| | | | |  | | By Matthew Choi | Presented by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association | Editor's note: Morning Energy is a free version of POLITICO Pro Energy's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | | — The Biden administration, offshore wind firm Ørsted and labor leaders are touting a new pact to use unionized labor on offshore wind farms. — The Energy Department is aiming to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve once the record draws are completed later this year. — European negotiators are trying to hammer out a Russian oil sanctions deal that gets its more energy-vulnerable members on board. HAPPY FRIDAY! I'm your host, Matthew Choi. Congrats to Naaz Khumawala of Granite Lane Capital for knowing Samin Nosrat started her culinary career as a busser at Chez Panisse. For today's trivia: What is the only restaurant in the D.C. area with three Michelin stars (and let me know if you'd recommend)? Send your tips and trivia answers to mchoi@politico.com. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018. Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast. On today's episode: Inside the fight to keep California's last nuclear plant open.
| | | | | A message from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: Electric co-ops connect American families and businesses that are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. By deploying broadband in 40 states, co-ops are working to ensure rural America has access to reliable and affordable internet. Learn how electric co-ops are #PoweringTomorrow. | | | | | | AMERICAN WIND: President Joe Biden has frequently framed his push for a clean energy transition as a boon for domestic job growth — and particularly for well-paying union jobs. So it's no surprise that a host of top administration officials were on hand to crow about a project agreement that would likely mean tens of thousands of those union jobs to help build out one of Biden's signature goals: creating a strong offshore wind power sector. "Let's not pretend that there's this false choice: What's good for business versus what's good for the climate. Not true. It's both," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday. Raimondo made the remarks as top labor leaders and offshore wind company Ørsted signed a first-of-a-kind agreement that will ensure the company's six U.S. offshore wind farms under development are built with union labor. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Amanda Lefton also attended. The labor agreement comes as the Republicans frame their critiques of the administration's energy policies as both hurting American consumers and costing American jobs, warning that a transition from fossil fuels will lead to the economic downturn of regions dependent on coal. But the labor pact will ensure workers are paid the same wages and benefits they would in the refining industry, NABTU President Sean McGarvey told POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino. Read more from Kelsey on the agreement here.
| | | MALLORY ON THE HILL: White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory heads to the Senate next week for an oversight hearing at the Environment and Public Works Committee, where lawmakers will pore over the council's work from the past year. CEQ lost some of its key environmental justice members this year, adding to fears among activists that the White House was struggling to uphold one of its key campaign priorities to address the pollution that afflicts low-income areas and communities of color. Shortly before EPW's hearing announcement, CEQ revealed Jalonne White-Newsome would lead its EJ efforts, replacing Cecilia Martinez, who left in January. White-Newsome's office will be responsible for determining which communities count as disadvantaged under the White House's Justice40 initiative — and the screening tool that has drawn criticism for not taking into account race (CEQ extended the comment period on its Justice40 criteria till May 25). ICYMI: The Justice Department announced the creation of a new environmental justice enforcement wing, with DOJ attorney Cynthia Ferguson as acting director and a detailed staff member from DOJ's Civil Rights Division. The announcement was welcomed by the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus as "another big move to … help communities that unfairly bear the brunt of pollution." It also comes as Biden's nominee to lead EPA's enforcement wing remains tied up in the Senate by Sen. Bill Cassidy. The Louisiana Republican is holding EPA nominees from being confirmed in order to push the agency to approve parochial energy and carbon storage priorities. Environmentalists say the prolonged vacancy is putting vulnerable communities and companies at risk of unscrupulous actors violating environmental regulations. THE NUCLEAR OPTION: The full Senate confirmed Kathryn Huff to lead DOE's nuclear energy office on Thursday with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the Senate Energy Committee on Thursday that Huff would play an integral role in the department's uranium policy, particularly as the administration looks to curb Russian uranium imports, which were not immediately included in its blockade on Russian energy. "If we move away from Russia right away, we want to make sure we have the ability to continue to keep the fleet afloat," Granholm told the committee. PLYMOUTH FIELD TRIP: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will also tackle nuclear issues today with a hearing in Plymouth, Mass., on community issues surrounding the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Plymouth is the site of the Pilgrim Nuclear Station, which halted its commercial operations in 2019. ICYMI: "Senate Judiciary Committee clears NOPEC bill," via POLITICO's Ben Lefebvre.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | REFILL PLEASE: The Energy Department is planning to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve once it completes its biggest ever release to bring more supply to market. Industry analysts urged a quick buyback, saying doing so would ensure future demand and incentivize oil investors to pour more money into production. Oil investors were badly burned at the start of the pandemic when prices collapsed as demand evaporated, and they are still skittish about investing in new exploration and production with new Covid waves threatening future consumption. "In addition to securing contracts for future delivery to refill the SPR, this replenishment structure also will help encourage the production we need now to lower prices this year by guaranteeing this demand in the future at a time when market participants anticipate crude oil prices to be significantly lower than they are today," DOE said in a statement announcing the buyback plan. The purchases would be for deliveries after fiscal year 2023. Read more from Ben. COLONIAL GETS FINED: The Colonial Pipeline could get a $1 million fine following its shutdown of the key fuel supply artery to the East Coast last year prompted by Russian-based hackers. The Transportation Department found that the company was caught with its pants around its ankles during the hack by not making sure employees could manually operate the pipeline, contributing to the supply disruptions that lasted five days.
Colonial, which can appeal the proposed fine, said it was working with DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to resolve the issue. "Our coordination with government stakeholders was timely, efficient and effective as evidenced by our ability to quickly restart the pipeline in a safe manner five days after we were attacked — which followed localized manual operations conducted before the official restart," a Colonial spokesperson said in a statement. Ben has more.
STORE THE CARBON: The Energy Department kicked off new efforts to build out the country's carbon storage capacity on Thursday, including a $2.24 billion initiative funded by the bipartisan infrastructure package to accelerate geologic carbon storage projects. DOE started the education phase of the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative, which would ultimately distribute funds to help push along CCS project development while factoring in community input to avoid overburdening disadvantaged areas. Each storage project would be capable of permanently holding at least 50 million metric tons of CO2.
TRANSMISSION TASK FORCE: FERC's Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission holds its third meeting today to discuss barriers to efficiently bringing new resources onto the grid, including challenges with the participant funding for grid-related upgrades. The task force includes federal and state commissioners from across the country. A NEW PRESS SEC: Karine Jean-Pierre will take over from Jen Psaki as White House press secretary after she leaves her post on May 13, the White House announced Thursday. POLITICO's Max Tani and Christopher Cadelago have more.
| | | | A message from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association:   | | | | | | FINDING A EUROPEAN ENERGY COMPROMISE: EU negotiators will be ringing each other up today to hammer out a sanctions deal to phase out Russian oil imports without wrecking the economies of some of their more vulnerable peers. The European Commission floated a sanctions proposal this week that would phase out Russian oil by the end of the year, but would give Hungary and Slovakia an extra year to quit because of their heavy reliance on Russian imports. But both Hungary and Slovakia rejected that proposal, and other Eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, also appear eager for some more time. That means a long night of negotiations tonight to find something everyone can be on board with, POLITICO's Leonie Kijewski, Barbara Moens and Jacopo Barigazzi report. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government had sympathy for more economically vulnerable EU countries and that "we must also show our solidarity and readiness to help those countries that don't have direct access to the Northern Sea or the Baltic Sea," Bloomberg reports. Germany has become increasingly vocal in its support of shutting off Russian energy imports, contributing to thawing relations between Berlin and Kyiv. Related: "Zelenskyy invites Scholz and Steinmeier to Kyiv after weeks of tension," via POLITICO's Hans von der Burchard and Laurenz Gehrke.
| | | | INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — "Most Energy Loan Applicants 'Aren't Ready,' DOE Official Says," via Bloomberg Law. — "Congress fires its first warning shot on Biden's Iran deal," via POLITICO. — "Shell posts record quarterly profit, lifted by energy price surge," via Reuters. — "EPA Union Seeks Climate Emergency Declaration to Hire More Staff," via Bloomberg Law. THAT'S ALL FOR ME!
| | | | A message from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: Efforts to bridge the digital divide began nearly 25 years ago, yet millions of Americans remain sidelined and disconnected simply because of their zip code. Electric cooperatives are providing this essential service where no one else will.
More than 200 electric co-ops are deploying broadband service to their members—projects that are unlocking a new way of living, learning and earning for rural families. Motivated by people, not profits, co-ops are bridging the digital divide.
Nearly 900 local electric cooperatives power 56 percent of the American landscape. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives invest $12 billion annually in their communities. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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