DOE/FERC Agenda

DOE Floats Preliminary Transmission ‘Corridors’ To Boost Clean Power

The Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing a preliminary list of 10 corridors where buildout of transmission lines is considered particularly urgent for clean power and other needs, a designation that would unlock increased federal financing and permitting support for such projects. DOE’s May 8 announcement is part of the department’s effort to use its authority, expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 infrastructure law, for selecting priority areas for transmission projects. Specifically, the preliminary list of designations...

House Adopts Bill Raising Hurdles For New Energy Efficiency Standards

The Republican-led House has approved legislation that would impose additional requirements for the Energy Department (DOE) to adopt new or updated appliance efficiency standards, though the measure faces an uphill battle to be enacted amid significant opposition from Democrats and the White House. The bill, H.R. 6192, was adopted on a 212-195 vote May 7. Seven Democrats joined 205 Republicans in support, while 23 lawmakers did not vote. Republicans used floor debate on the measure as an opportunity to slam...

Final DOE Water Heater Efficiency Standard To Spur Massive CO2 Savings

The Energy Department (DOE) is finalizing efficiency standards for residential water heaters that would spur widespread adoption of heat pump systems and generate massive energy savings and associated carbon emissions cuts, though officials are deferring action on controversial standards for “tankless” models. The final rule released April 30 comes amid a blitz of final efficiency standards for various product categories, including commercial air conditioners and heat pumps, federal buildings, and dishwashers. DOE’s new home water heater rule largely mirrors the...

Lawmakers, Energy Experts Offer Suggestions For DOE’s LNG Export Review

Lawmakers and energy market experts are identifying top issues they say the Energy Department (DOE) should address in its ongoing review of the climate and economic implications of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, including a call to develop a standardized method to measure and report exports’ greenhouse gas emissions. As it conducts the review, the Biden administration has also decided to pause new approvals of LNG exports, a decision strongly opposed by natural gas producers but endorsed by environmentalists. DOE...

DOE Highlights AI’s Potential Power Grid Benefits, Energy Demand Risk

The Department of Energy (DOE) is touting several near-term ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) could help improve the power grid in ways that boost decarbonization, even as it flags further research needs for longer-term challenges and warns of the need to manage potential carbon emission increases from the technology. The conclusions surface in a pair of reports released April 29, in response to a 2023 Biden administration executive order instructing federal agencies to undertake a variety of efforts to...

DOE Finalizes Transmission Rule As Part of Broader Clean Power Rollout

The Department of Energy (DOE) is finalizing a rule to strengthen coordination of federal permitting for transmission projects considered crucial to integrating more renewable energy onto the grid, creating a new program that includes a default two-year review schedule and process based on a single environmental document for the projects. DOE’s release of the rule April 25 coincides with an array of separate Biden administration announcements related to both transmission buildout as well as EPA’s high-profile suite of standards curbing...

DOE Advisory Group Floats Options To Curb Gas Sector Methane, CO2

A new National Petroleum Council (NPC) report sought by the Energy Department (DOE) is highlighting the gap between projected greenhouse gas cuts from the natural gas sector under existing policies and necessary reductions, floating various recommendations to further curb methane and also avoid a significant projected rise in carbon dioxide. The recommendations include a call to ramp up more CO2 sequestration and boost electrification of the natural gas supply chain, and for policymakers to consider additional “market mechanisms” that could...

DOE, Environmentalists Flag Reliability Concerns From Gas Power Plants

The Energy Department (DOE) is warning that increased reliance on gas-fired power plants can threaten grid reliability, with officials instead endorsing a “portfolio approach” of low-carbon options to address increased electricity demand, including energy storage, grid-enhancing technologies, nuclear and geothermal. Building out additional natural gas “has the potential to result in higher costs and unexpected lower reliability during extreme weather events than alternative options,” the DOE writes in an April 17 report, “The Future of Resource Adequacy .” The report...

Chamber Fears Broad Effects Of DOE Gas Appliance Efficiency Standards

Industry supporters of the natural gas sector’s litigation challenging Energy Department (DOE) furnace and water heater efficiency rules are warning that the department’s interpretations in the rules could spark broad disruption in its efficiency standards program by blocking market access for various products that have unique attributes. In addition, states supporting the case are asserting that the Energy Policy & Conservation Act (EPCA) that provides authority for DOE’s broader program unconstitutionally delegates authority to the department, echoing other efforts to...

DOE Official Argues LNG Permit Pause Bolsters Approvals’ Legal Defense

A top Energy Department (DOE) official is arguing that the Biden administration’s pause in approving new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will ultimately boost the legal defense of any future approvals, given likely claims from environmentalists that officials would be relying on out-of-date analysis without such a policy review. “We have a strong record of defending our Natural Gas Act [NGA] determinations [including LNG export approvals] because they’ve relied on well-supported and up-to-date analysis,” said Brad Crabtree, chief of DOE’s...

DOE finalizes tighter standards for common lightbulbs

The Energy Department (DOE) is completing tougher energy conservation standards for most common lightbulbs, a rule that officials say will avoid nearly as many carbon emissions as the department’s recent refrigerator and freezer efficiency standards. DOE issued the final lightbulb efficiency rule for “general service lamps” (GSLs) -- a category encompassing most general lighting, including incandescent, compact fluorescents, and LED bulbs -- on April 12, ahead of Federal Register publication. Compliance begins in July 2028, and the rule builds...

Gas Groups Detail Case Against Furnace, Water Heater Efficiency Rules

Natural gas industry groups are outlining their arguments in consolidated litigation against three Energy Department (DOE) efficiency rules, asserting the standards are unlawful because they effectively prohibit the use of certain types of gas-fired furnaces and water heaters and could spur adoption of electric models. “The law is clear -- [DOE] is explicitly forbidden to set a standard that eliminates an entire class of appliances from the market,” American Gas Association (AGA) President and CEO Karen Harbert argues in a...

In Industry Win, DOE Eases Final Efficiency Rule For Power Transformers

The Energy Department (DOE) is finalizing significantly eased efficiency standards for power distribution transformers, offering a win for industry groups who had argued the proposed requirements would have added costly hurdles to the power sector that is striving to integrate more clean energy and handle increased electricity demand. “DOE is adopting efficiency standards based on, but importantly different from, those proposed in” its January 2023 proposal, the department writes in its April 4 final rule . The final standards are...

FERC Picks Pledge Focus On Reliability, Offer Careful Climate Stances

The Biden administration’s trio of nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) during a joint Senate nomination hearing are all pledging to focus on maintaining power grid reliability if confirmed, while also offering careful answers about the agency’s authority to weigh climate and other environmental considerations. Their testimony during a March 21 hearing before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee suggests that the nominees could ultimately be confirmed by the full Senate, particularly if Senate leaders follow their...

Environmentalists Back LNG Export Pause Against Industry Rehearing Push

Environmentalists are defending the Energy Department’s (DOE) permitting pause for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports as it re-evaluates their climate and other effects, arguing the natural gas industry’s push to reconsider the decision is procedurally flawed. The petitions for rehearing -- filed by Commonwealth LNG , and trade associations including the American Petroleum Institute (API) -- “should be denied as procedurally improper because there is nothing to seek rehearing of,” reads a pair of March 12 response filings from Sierra...

Treasury Department Analysis Touts IRA Climate Benefits, Downplays Cost

The Treasury Department in a new analysis is touting the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) climate and public health benefits that will stem from its various clean energy incentives, offering a public defense of the statute amid calls from GOP lawmakers to scale back its provisions in part because of their cost to the government. “The economic case for the IRA is stronger than sometimes realized,” several Treasury officials write in a March 1 article posted on the department’s website. “Common...

9th Circuit Weighs Ending Youth Climate Case But Denies DOJ Stay Motion

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has agreed to consider the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) effort to end a district court’s consideration of a high-profile youth climate case that is set to go to trial, though it is also denying DOJ’s request to stay the litigation at the lower court. A three-judge panel of the appellate court issued a Feb. 29 order in Juliana v. United States saying the Biden administration’s Feb. 2 petition for a...

Biden Seen Taking ‘Pragmatic’ Approach In Bid To Fill Vacant FERC Slots

President Joe Biden’s nomination of three new members for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) represents a “pragmatic” approach intended to secure support from Senate energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), who would oversee their confirmation process, analysts say. ClearView Energy Partners said in a March 1 analysis that should the Senate confirm Biden’s three nominees, it could ensure a Democratic majority on the commission until at least mid-2026 -- when current FERC Chairman Willie Phillips’ term ends -- even...

DOE weighs options, concerns for using AI to boost clean energy

The Energy Department (DOE) is formally soliciting input on potential ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster deployment of clean and reliable electricity, including steps to boost reliability, improve grid planning and increase resilience to climate change risks. The department’s request for information (RFI) , scheduled to be published in the March 1 Federal Register , will be used to inform a study DOE is developing pursuant to President Joe Biden’s October executive order promoting the “safe, secure, and...

Gas Sector Groups Detail Legal Case Against DOE’s LNG Permitting Pause

A coalition of natural gas trade groups is detailing legal arguments against the Energy Department’s (DOE) high-profile decision to pause new permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports while it re-evaluates their climate, economic, and other effects, in a move that could foreshadow formal legal action against the department. “[T]o ensure that the Trade Associations protect their ability to challenge the Indefinite Pause in federal court -- and in an honest effort to persuade DOE to change its position --...

Pages

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