Did you blink? If so, you might have just missed a major piece of news this week.
We’re just seven days into the Trump presidency and a major shift in U.S. energy policy is already underway. It’s been such a whirlwind of a week that it’s been tough to keep track of all the developments.
In this recurring series, GTM tracks the latest energy and climate policy changes under the new administration to help you stay up to date. Several of Trump’s cabinet nominees have also weighed in on climate and energy policies in recent days. So in this edition we also chronicle the highlights from last week’s confirmation hearings.
An America First Energy Plan
Minutes after Trump took office, the White House archived President Obama’s policy pages and posted new ones, including “An America First Energy Plan.” The plan commits to embracing the oil and shale gas revolution, reviving America’s coal industry and promoting energy independence, but makes no mention of renewable energy. Trump’s plan also commits to ending “unnecessary policies,” such as President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Eliminating such regulations will increase American workers’ wages by more than $30 billion over the next seven years, according to the new White House webpage.
Trump lists infrastructure priorities, including in wind, solar and energy storage
The Trump administration has drawn up an infrastructure investment priority list with about 50 projects nationwide, totaling at least $137.5 billion, McClatchy and the Kansas City Star reported this week. The preliminary list of vetted projects created by the White House matches a list of projects developed by the National Governors Association.
Read more (Green Tech Media)
Arthur H. Rosenfeld, a physicist who became widely known as the father or energy efficiency for championing energy-saving requirements for appliances and buildings, died on Friday in Berkeley, Calif. He was 90.
The cause was related to pneumonia, said Adam Gottlieb, a marketing and outreach specialist with the California Energy Commission, with which Dr. Rosenfeld worked for 10 years.
His work, embraced at first in California under Gov. Jerry Brown, gained national attention and helped lay the foundation for federal energy efficiency rules that are in place today.
Read more (The New York Times)
Over the past several decades, the United States has been transitioning into a more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient economy. New business models, goods and services, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, have emerged, while traditional businesses and institutions have made significant efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. This report highlights the role of this transition in boosting the American economy and creating millions of sustainability jobs across the nation.
“Now Hiring: The Growth of America’s Clean Energy & Sustainability Jobs” [PDF] discusses the current status and key trends in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and summarizes some of the major advances in other sectors such as local/state government, transportation and the private sector.
In many cases, these sectors are vastly outpacing the rest of the U.S. economy in growth and job creation, and are generating more jobs per dollar invested. Many of these jobs have higher than average wages, create local economic benefits, and are widely available in markets across the U.S.
Read more (EDF Climate Corps)
EPA staff has been instructed to freeze all its grants ― an extensive program that includes funding for research, redevelopment of former industrial sites, air quality monitoring and education, among other things ― and told not to discuss this order with anyone outside the agency, according to a Hill source with knowledge of the situation.
An EPA staffer provided the information to the congressional office anonymously, fearing retaliation.
It’s unclear whether the freeze is indefinite or temporary as the agency transitions fully to the Trump administration; the Senate has not yet confirmed Trump’s pick for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. It’s also not clear the immediate impact the grant freeze would have on programs across the country, since EPA grants are distributed at varying intervals and frequency.
“I will say it’s pretty unusual for us to get these kinds of anonymous contacts from people at the agency, which makes me think it’s unusual,” said the Hill source.
A source who works closely with states and territories on EPA grants said they heard from the agency on Tuesday evening that a review of grants would be done by Friday.
Read more (The Huffington Post)
Companies focused on smart grid, energy storage and energy efficiency raised $1.3 billion in venture capital funding in 2016, according to Mercom Capital Group.
Energy efficiency companies led the field, raising $528 million, followed by smart gird firms, which raised $389 million, and battery storage companies, which raised $365 million.
Overall, however, VC funding for the three sectors was down compared with 2015, when $1.67 billion in venture capital funding flowed into those three sectors. Debt and public market funding for the three sectors, on the other hand, was up in 2016, hitting $4.58 billion, compared with $2.8 billion in 2015.
Dive Insight:
Mercom’s full year results reflect a trend noted when the consulting and communications firm reported on third quarter funding for smart gird, battery storage and energy efficiency companies.
In that report, Mercom noted that funding activity slowed to $102 million, from $433 million in the second quarter.
Read more (Utility Dive)
Last fall, business leaders from Whirlpool, Schneider Electric and Clif Bar met with Ohio state lawmakers on an important request: Don’t hurt jobs, profits and the economy by rejecting the promise of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Corporate and citizen support for clean energy in Ohio made a powerful difference. In the waning days of 2016, Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich vetoed a bill that would have continued the state’s two-year freeze on renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates. It caused some dissent, but it was hard to argue with the economic case presented by major companies in the state. Within minutes of announcing his veto, a half-dozen major Ohio companies publicly thanked the governor for withstanding “immense pressure” and standing up for clean energy and resulting new jobs.
Governor Kasich’s move in Ohio underscores the mounting challenges we face in continuing this country’s progress towards a low-carbon future, despite a new president who is embracing coal and fossil fuels over climate protection and clean energy.
It’s a politically charged environment like never before and the temptation to ‘lie low’ is obvious. But lying low right now on climate and clean energy – and the policies that are fostering low-carbon action – would be short-sighted and dangerous. Too much is at stake with heat-trapping carbon pollution sending global temperatures, sea levels and economic losses ever higher. There are also enormous stakes in positioning the United States to compete in the fast-growing low-carbon global economy. China’s new plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars on renewable energy in the next several years should be seen as a clear competitive threat to U.S. policymakers.
Read more (Forbes)
Conservatives for Clean Energy, a Raleigh based non-profit, recently expanded into Virginia where it will continue its efforts to “educate the public on the benefits of clean and renewable energy sources.”
Mark Fleming, the group’s president and CEO, recently discussed with Southeast Energy News the importance of renewable energy in North Carolina and Virginia, and what the future might look like for the clean energy industry under the Trump administration. Fleming also explains why there is no “free market” for the energy sector.
Before launching Conservatives for Clean Energy in 2014, Fleming served as District Director for U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry. He has also served as vice-president of the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation and as the executive director of the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce.
Read the full story. (Southeast Energy News)
Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump has selected Rick Perry to run the Department of Energy (DOE). This week, Perry testified in a confirmation hearing before the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and while it’s clear he supports policies that increase domestic energy production, he also indicated that he’ll support DOE’s efforts for energy efficiency in buildings.
Perry said he’d continue to back DOE’s role in pioneering new energy-efficiency technologies. He also pledged to help Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) pass the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, also known as the Shaheen-Portman bill in honor of the Ohio lawmaker and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the co-sponsors.
A study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates that by 2030, Shaheen-Portman could create more than 190,000 jobs, save consumers $16.2 billion a year, and drastically reduce CO2 emissions.
Read more (Door & Window Market Magazine)
Donald Trump is ready to take an ax to government spending.
Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned.
The changes they propose are dramatic.
The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.
Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.
Read more (The Hill)
Following the dismissal of a bill in the legislature, a controversy over who sets and reviews rates for Virginia’s utilities moves to the state Supreme Court.
Briefs are due at the court by this Thursday for the challenge to a controversial 2015 law that protects electric utilities from rate reviews by regulators for five years.
By many accounts, it could be the strongest affront thus far to monopoly utilities which have benefited by long-running support from state lawmakers.
At issue are provisions of the law pushed successfully by Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power. It originated as Senate Bill 1394 and enabled the utilities to earn higher profits without answering to biennial rate reviews, in return for a freeze on base rates.
Previous rate reviews have produced significant refunds to ratepayers. The cumulative total of refunds owed ratepayers during the period Senate Bill 1349 is in effect could exceed $1 billion, according to James C. Dimitri, a member of the three-person State Corporate Commission (SCC).
Critics of the law received a boost December 14 when Dimitri and his fellow commissioners, Mark C. Christi and Judith Williams Jadgmann, confirmed what ratepayer advocates argued when Senate bill 1349 was introduced and have continued arguing since then.
Critics note that while base rates would be frozen, foregoing regulators’ rate review allows Dominion and Appalachian Power to earn whatever profits they can generate while tacking on additional “riders,” or rate adjustment clauses, that further drive up the bills customers pay.
Read more (Southeast Energy News)
