Rita Baranwal Confirmed to Head DOE Office of Nuclear Energy

The U.S. Senate confirmed Rita Baranwal to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy this week. Rita has an extensive background in both the private sector and at the national labs and she will able to start right away on achieving the president’s comprehensive nuclear energy policy review. That includes spearheading DOE’s GAIN initiative, which works to make the department and national labs much more accessible to advanced nuclear companies.

Baranwal’s extensive and senior nuclear policy experience includes as director of the Gateway for Acceleration Innovation in Nuclear effort housed at Idaho National Laboratory since August 2016. She was previously director of technology development and core engineering/nuclear fuel at Westinghouse Electric and a manager at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. Read more here
 

Anticipated Nuclear Innovation Bill Introduced

On Tuesday, June 18 the bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. NELA would help create a national strategy for nuclear energy and support the development of advanced nuclear reactors. The legislation was introduced in the House by Reps.Elaine Luria (D-VA), Denver Riggleman (R-VA), Connor Lamb (D-PA), Rob Wittman (R-VA). In the U.S. Senate, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced identical legislation earlier this year. Morning Consult has more.

What is NELA and why it’s worth tracking
 

RICH’S TAKE

“NELA is a broad and bold step toward developing the federal goals and public-private partnerships necessary to cross a valley of death that often stops groundbreaking nuclear innovation from winning in the marketplace. It’s also another great example of the bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for reducing carbon emissions and forging ahead with the next-generation of clean and reliable nuclear technologies that China, Russia and others are trying to corner the global market on.”

What others are saying…

Third Way Senior Vice President for Clean Energy Josh Freed

“Advanced nuclear power could be a key tool to help fight climate change and reduce energy poverty, and the United States should do everything it can to develop this technology. For the U.S. to lead on advanced nuclear, Washington must set clear goals, and work with innovators in the private sector to get this technology built. The bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act does just that, creating a path for American companies to commercialize advanced reactors by the end of the next decade.”  
 

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions President Bob Perciasepe

“The transition to a low-carbon economy is far more achievable when advanced and existing carbon-free nuclear are included in our mix of power generation.”
 

Clean Air Task Force’s Executive Director Armond Cohen

“We must reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero as soon as possible, and having a lower cost nuclear energy option will greatly enhance our chance of success. This legislation would provide important strategic direction, infrastructure, and commercial pilot opportunities to help us realize that option."
 

American Council on Capital Formation Director of Energy Innovation Drew Bond

“The NELA legislation supports America’s development of next generation nuclear reactors that are economically scalable, safe and sustainable.”
 

Bipartisan Policy Center Action Executive Director Michele Stockwell

“The U.S. has long been a leader in nuclear energy technology, and the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) is key to continuing this global leadership and providing long-term energy security.”
 

Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) Executive Director Heather Reams

“NELA opens the door for nuclear to compete with other types of energy generation, and offers significant progress towards strengthening our domestic nuclear capabilities and overall market competitiveness.”
 

Nuclear Innovation Alliance Executive Director Dr. Ashley Finan

“The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act takes important steps towards revitalizing our nuclear R&D program and launching the demonstration and deployment of the next generation of U.S. nuclear energy technologies.”
 

American Nuclear Society President John Kelly

“NELA is an important step forward in supporting development of the U.S. advanced reactor technology portfolio and the nuclear engineering workforce.”
 

Clean Energy Solutions from the Right

Rich Powell spoke at the National Energy Resources Organization’s (NERO) luncheon on conservative clean energy solutions. NERO luncheons feature Members of Congress, high-level policymakers and influencers as guest speakers who discuss current energy legislation and initiatives.
 

Rethink Clean Energy Tax Credits

Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy held a briefing this week on a report they published analyzing the current clean energy tax credit structure and also examined what a successful next generation of clean electricity tax credits could look like. The commentary explores general principles for the design of clean electricity tax incentives and the support needed to get key technologies to market.

  Key takeaways:

• Our existing technology specific tax credits are ill-suited to facilitate technological breakthroughs.
• We need more than our current fleet of clean energy technology to tackle global clean energy demand.
• Ramp down support for new technologies as they’re adopted in the marketplace to avoid spikes in incentive costs that don’t deliver commensurate returns. If laid out clearly ahead of time, these phase-out conditions could avoid chilling the climate for private investment.
• Tax incentives have succeeded in promoting the development and deployment of wind and solar technology, but it would be a mistake to declare “mission accomplished” and assume no successor policies are needed.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) introduced H.R. 7196, the Energy Sector Investment Credit (ESIC) in the last Congress. ESIC provides solutions to some of the gaps in tax policy laid out in the Columbia University report. Rep. Reed recently wrote an op-ed in The Hill on how we can incentivize innovation through sound tax policy.
 

RICH’S TAKE

“We need to rethink clean energy tax credits. The best policy is to move away from picking winners and losers. Instead we need a technology neutral approach that includes a gradual off ramp of tax incentives once technologies become mature and market competitive. We need to promote clean energy technologies that can scale faster and cheaper, not make energy more expensive.”
 

ClearPath Represents US Nuclear Industry Across the Pond

Jeremy Harrell, ClearPath Managing Director -- Policy along with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Westinghouse Electric, NuScale Power, Terrestrial Energy, Muons Inc., Centrus Energy, URENCO USA, UKDIT and USNIC officials represented the United States’ nuclear mission at summit meetings in London with the Welsh Government, Northern and Southern United Kingdom. More from the US Nuclear Industry Council here
 

In the hearing room this week:

On June 20, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on advanced geothermal energy development in the United States.

“Whether it is used for heating our homes or keeping the lights on, geothermal provides clean and always-on energy that requires no external backup. We often hear about concerns with wind when it stops blowing, and solar when the sun’s not out. You won’t hear a similar concern with geothermal. These resources are constant and reliable. There is no such thing as fluctuating, intermittent earth heat, and that’s a big advantage,” said Committee Chair, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)

The Department of Energy (DOE) report entitled GeoVision: The Department of Energy (DOE) report entitled Read the Committee’s press release here
 

In the hearing room this week:

On June 19, The House Committee on Science, Space & Technology Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing entitled "Fossil Energy Research: Enabling Our Clean Energy Future". The hearing looked fossil energy research and how it can enable a clean energy future. Witnesses included Carbon Utilization Research Council head Shannon Angielski, EDF’s Elgie Holstein, Jeff Bobeck of C2ES, Erin Burns of Carbon180 and Sandia Labs’ Erik Webb. More here
 

Now Open: Prize Competition to Desalinate Water by Harnessing Wave Energy

The DOE recently launched the Waves to Water Prize, focused on using wave energy to power desalination as well as new technologies to ensure water availability. The Prize will have four states, with the first open until September 6, 2019. The Waves to Water Prize falls under the Water Security Grand Challenge - a White House initiative led by the DOE focused on providing the world with safe, secure and affordable water. The EERE WPTO Office is leading the charge on this with NREL playing a major role through their American-Made Challenges platform. Programs like this highlight the need to address the water-energy nexus across energy and non-energy avenues alike.
 

THE PATH AHEAD

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