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REVIVED EX-IM BANK SET TO ADVANCE TRUMP’S ENERGY AGENDA: President Trump is swearing in the new Export-Import Bank’s president and board of directors Wednesday, restoring the bank’s quorum and putting it on a path to support more U.S. energy exports.
The Senate restored the quorum earlier this month by installing just enough members to allow the bank to become fully functional, after three years without enough members to approve loans for products over $10 million.
Trump will be participating in the swearing in of Kimberly Reed, the new president of the Ex-Im Bank, along with two new directors: Spencer Bachus III and Judith DelZoppo Pryor. The three were confirmed by the Senate on May 8.
One of the bank’s first priorities will be to approve a backlog of billions of dollars in loans to support energy companies looking to export technology for major infrastructure projects abroad.
One of the bigger approvals will be for a $5 billion direct loan to undergird just over $4 billion in U.S. equipment and services slated to build a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique.
“The energy sector is included in EXIM’s current pipeline of applications that would require board consideration and authorization,” said a senior bank official.
Supporting U.S. exports to Africa is a big priority for the bank. Trump sent Reed to South Africa last weekend to represent him at the inauguration of reelected President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Reed told Ramaphosa that supporting South Africa’s infrastructure development, which includes updating its electric grid, will be a primary focus of the bank.
Trump “would like South Africans to know that the United States stands together with South Africa to address regional and global challenges,” she said on Saturday. Reed said the bank is now ready to begin supporting U.S. exports of goods and services to South Africa’s infrastructure projects with long-term financing.
South Africa is one of the most robust economies on the continent. Under President Barack Obama, the bank had worked to export billions of dollars in renewable energy technology to support Pretoria’s clean energy initiatives. Renewable energy and environmental technology exports remain a stated priority on the agency’s website, but critics say that won’t matter as much under the current administration.
Environmental groups are lining up to oppose the bank’s agenda now that it has been restored.
The bank will become “Trump’s billion-dollar fossil fuel slush fund,” rather than being used to fight climate change, said Doug Norlen, economic policy program director at the left-leaning Friends of the Earth.
“The bank will return to its past practice of supporting projects that damage the global climate, harm community health, violate human rights and hasten corruption,” Norlen said after the Senate vote earlier this month.
The LNG plant being built in Mozambique is of particular concern to environmental groups, who see it as posing a threat to the health of villagers, while producing greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate global warming.
The bank’s newly restored board of directors will hold its first board meeting on Thursday, but it won’t include the pending energy applications, said the senior official.
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KLOBUCHAR ENDORSES ETHANOL WAIVER REFORM: Democratic presidential contender Amy Klobuchar has endorsed reforming the ethanol waiver program for refiners.
Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, called for the rules governing the Environmental Protection Agency’s small refinery exemption program to be revamped. The EPA under Trump has been criticized by the ethanol industry and farmers for granting over two dozen of the waivers to refineries owned by some of the largest oil companies in the world, making the waivers illegal.
Klobuchar’s statement on Saturday followed Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth calling on the agency’s inspector general to launch an investigation into the waiver process.
OIL GROUP SUPPORTS FINDINGS TO OPPOSE NUCLEAR BAILOUT IN OHIO: The American Petroleum Institute is backing a new study that shows Ohio’s nuclear plants are profitable, as the group pushes back against a bailout plan making its way through the Buckeye State’s legislature on Wednesday.
“This study is proof that the FirstEnergy Solutions nuclear plants are profitable and have no need for a financial bailout on the backs of Ohio taxpayers,” said Chris Zeigler, executive director of API Ohio, which has argued against a bailout for struggling nuclear power plants owned by Ohio utility First Energy.
API supports the move toward more competitive resources, like natural gas power plants, to meet both the state’s electricity and environmental needs.
Eleventh-hour pushback: The study was published on Tuesday by PJM Interconnection’s former chief economist, Paul Sotkiewicz. It looked at the financial position of the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants, which are both seeking taxpayer funded assistance to remain operational through House Bill 6. The bill is slated for a vote later on Wednesday.
The study found that if both plants retire, emissions will continue to decrease due to continued coal plant retirements and their replacement by clean-burning natural gas, said Zeigler.
CEO OF GRID OPERATOR PJM ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT: PJM Interconnection, the largest power market in the country, announced Tuesday that CEO Andrew Ott, president and CEO, will retire on June 30.
“Andy has served in many capacities, has been instrumental in developing competitive markets, maintaining system reliability and has helped PJM achieve its status as a leader in our industry,” said Ake Almgren, chairman of PJM’s Board of Managers.
Ott’s legacy: Ott oversaw the release of a high-profile report last year finding PJM’s electricity supply would hold up against a range of threats, providing evidence against the Trump administration case for subsidizing coal and nuclear plants.
“The grid is more reliable today than it’s ever been,” Ott said upon releasing the report in November. “We think government intervention is unnecessary.
PJM is still awaiting word from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a proposal to reform PJM’s market rules to change how power providers are compensated as the grid transitions, rewarding sources for reliability and resilience.
PJM covers a large territory representing 65 million people in 13 states from Illinois to Virginia.
Ott has worked at PJM since 1996, and was appointed as CEO in 2015. The PJM Board of Managers has formed a committee to oversee the search for a new CEO. Susan J. Riley, a PJM board member since 2005, will serve as interim CEO.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP, BUSINESSES SEE NEED FOR COLLABORATION ON EMISSIONS CUTS: The environmental group Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, with input from leading businesses, released a report Tuesday detailing the case for the federal government, states, companies, and consumers to work together in order to cut emissions to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
The report, developed over several years, detailed three pathways for the U.S. to cut economy-wide emissions 80% by 2050.
The group, led by Bob Perciasepe, a former EPA deputy administrator in the Obama administration, drafted the scenarios with input from 21 companies across various sectors, including BP, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, BHP, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Intel, Mars, Microsoft, and Toyota.
The pathways to decarbonization: The first scenario would entail a strong federal response led by a carbon price starting in 2024, strict vehicle emission standards, and significant spending on clean energy R&D and deployment.
In the second pathway, states take the lead in implementing ambitious climate policies, leading to calls for business for a “harmonized” federal response that leads to a carbon price in 2031.
The third route foresees no proactive federal role, but anticipates a strong market demand for low-carbon options leading to businesses voluntarily cutting emissions.
No single actor: C2ES found that federal, state, or consumer-led action individually would achieve half of the 80% emissions reduction goal, showcasing the need for the federal government, states, and private sector to work together.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION APPEALS RULING BLOCKING ARCTIC DRILLING: The Trump administration appealed Tuesday a court ruling blocking the president’s plan for opening the Arctic Ocean and a portion of the Atlantic Coast to oil and gas drilling.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in March that only Congress could revoke the Obama administration’s moves in 2015 and 2016 to shield 125 million acres of the Arctic Ocean — 98% of it — and about 3.8 million acres in the Atlantic from oil and gas drilling.
The Trump administration is appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has cited the district court ruling for causing a delay in the agency releasing a revised version of its offshore drilling plan for the years 2019 to 2024.
The Rundown
Bloomberg Putting a price on the risk of climate change
E&E News Cato closes its climate shop
New York Times United Nations says 80 countries may ramp up climate pledges
Reuters After coal, forest-rich Finland will need to import biomass to keep warm
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | May 29
Congress in recess
MONDAY | June 3
9 a.m., Omni Shoreham Hotel. The Nuclear Energy Institute holds the Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington, June 3-5.
MONDAY | June 10
9 a.m., Philadelphia. The Edison Electric Institute, representing the investor-owned utility industry, holds its 2019 annual convention in Philadelphia, June 10-11.
TUESDAY | June 11
TBD, House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee holds a hearing with former EPA Administrators Lee Thomas, William Reilly, Christine Todd Whitman, and Gina McCarthy testifying.
