WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! The Department of Energy released its highly anticipated report on liquified natural gas exports, criticizing increased exports but stopping short of recommending a ban altogether.
In today’s Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen also take a look at lawmakers’ failed attempt to reach an agreement on permitting reform, which is now putting pressure on Republicans to enact their own version of reform next year.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
DOE RELEASES LNG REPORT IN LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO CURB NEW EXPORTS: With President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just over 30 days away, the Department of Energy has released its long-awaited report on liquified natural gas exports in a seeming effort to block approvals for new projects in the administration’s final hours.
The details: This afternoon, DOE released the report and opened a 60-day public comment period on their findings. It comes months after President Joe Biden first issued a pause on new LNG export approvals to non-free-trade-agreement countries.
While the report largely takes issue with increased LNG exports, it stops short of recommending a complete ban, indicating exports at some level are still within the public’s best interests.
It specifically estimated that increased exports of LNG could lead to the average American family seeing their gas and electricity bills increase by $122.54 per year by 2050. In the same time frame, though, the analysis projected, exports could also result in a 0.2% increase in GDP.
Regarding emissions, the study found that if LNG exports exceeded current authorized levels, associated direct emissions would be around 1.5 gigatons per year by 2050 — roughly equivalent to a quarter of all emissions generated in the U.S. annually currently. The report also estimated that demand for LNG in Europe, the primary current importer of US LNG, will drop while demand in Asia is expected to increase with China leading the way.
The pause: Many questioned the timing of the pause in January, as it came around the same time Venture Global LNG sought approval to build a $10 billion facility in Louisiana that would allow the U.S. to export massive quantities of LNG.
Critics have lambasted the pause as unconstitutional, while environmentalists have praised the move as a way to reduce emissions. In July, the freeze was overturned by a federal judge in Louisiana. One month later, the DOE said it would be appealing the decision.
When pressed on whether the release of the report marked the official “end” of the original pause, a senior DOE official told reporters that the administration was in compliance with all court orders regarding the issue and had approved an export authorization application for an LNG project in August. Given pending litigation challenging the summer overturn of the pause, the official declined to comment further.
Read more from Callie here.
PERMITTING REFORM FAILURE AFTERMATH: In case you missed it yesterday, lawmakers declared defeat in their efforts to pass bipartisan permitting reform this year.
The details: Key senators in the negotiations said last evening that they had failed to reach an agreement on moving the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, authored by the outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. John Barrasso. The talks had also involved House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman’s National Environmental Policy Act.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper said Republicans had “walked away” from reaching bipartisan permitting reform.
What’s next? Now, Republicans will have the opportunity to pass their own version of permitting reform next year. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Daily on Energy alum Josh Siegel that Senate Democrats only started negotiations after losing the election.
Johnson added, “We are confident we will secure stronger and more comprehensive permitting reforms in the next Congress.”
What are they saying: Citizens’ Climate Lobby said they are “disappointed” that lawmakers will not include Manchin and Barrasso’s bill in a final spending package.
“This important legislation is urgently needed. Building clean energy infrastructure and connecting it to the grid is a powerful way to address the pollution that’s overheating our planet,” the environmental group said.
RECORD LPO LOAN ANNOUNCED IN FINAL DAYS OF BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: The Biden administration is set to provide a record $15 billion loan to California-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric Company in an effort to boost the grid and secure more financial support for climate projects before Trump takes office again.
The details: Today, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office announced the conditional commitment for a loan guarantee for PG&E, with the funds expected to go toward a variety of projects, including expanding hydropower generation, battery storage, upgrading transmission capacity, and more.
The final price tag of $15 billion is reportedly half of what the office had been planning to provide, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The LPO reportedly slashed the loan over concerns from PG&E on the projected size of upfront payments. Still, the massive loan is reportedly the largest in the office’s history.
Cutting it close: The utility and loans office faces a tight deadline to close the loan before the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, as Trump has vowed to walk back unspent funding for green projects and initiatives. Republicans have repeatedly criticized the loans office, often dubbed Biden’s “green bank,” leading to fears that the incoming administration may slash the LPO’s lending authority. For weeks, the administration has been racing to finalize upward of $40.5 billion worth of loans. As of Tuesday, only around $24.1 billion worth of loans had been closed, per the Wall Street Journal.
Read more from Callie here.
EUROPE’S DEFORESTATION BAN OFFICIALLY PUNTED ONE YEAR: Today the European Parliament formally approved the one-year delay of the European Union’s controversial deforestation law that had been set to go into effect at the end of this month.
The details: The ban, which would block imports of products and goods linked to deforestation, is now set to go into effect in December 2025, according to Reuters. Having the approval from the European Parliament, members of the bloc can also reportedly now approve the one-year delay of the ban – giving more time for foreign nations and companies to comply.
Once all members of the EU approve the delay, it will officially become law, according to Reuters. Given the pushback against the deforestation ban from countries within the bloc, the delay likely will not face any additional hurdles.
A reminder: The EU’s deforestation law went into effect in June of 2023 with the goal to reduce the number of products consumed in Europe that contribute to deforestation, reduce carbon emissions, and address deforestation on a global scale. Under the new rules, products made from commodities like coffee, soy, palm oil, cocoa, cattle, wood, and rubber must not have come from recently cleared forest lands and must not have contributed to forest degradation.
POWER YOUR DC HOME WITH 100% NUCLEAR: Residents of Washington, D.C., are being given the opportunity to power their homes completely with nuclear energy in a first-ever utility program.
The details: Utility provider Constellation Energy announced today that it is launching a pilot residential nuclear program in Washington before expanding it to additional markets next year.
The program is offering nuclear energy at an 11.99 cents per kilowatt hour rate, lower than the average utility supply rate for Washington, Constellation said. Not only will it save consumers money, the company said, but the carbon-free program will also “fight climate change.”
Opting in: Residents of the district interested in opting into the program can do so via Constellation Energy’s website. All they need to do is provide their address and utility bill account number. From there, consumers will continue to receive electricity through existing infrastructure. Constellation Energy will then match 100% of this electricity usage with emission-free energy certificates generated at its nuclear facilities within the PJM grid region.
Read more from Callie here.
OVER HALF OF NORTH AMERICA IS AT RISK OF ENERGY SUPPLY SHORTAGES: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said the surge of energy demand growth and difficulty building energy infrastructure is putting most of North America at risk of electricity shortages.
NERC’s 2024 Long Term Reliability Assessment highlighted that most of North America’s bulk power systems will face resource challenges over the next 10 years due to increasing energy demand and generator retirements.
Energy demand issues stem from the rise of data centers, battery storage, EV electric load, and energy drought. It added that energy demand growth is now higher than in the past two decades.
“We’re seeing demand growth like we haven’t seen in decades,” said John Moura, director of reliability assessment and performance analysis at NERC. “As we all know, growth must be met with reliable readiness.”
He added, “Simply put, our infrastructure is not being built fast enough to keep up with the rising demand.”
The long-term assessment is published every year. It looks ahead to North America’s next 10 years of electricity reliability.
NERC recommended that generator deactivations be carefully managed by identifying the risks of retiring certain plants. The group also called for streamlining the permitting process, implementing a framework for addressing the reliability needs of interconnected energy systems, and continuing steps to ensure essential reliability services are maintained.
National Mining Association president and CEO Rich Nolan said in a statement that “NERC couldn’t be clearer that the grid reliability math isn’t adding up and that an increasingly dangerous situation will be untenable without a sharp change in policy.”
Nolan added “Surging electricity demand is colliding with an unworkable regulatory agenda that is producing self-imposed scarcity, undermining affordability and reliability. There should be no confusion: the nation’s rapidly deteriorating grid reliability and surging power prices are the direct result of policy failure.”
JAPAN LOOKS TO HAVE 50% OF RENEWABLE ENERGY BY 2040: Japan wants renewable energy to account for up to 50% of its energy supply, Reuters reports.
Japan’s revised energy policy plan proposes increasing renewables to between 40% and 50% of power supplies in the 2040 fiscal year. The plan will exceed the 2030 target of between 36% and 38%.
Some analysts said the proposal is more realistic than the previous goals and indicates the country is seeking investments in renewable energy.
Naomi Oshita, a power market associate with Wood Mackenzie’s Asia Pacific power and renewables team, told Reuters: “The government has finally realised that nuclear power is important because it can provide the country with affordable energy and stable load, and data centres need energy 24/7. Nuclear power and data centres go well together.”
Reuters said a final version of the energy plan will be submitted to the United Nations in February.
RUNDOWN:
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