House Dems aim for a trimmed BBB

Jan 18, 2022

Presented by Equinor

With help from Jonathan Custodio and Alex Guillén.

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Quick Fix

— A cohort of House Democrats are suggesting a climate-centered BBB push, possibly trimming off some social spending programs. But Senate Democrats don't seem keen.

— A new proposal on defining "responsibly sourced" natural gas is getting pushback from producers, who would prefer federal regulators lead the charge.

— Wildlife and land restoration legislation as well as Rep. Bobby Rush's pipeline security bill will go before committee this week.

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Driving the Day

HOUSE DEMS WANT CLIMATE BBB ACTION: Senate Democrats are still at a stalemate over their reconciliation package and its $555 billion in climate spending. With voting rights legislation and midterms coming up, the laser focus on Democrats' climate and social spending package is fraying, and many political operatives are afraid the party will have to campaign without a major leg of its domestic agenda, POLITICO's Chris Cadelago reports.

It's leading some House Democrats to push for a trimmed package focused on climate issues to get something on the books as the clock ticks on an existential threat, Pro's Josh Siegel reports. The push comes as Democrats in the upper chamber signal that climate has high potential for compromise with centrist Energy Chair Joe Manchin. Manchin himself said climate could be easier to agree on, though there remains public disagreement on several key social programs, such as extensions for the Child Tax Credit.

"I understand Sen. Manchin may not want to support a lot of social programs in Build Back Better," Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), told Josh. "That's a disappointment for a lot of people, but it's very clear to me we are going to have to refocus on what can get passed."

But a papier-mâché approach to Democrats' legislative behemoth, which covers everything from health care to solar power, isn't getting much love at the moment from the upper chamber. Senate Democrats maintain that keeping the course is still possible and that dividing the package into multiple priorities would be an even heavier lift given the chamber's strict reconciliation rules.

And some climate hawks contend that social policy is climate policy, and that protecting social welfare is in line with the administration's whole-of-government approach to tackling climate change.

"It's really fraught for climate hawks like me to even suggest we cut all the other stuff and just run with our thing because that has the potential to alienate, create a backlash and maybe even take the climate piece down," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Josh. "We have to be smart and inclusive and focus on getting the Senate to deliver as much as they possibly can squeeze through the Manchin threshold."

BEING RESPONSIBLE ABOUT NATURAL GAS: The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company has a new proposal in front of FERC that hopes to encourage natural gas producers to trade and transport "responsibly sourced natural gas." There isn't a federal standard for how to determine responsible natural gas production, which entails implementing measures such as lessening the intensity of methane and monitoring for leaks of the potent greenhouse gas. The proposal would rely on a third party to certify those measures.

But natural gas producers fear the proposal could give the pipeline company too much power as a "gatekeeper" between the certifying parties and producers, Pro's Catherine Morehouse reports. And it could lead to uneven standards with heavy influence from a company charged with natural gas transport, they say.

"Honestly, I have no idea why the pipeline would be involved in this question at all, which should be left to policymakers, experts, and the buyers/sellers of that gas," Travis Kavulla, vice president of Regulatory Affairs at NRG Energy, which owns Direct Energy, said on Twitter.

The producers are pushing for FERC to move toward a unified standard, akin to those used to track renewable power in the electric sector. Read more from Catherine.

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On the Hill

THIS WEEK IN COMMITTEE: There are a lot of bills going before committees this week in the energy and environment space. The House Science Committee will have a markup on Wednesday on legislation covering nuclear research investment ( H.R. 4819 (117)), abandoned well clean up research at the Department of Energy (H.R. 4270 (117)) and microelectronic research and development at DOE (H.R. 6291 (117)). The House Energy and Commerce Committee's energy subpanel will also meet Wednesday for a legislative hearing on Rush's (D-Ill.) bill on pipeline security and reliability (H.R. 6084 (117)).

The House Natural Resources Committee has a busy week ahead with a full committee mark up on a number of lands and wildlife legislation on Wednesday, including the bipartisan Recovering America's Wildlife Act ( H.R. 2773 (117)). The bill increases funds for fish and wildlife conservation by state agencies. The Water, Oceans and Wildlife subcommittee will meet Thursday to go over several more bills on wildlife and habitat conservation.

The committee's subpanel on Energy and Mineral Resources will have an oversight hearing Thursday on the Department of Interior's latest oil and gas lease sale in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The hearing will dive into how the leases impact the administration's emissions cutting goals, including reducing emissions at least 50 percent by decade's end. Democrats on the committee criticized the lease sale as "antithetical to U.S. climate goals," while the administration retorts it is begrudgingly complying with a federal court order.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel is also meeting Thursday to discuss the energy impacts of cryptocurrency — which can consume enough electricity to rival some towns. And the House Agriculture Committee will be meeting with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the state of the rural economy.

THE WYOMING BLOCKADE: Four nominees for assistant administrator positions at EPA are facing longer confirmation times as they get caught in the crossfire between the agency and Wyoming Republicans. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) placed holds on David Uhlmann, Carlton Waterhouse, Chris Frey and Amanda Howe over objections to an EPA plan that could shutter part of a coal facility in her home state. The state's Republicans have decried the plan as political theater that doesn't take into account the facility's efforts to clean up its operations.

The hold up is likely to only prolong the confirmation process, with Democrats possessing the requisite majority. Pro's Alex Guillén has more.

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Around the Agencies

NEW FACE OFF ON BIFACIAL PANELS: The Justice Department is challenging a U.S. Court of International Trade decision that nixed tariffs on bifacial solar panel imports — to the consternation of domestic solar industry advocates who decried DOJ's move as counter to the administration's clean energy goals.

"We are disappointed that the Department of Justice has appealed the Court of International Trade's ruling," said John Smirnow, vice president of market strategy at the Solar Energy Industries Association, one of the groups that petitioned the court to make bifacial panels exempt from the tariffs. "Continuing this legal fight in light of the history of the case is another government misstep in this long and tortured saga and provides no benefit to the American workers, public, or clean energy goals." Pro's Gavin Bade has more.

COMING UP IN FERC: FERC will tackle the authorization of the Massachusetts Weymouth natural gas compressor station and PJM Interconnection's market seller offer cap at its first open meeting of the year Thursday. The authorization of the compressor station has come under fire over concerns over methane leakage, and it has also become a point of contention between Republican Commissioner James Danly and Chair Rich Glick.

As Pro's Catherine Morehouse puts it: "For Danly, it's a signal the commission is ignoring reliability over environmental considerations, while Glick argues FERC needs to take environmental justice and climate considerations more seriously in response to rulings from the D.C. Circuit." Read more from Catherine on what's coming up at this week's meeting.

BLM NOT DESERTING CALIFORNIA SOLAR: The Bureau of Land Management approved the construction of the third solar project in the areas under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The project, spearheaded by Oberon Solar, is expected to generate up to 500 megawatts with 200 megawatts worth of battery storage capacity. It'll be built on public lands in California. Pro's Kelsey Tamborrino has more on the project.

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Beyond the Beltway

NEW YORK AIMS TO BUILD OFFSHORE WIND EMPIRE: New York state has finalized contracts for its budding offshore wind sector, with millions going into the state's supply chain. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm celebrated the federal, state and private partnership in building out the sector in the Port of Albany. Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Equinor and BP had won contracts for port projects last year. Pro's Marie French has more.

LONE STAR HEAT: A new coalition is trying to make geothermal the next hot renewable energy resource in Texas. Barry Smitherman, a strategic adviser leading the formation of the Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance, told Pro's Jonathan Custodio on Friday the organization is awaiting a comprehensive study from the University of Texas analyzing the state's geothermal availability, accessibility, and economics. Because of the abundance of oil and gas drilling in the Lone Star state, Smitherman said, stakeholders have a sense of underground temperatures. And several geothermal energy startups are exploring the viability of using abandoned oil wells for projects, according to an alliance spokesperson.

After the devastating winter storm that left nearly 4 million homes without electricity last February, killed nearly 250 people and catapulted energy prices, elected officials were not short on fingers to direct blame – with several casting it squarely on renewable energies like wind power. But the blizzard also brought electricity to the top of many policy lists, said Smitherman, a former chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Railroad Commission. "For the moment, there seems to be a lot of attention paid to the electric world in Texas, which provides us with [the] opportunity to talk about the geothermal story."

Movers and Shakers

— Marie Owens Powell is the new president of EPA's largest union, AFGE Council 238. Gary Morton, the previous president, was elected in 2018 and has since retired from EPA. Owens Powell is an underground storage tank inspector in EPA's Philadelphia-based Region 3, where she has led the local chapter.

The Grid

— "Russia arrests hacker in Colonial Pipeline attack, U.S. says," via POLITICO.

— "Nessel 'disappointed' by Biden's silence on Line 5," via The Detroit News.

— " One of the World's Wealthiest Oil Exporters Is Becoming Unlivable," via Bloomberg.

— "Pay Your Power Bill, Myanmar Soldiers Say, or Pay With Your Life," via The New York Times.

— "Wanted: Environment reporters for an oil giant's 'newsroom'," via E&E News.

THAT'S ALL FOR ME!

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