZES FONSI IN FAVOR OF GULF WIND LEASING: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced a finding of no significant impact this morning after reviewing the environmental consequences of regionwide wind leasing in the Gulf of Mexico.
BOEM’s analysis covered 30 million acres within the Gulf. The results set the bureau up to carry out its first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf this year.
PLANT VOGTLE’S FIRST NEW REACTOR ACHIEVES 100% POWER: Plant Vogtle’s Unit 3 reached 100% power yesterday, Georgia Power announced, bringing the new reactor closer to commercial operation.
The new reactor reached an output of approximately 1,100 megawatts, the maximum energy it’s authorized to generate.
Operators will continue to test the reactor at its full output level, and the unit is planned to enter commercial operations next month.
Initial testing on Unit 4 has begun, and Georgia Power expects the reactor to begin commercial operations late this year or early 2024.
TEXAS NEARS BILLS TO BOOST FOSSIL FUELS ON GRID: Texas lawmakers voted Sunday to approve several controversial energy bills aimed at adding more natural gas and other fossil fuels to the power grid—efforts they say are aimed at increasing reliability but that critics argue will drive up energy bills and discourage new renewable energy investments.
With just moments before the 88th legislative session came to a close, lawmakers approved SB 2627, a bill that allocates up to $10 billion in no- or low-interest loans for the construction of new gas-fired power plants and provides bonuses to companies who bring the plants online within a certain time frame, and HB 1500, which would add additional transmission costs for new renewable energy projects connecting to the state’s power grid. HB 1500 also requires renewable projects to subsidize new fossil fuel plant construction efforts on the grid—a process known as “firming”—beginning in 2027.
Finally, lawmakers passed a pared-down version of HB 5, which excludes renewable energy and battery projects in the state from being eligible for certain tax breaks afforded to fossil fuel and LNG plants under the state’s revived property tax program known as Chapter 313.
The bills were sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, where he is expected to sign them into law.
“I promised Texans that I would not leave Austin without legislation that would fix the Texas power grid once and for all,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who led the push for more fossil fueled generation in the state. “Tonight, I am proud that we have delivered on that promise for all Texans.”
OIL DROPS AMID MIXED OPEC+ MESSAGING: Oil prices fell this morning by roughly 3% amid concerns over the U.S. economy and mixed messages from OPEC+ members, who continued to talk past each other on possible production cuts just days before their June meeting in Vienna.
The uncertainty, coupled with anxieties over the debt ceiling, sent Brent crude futures falling as low as $74.69 per barrel by mid-morning today—a $2.38 decline from yesterday’s close— while futures for U.S.-based West Texas Intermediate fell 2.9% to $70.60 per barrel.
The latest: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said this weekend that he hopes oil producers will “bring calm” to the oil market, the latest in a string of seemingly contradictory statements from the cartel as to whether they will move to slash production at their meeting in Vienna this week.
“I hope that OPEC … will be able to control [market] tensions and bring calm to the oil market,” Raisi said, according to a local news outlet.
His remarks come just days after Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman cautioned investors not to bet on lower oil prices, which some interpreted as a signal that the cartel could be considering additional cuts.
Others, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, said last week that they did not expect any reduction in supply.
USEA NAMES MENEZES AS NEW CHIEF: The United States Energy Association named Mark Menezes as its new president and CEO on Friday.
Menezes, who served as deputy secretary of energy during the Trump administration, begins in the new role on June 15.
The Rundown
Bloomberg Solar and EV booms push China toward energy tipping point
Washington Post A giant pile of logs is trapping millions of tons of carbon in Canada
Bloomberg Musk echoes Apple, Mercedes CEOs on importance of China ties
