DOE/FERC Agenda

New DOE Infrastructure Chief Touts Push For Quick Industry Carbon Cuts

The new head of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) infrastructure office is touting the department’s over $6 billion to speed deep decarbonization in the industrial sector, which to date has had relatively few options to cut emissions, arguing the funds will spur major low-carbon projects this decade rather than in the 2030s. “What we’re trying to do with the $6.3 billion for industrial decarb[onization] is to bring that 2035 date for deep decarbonization of processed heat into this decade, so...

DOE Speeds Efficiency Standards While SEC Further Delays Climate Rule

The Biden administration’s latest Unified Agenda shows the Energy Department (DOE) is continuing to advance dozens of efficiency standards appliances, even as the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is formally acknowledging a delay in completing its long-pending climate disclosure rules. Those two issues highlight climate regulatory updates from across the government identified in the June 13 plan . Agencies’ climate rules complement a suite of EPA greenhouse gas standards for various sectors, with the agenda noting that EPA officials are...

Bipartisan Senate Group Warns DOE On Transformer Efficiency Rule

Led by energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), a bipartisan group of 47 senators is pressing the Department of Energy (DOE) to rethink its proposed distribution transformer efficiency rule, claiming the regulation would impose a “meaningful cost” on grid reliability, national security, and domestic supply chains. The group’s June 1 letter , signed by 33 Republicans and 14 Democrats, is the latest twist in the debate over DOE’s January proposal that has split utilities and efficiency groups, with the former...

Environmentalists Push DOE To Massively Scale Up ‘Green’ Hydrogen

Environmentalists are urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to prioritize a massive scale-up of hydrogen made by electrolysis as the agency weighs awards under its hydrogen infrastructure “hub” program, arguing this strategy would be the best way to meet climate goals. The May 24 report from Carbon Solutions and the Industrial Innovation Initiative (I3), a collaboration between the Great Plaints Institute and the World Resources Institute (WRI), comes as EPA’s proposed gas-fired power plant GHG standards are partially based on...

DOE Presses Ahead With Tougher Efficiency Standards For Key Sectors

The Department of Energy (DOE) is pressing ahead with stronger energy efficiency standards for an array of commercial and residential equipment categories, including rules for electric motors and dishwashers that would spur relatively large levels of energy savings and related carbon emissions cuts. For electric motors specifically, DOE on May 5 released tighter efficiency standards following a relatively rare consensus rulemaking process. The requirements are included in a direct final rule that will take effect if officials do not receive...

As Senate Ramps Up Permitting Debate, Lawmakers Probe FERC Rules

As the Senate ramps up debate on possible legislation to ease permitting requirements for various types of energy projects, lawmakers are also attempting to shape several pending rules from federal energy regulators seeking to ease deployment of power transmission lines considered crucial for clean energy sources. The interplay between the legislative permitting debate and pending Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rules -- on display at a May 4 Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee (ENR) hearing -- is important because...

GOP States Raise Constitutional Concerns Over DOE Efficiency Standard

A group of Republican attorneys general is warning that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed efficiency standard for clothes washers infringes on states’ constitutional rights, an argument that could have far-reaching implications across the DOE and other agency programs. The AGs in a May 2 comment letter argue DOE must overhaul the standard’s analysis and/or narrow the purview of the rule to avoid infringing on states’ long-standing rights over intrastate commerce and water use. “[I]f implemented, the Proposed Standards will...

Industry Groups Slam DOE Efficiency Proposal For Gas Cooking Stoves

Appliance makers and natural gas industry groups are sharply criticizing the Energy Department’s (DOE) proposed efficiency standards for gas and electric stoves, previewing likely litigation against the first-time standards for the products even as DOE and efficiency advocates say the rule is routine. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) in lengthy April 17 comments details multiple attacks on DOE’s methods and data supporting the plan, arguing the rule favors electric models over gas stoves. “The proposed rule is so...

DOE Seeks Input On $2 Billion From IRA To Retool Plants For EV Making

The Energy Department (DOE) is seeking input on a $2 billion program funded by last year’s climate law that would help retool manufacturing facilities to produce various types of electric vehicles (EVs), part of a multi-pronged effort by the Biden administration to spur greater uptake of cleaner vehicles. DOE’s request comes as the Treasury Department is poised to formally implement new mineral and battery component sourcing rules for securing a lucrative Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit for consumer EVs,...

DOE Gathers Input On $1 Billion to Spur Tougher Building Code Adoption

The Department of Energy (DOE) is taking the first steps to awarding $1 billion for states and local governments to adopt tougher building codes, including standards that would require buildings to be classified as “zero-energy,” an effort that would help decarbonize the broader buildings sector. DOE’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs on March 31 announced its intent to distribute the funds, alongside a request for information (RFI) on the program, with comments due April 26. States, cities, and...

Groups Clash Over DOE Efficiency Plan’s Effect On Crucial Grid Equipment

The utility sector is arguing that a Department of Energy (DOE) proposal to increase efficiency standards for a vital component of electricity distribution networks would exacerbate supply chain constraints so much that the agency cannot justify finalizing the rule. The American Public Power Association (APPA) “and its members strongly urge DOE to reconsider the . . . proposed efficiency standards, which to the extent that they are even feasible, would impose significant costs on consumers, while frustrating the department’s own...

DOE Finalizes Revised Efficiency Standards For Air Cleaners, Air Conditioners

The Department of Energy (DOE) is finalizing energy conservation standards for air cleaners and window air conditioners, continuing its push to boost appliance efficiency rules with climate benefits including one measure developed with a relatively rare consensus rulemaking process. DOE estimates the first-time air cleaners rule -- advanced via the consensus process -- would avoid 57.7 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide through 2057, while its revised room air conditioner standards would avoid 48.5 MMT. While those figures are...

Carbon Removal Backers Seek Additional, Broader Federal Investment

After the recent United Nations report cited carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a necessary component of global mitigation efforts, supporters of the nascent suite of strategies are urging the federal government to further support the full range of CDR options with both financial investments and supportive rules. “Current government subsidies actually really only subsidize a small subsection of the types of technologies that we need to scale,” argued Nora Cohen Brown, market development and policy head at Charm Industrial, a...

DOE Faces Pitched Battle Over NEPA Exclusions For Clean Energy Funds

The Department of Energy (DOE) is facing a host of competing comments on establishing new categorical exclusions (CEs) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to distribute billions of dollars in new clean energy funds, with industry pushing to broadly expand CEs while environmentalists seek significant guardrails. Some environmental groups are also urging the Biden DOE to rescind a Trump-era CE for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects due to concerns that the projects will undermine the nation’s climate goals and...

Granholm Assures Lawmakers DOE Plan Will Not Block Gas Stoves

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is offering assurances to House appropriators that her department’s upcoming efficiency standards for gas stove cooktops will not derail their use, while offering additional pushback against an oft-cited statistic by industry officials that the rule would disallow nearly all units on the market. Granholm’s assurances came during a March 23 House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Energy Department’s (DOE) fiscal year 2024 budget request. They reflect DOE’s ongoing efforts to tamp down claims that its efficiency...

House GOP reprises waste concerns about DOE’s climate law funds

House Republicans are renewing their oversight of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) increased funding from recent climate-related laws, warning the significant influx in funds to advance low-carbon energy technologies could lead to waste. Republicans on various committees are raising frustrations at the quantity of funds given to DOE and other agencies in recent legislation to address climate change, as they consider President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget request that seeks additional funding to complement agencies’ implementation of those laws...

DOE Details Paths To Commercialization For Hydrogen, Nuclear, Storage

The Department of Energy (DOE) in a series of reports is detailing how agency officials and industry representatives can bring low-carbon hydrogen, advanced nuclear power, and long-duration energy storage to commercial scale, zeroing in on the major hurdles to widespread adoption of the climate-friendly technologies. The reports released March 21 aim to guide commercial buildout enabled by billions of dollars in the Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 infrastructure law investments through DOE -- with officials hoping the technologies can...

Amid Flurry Of Efficiency Efforts, DOE Floats Tighter Battery Charger Rule

The Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing stricter energy conservation standards for battery chargers such as computer chargers, as officials are separately advancing a series of efficiency standards for home appliances such as dishwashers that environmentalists applaud even as industry fears costly requirements on a tight timeline. The proposed standards , published in the March 15 Federal Register , would save 40 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide, as well as nearly 300,000 tons of methane over 30 years,...

House GOP Urges FERC To Limit Use Of CEQ’s GHG Guide, Citing Core Duty

House Energy and Commerce panel Republicans are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to limit its use of White House guidance on accounting for greenhouse gas emissions in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, arguing it is at odds with regulators’ core duty of approving natural gas and transmission facilities. “While we understand this interim guidance is subject to change until the rule is finalized, we write to reiterate that NEPA, and especially the [Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)]...

DOE Opens First Infrastructure Law Funds To Advance ‘Green’ Hydrogen

The Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing the first tranche of infrastructure law funding for “green” hydrogen, after the law set aside funds to cut costs for the lowest-emitting form of hydrogen production even as other funding from the statute is open to a wider array of technologies including carbon capture and storage-based methods. DOE on March 15 announced the availability of $750 million for research, development and demonstration of projects to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen. That will...

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