GOP SEEKS TO GRILL GRANHOLM: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is inviting Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to testify before the panel in May, after claiming that she failed to respond to requests to appear earlier this year.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Comer called for the top Energy Department official to testify on May 15, in an effort to probe into Granholm’s leadership of the agency. More specifically, the hearing is expected to feature attacks on DOE’s rulemaking under the Biden administration, allegations of conflicts of interest within the department’s loan program, and claims that the White House’s policies are further undermining grid reliability, security, and energy supply chains.
The panel had initially invited Granholm to testify before the committee in January, but the department had failed to provide information on Granholm’s availability, according to the letter.
Comer listed out a number of information requests that the panel has issued, such as ones related to Granholm’s electric vehicle road trip and the Biden administration’s pause on liquified natural gas exports.
“The expansive nature of these topics and your direct involvement as the leader of the Department necessitates your participation in this hearing,” the letter reads. “It is unacceptable that over the course of two months, for dates provided by the Committee months into the future, the Department is unable to perform a basic scheduling function to confirm whether you are available or not available.”
According to the letter, the dates proposed include April 30, May 1, May 15 or 16, and June 12 or 13. DOE staff had declined to make Granholm available during a proposed date of March 6, stating that Granholm would not be available.
A spokesperson for the Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why this matters: House Republicans have been scathing in their attacks on Granholm when she has testified before Congress – with some going as far as to raise the question of impeachment over Granholm’s previous self-admittedly false testimony on stockholdings.
During a House Science and Space and Technology Committee hearing, some GOP members hit Granholm over her remarks to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee stating she did not own any individual stocks – when she did.
“That’s perjury, period,” Rep. Claudia Tenney said. “Why should you not resign or why should we not consider some kind of impeachment inquiry into you for your perjury charges?”
Granholm then defended herself, stating that she had erroneously said she sold all the stocks.
“I made a mistake when I testified saying that I had sold all stock,” Granholm said. “I honestly thought we had.”
During the same hearing, the DOE official faced attacks from Republicans on rising gas prices, Inflation Reduction Act spending, and hydrogen tax credit rulemaking. Granholm also faced scrutiny about an electric vehicle road trip that ended with DOE aides reserving a Georgia charging station for the secretary, and blocking a family from using the station.
What to expect: More of the same, if Granhom decides to testify before the Oversight Committee.
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CHINA DOMINATES WIND MARKET IN 2023: China’s wind turbine manufacturers led global supply last year, as the U.S. wind sector declined and Europe experienced small growth, according to a recently released BloombergNEF report.
Four of the five biggest wind manufacturers in 2023 were China-based companies – up from two last year. Goldwind Science & Technology Company had the top spot, with Envision Energy Company coming in second and Vestas Wind Systems A/S, a Danish manufacturer, in third. American manufacturer General Electric and Spanish and German company Siemens Gamesa, were pushed out of the top five slots.
According to the report, China contributed two-thirds of new onshore and offshore wind projects globally last year. Wind installations in the U.S. fell to the lowest rate since 2017.
The takeaway here: China has the largest wind market in the world, with more than 12 domestic manufacturers. The price of Chinese-made turbines exported out the country was about a fifth below those made in the U.S. and Europe. More on that here.
OIL PRICE CAP UPDATE – RUSSIA STRUGGLING TO COLLECT PAYMENTS: Russia is having difficulty collecting payments for oil shipments from banks in China, the UAE, and Turkey, sources told Reuters.
The banks have become more cautious out of fear of secondary sanctions from the U.S., and are asking clients to provide guarantees that no entities designated by the U.S. would benefit from the payments.
“Of course, unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union on the People’s Republic of China continues,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference when asked about the problems collecting payments.
The news is a sign that the Treasury’s effort in December to tighten the G-7 price cap on Russian oil is having an effect. Then, in response to signs that the cap was failing to reduce Russia’s war funding, the Treasury sanctioned specific shippers and said that it would require shippers to get attestations from counterparties that any oil purchases were conducted in compliance with the cap.
FISKER MARKS DOWN EVS IN EFFORTS TO STAY AFLOAT: American electric vehicle company Fisker is significantly cutting the price of its Ocean sport utility vehicle, its only model, as the automotive company struggles to stay above water, Bloomberg outlines.
Its top-end version of the Ocean, dubbed the Extreme, will be slashed in price by $24,000 – a 39% cut – reducing the cost to $37,499, according to a statement delivered to Bloomberg. Other versions of the vehicle will also be cheaper, in an effort to position the vehicle as a more “affordable and compelling EV choice,” Fisker said.
The notable reductions come simultaneously as Fisker tries to battle liquidity challenges and the expected delisting of its stock. Earlier this month, the company’s financial issues were further on display when it announced it will have to pause production and could file for bankruptcy if it’s unable to pay back its debt.
But the EV company is far from alone in marking down its products. Other EV makers, such as Tesla, have been adjusting their price tags as customers struggle with costs. More on that here.
$1.5B FEDERAL COMMITMENT TO GET PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT RUNNING: The Department of Energy said this morning that it has agreed to provide a loan guarantee of up to $1.5 billion to Holtec Palisades to get the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Michigan, back up and running.
The loan guarantee will be made through the Loan Programs Office and would be the first project backed through the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to finance projects to retool or rework energy infrastructure to reduce emissions.
The agency said that bringing the 800 MW reactor, which ceased operations in 2022, back online would save 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, or roughly equivalent to removing more than 970,000 cars from the road. It also said that it would help the Midcontinent Independent System Operator supply the grid as it retires coal.
Holtec also plans to place two small modular nuclear reactors at the site.
DOE has otherwise sought to help keep nuclear reactors online to provide zero-emissions power, including, notably by awarding credits for the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon plant in California.
SOLAR FACTORIES CUT DEAL TO MEET IRA SOURCING REQUIREMENTS: Georgia-based solar cell manufacturer Suniva and solar panel manufacturer Heliene, which is based in Canada and has operations in Minnesota, announced this morning that they have struck a deal meant to take advantage of the 10% domestic manufacturing bonus in the IRA. Heliene will use Suniva’s U.S.-made solar cells into its U.S.-manufactured solar modules to meet the domestic sourcing requirements.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is traveling to Georgia today to tout the deal at a Suniva solar cell manufacturing plant reopening this spring in Norcross. She will say that the domestic solar companies in past years could not compete with a “flood” of imports subsidized by foreign governments, but that “Inflation Reduction Act tax credits are helping change the game,” according to excerpts of her planned remarks.
In other solar news: Walmart yesterday announced new investments in clean energy, including 19 solar projects under development across the country. Electrek has a breakdown of the new spending.
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