DOE/FERC Agenda

DOE Seeks Proposals For $100 Million In Coal Power Plant Retrofit Projects

The Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting applications for up to $100 million to support retrofits of existing coal-fired power generation -- including upgrades to enable fuel switching or co-firing with gas -- as part of Trump officials’ broader pledges to “expand and reinvigorate” the coal sector. The Oct. 31 announcement of a notice of funding opportunity formally titled “ Improving Efficiency, Reliability and Flexibility of Coal Based Power Plants ” underscores the Trump administration’s continuing pivot away from renewables...

DOE Presses FERC For New Rule To Manage Data Center Power Demand

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is pressing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to launch a rulemaking to speed the connection of data centers and other large electricity demand sources to the power grid, including a push winning bipartisan praise to prioritize facilities that agree to be flexible in their demand. The call in an Oct. 24 letter to FERC underscores efforts by policymakers to grapple with rising power needs from artificial intelligence (AI), including concerns about how to meet those...

DOE ‘Roadmap’ Seeks To Boost Development Of Nuclear Fusion Technology

The Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing a new “roadmap” to advance nuclear fusion technology that has long been envisioned as a major zero-emissions power and industrial heat source, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright touting the nascent technology as the “real deal.” The Oct. 16 document aims to boost public infrastructure to support the fusion sector scaling up in the 2030s. It emphasizes public-private partnerships, noting that despite $9 billion in private investments to demonstrate “sustaining burning plasma on the...

DOE Weighs Cancellation Of Hundreds More Low-Carbon Energy Grants

The Department of Energy (DOE) is weighing cancellation of hundreds of additional low-carbon energy grants, with media outlets reporting a list of nearly $24 billion in existing and potential clawbacks, including awards for all hydrogen hubs backed by the infrastructure law as well as carbon capture and auto sector-related projects. DOE in response to a query from Inside EPA ’s Climate Extra declined to confirm plans for the cuts. But multiple lists of possible cuts are circulating, spurring criticism...

DOE Scuttles $7.5 Billion In Clean Energy Funds As Budget Fights Mount

The Department of Energy (DOE) is terminating $7.5 billion for 321 awards supporting 223 projects, largely in Democratic states, for clean energy and related projects -- in an Oct. 2 announcement that critics say is aimed at punishing Democrats for the federal government shutdown. The projects cover a wide range of sectors, including power, biofuel, hydrogen, solar, cement, carbon capture and storage, mining and transportation, though a key Trump official indicated the terminations are aimed at states that voted for...

Wright Slams Scientists Pushing Back On Controversial DOE Climate Study

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is promising to gather government officials and critics of a high-profile report that questions the longstanding consensus about climate change and its harms to debate the issue, even as he also seeks to discredit criticism of the report, in remarks that further distance himself from the scientific community. Wright is promising to invite scientists who have been critical of the report to a convening to discuss their views -- important given ongoing confusion about the future...

House Republicans Float Overhaul Of DOE’s Appliance Efficiency Program

House Republicans are floating a series of bills that would overhaul the Energy Department’s (DOE) appliance efficiency standards program, including provisions that would set a higher bar for issuing tougher efficiency requirements while opening a first-time pathway to remove current standards. Lawmakers and witnesses at a Sept. 16 hearing discussed the bills, including Rep. Rick Allen’s (R-GA) H.R. 4626 , the “Don’t Mess With My Home Appliances Act,” which would make major changes to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act...

FERC terminates gas pipeline climate review effort

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has formally dropped its drawn-out effort to update climate and public interest review policies for natural gas pipelines, after that effort had stalled at the agency for over three years amid heavy industry and Republican resistance. “We conclude that the topics addressed in this proceeding are better considered on a case-by-case basis, according to the facts and the issues raised in individual cases, as the commission has done following the issuance of the [2022]...

DOE’s Wright Presses Europe To Loosen Methane Control Requirements

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is pressing European Union officials to weaken their current methane emissions control program for gas imports and asserting that at least some European officials agree with him, arguing that such a step is needed to ensure greater U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the continent. Wright’s remarks, during a Sept. 12 appearance at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, came in response to a query from a representative of the International Association of...

DOE Dissolves Climate Skeptic Group, Spurring Doubts Over Report’s Fate

The Energy Department’s (DOE) decision to dissolve a working group that developed its controversial report questioning mainstream climate science is raising questions about the report’s fate, and its role in supporting EPA’s planned repeal of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding, amid heavy criticism from the scientific community. Even so, the report’s authors and administration officials are pledging to respond to such critiques, while arguing that environmentalists erred in advancing a lawsuit alleging procedural flaws with the working group. According to...

Climate Experts Say DOE Climate Report Too Flawed To Inform Policy

Dozens of climate experts as well as the American Meteorological Society (AMS) are blasting the Department of Energy’s (DOE) report downplaying the risks of climate change, arguing the document’s widespread procedural and substantive flaws mean it should not be used to inform EPA’s plan to rescind its greenhouse gas risk finding. “The basic science of Earth’s climate has been well-established through two centuries of research,” and since EPA’s 2009 GHG endangerment finding, “the evidence for human-caused climate change and the...

Critics Challenge DOE Grid Report That Could Boost Coal Emergency Orders

Democratic attorneys general (AGs), clean power groups and environmentalists are warning about the Energy Department’s (DOE) expected use of a grid reliability report they say is error-filled and unlawful to justify the Trump administration’s ongoing push to keep aging coal plants open by declaring a grid emergency. The DOE report’s “flawed assumptions” indicate the administration intentionally designed the report “to satisfy the White House’s goal of bailing out uneconomic and environmentally harmful power plants. DOE’s report is not addressing an...

EPA GHG Plan Cites DOE Report Questioning Mainstream Climate Science

EPA is citing an Energy Department (DOE) report attacking many mainstream climate change scientific findings to help justify its proposal to repeal the Obama-era greenhouse gas endangerment finding that forms the basis for agency climate rules, though several scientists are already attacking the report for misrepresenting their past work. DOE’s report was compiled by five outside scientists who have long sought to elevate uncertainty about the risks of anthropogenic climate change, with the Trump administration calling them the Climate Working...

Appliance Makers Join Arguments Opposing DOE Efficiency Rollbacks

Appliance manufacturers are joining environmental groups in arguing that dozens of Energy Department (DOE) proposals to roll back Biden-era energy efficiency standards for appliances violate both the energy conservation law and the Administrative Procedure Act. Instead of rolling back prior standards, industry is urging DOE to continue developing its “process rule” revisions that will make it more difficult to further strengthen requirements, while pursuing broader deregulatory changes to the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The arguments surface in...

States Charge DOE Coal Plant Order Relies On ‘Undependable’ Reports

Midwestern states are joining numerous groups arguing the Energy Department (DOE) unlawfully invoked emergency authority to require a coal plant in Michigan to stay online, asserting officials relied on “undependable” grid reliability forecasts from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The arguments challenge DOE’s use of a key Federal Power Act (FPA) provision that Trump officials hope will help stave off many coal plant retirements. Republicans also more broadly cite NERC’s warnings to justify support for gas- and coal-fired...

House GOP Advances Bill Allowing FERC To Block EPA Power Plant Rules

House Republicans are advancing legislation that would allow federal energy regulators to block EPA rules they view as hampering power generation, as the lawmakers promote a series of proposals that aim to retain traditional power sources and shield gas and coal plants from emissions limits. Under H.R. 3616 , which the House Energy & Commerce Committee approved 28-23 during a June 25 markup, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would have authority to oversee EPA and other agencies’ rules affecting...

Lawyers Argue DOE Proposals To Rescind Efficiency Rules Violate APA

A progressive think tank is arguing Energy Department (DOE) proposals to repeal appliance energy conservation standards violate numerous Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requirements, due to the measures’ thin substantive rationale and insufficient public comment. The Trump administration has “broken from the longstanding -- and legally-mandated -- practice of providing a detailed proposal, instead issuing brief proposals containing little or no information about the agency’s rationale for exercising its discretion,” New York University law school’s Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI) lawyers...

DOE Revives Coal Council That Faced Prior Environmentalist Criticism

The Energy Department (DOE) has formally re-established the controversial National Coal Council (NCC) that advises department officials about policies related to coal, despite efforts by the Biden administration to “modernize” the panel following attacks from environmental groups that it served as a non-transparent venue to advance coal interests. A June 16 charter and accompanying Federal Register notice say DOE is re-establishing the NCC in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Biden DOE initially let the charter...

Former GOP FERC Chair Fears Trump Could Gut FERC’s Independent Role

Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee (R) is raising concern that the Trump administration’s decision to not retain current Chairman Mark Christie (R) signals a bid to undo FERC’s independent role and turn it into “staffers for the administration.” He said such a move threatens stability at an agency that sets numerous policies related to markets for clean and other energy sources. Chatterjee, who served twice as FERC chair during the first Trump administration, said June 10...

Gas Sector Urges DOE To Bar Efficiency Rules Encouraging Fuel Switching

The natural gas sector is pressing the Energy Department (DOE) to issue new regulations that would block officials from developing energy-efficiency standards that would phase out appliances that use natural gas in favor of often more-efficient electric models, arguing this would curb a troublesome practice from the Biden administration. “[R]ather than maintaining a fuel-neutral approach that respects consumer choice, DOE has disfavored natural gas and propane appliances, a move that harms consumer choice and violates the plain meaning of” the...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive environmental policy reporting.