Yesterday, DOE announced milestone-based public-private partnership awards for fusion – $46 million in funding to eight companies to further their designs for a fusion pilot plant.
1. Significant step for permitting reform
House Republicans rightly put permitting reform front and center of their agenda, and the bipartisan agreement, included in The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the House earlier this week, and the Senate yesterday, is a significant step toward providing more predictability in the process. The bill includes parts of the BUILDER Act, sponsored by Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), which improves coordination between agencies and establishes firm deadlines for environmental reviews.
What’s clear: “Under the current regulatory environment, building infrastructure at the pace and scale needed to meet our nation’s need for affordable, reliable, clean energy is procedurally impossible,” said Rich Powell, Chief Executive Officer of ClearPath Action. “Coming together to set common-sense deadlines that accelerate clean energy development while still providing safety and environmental protection for local communities is a win-win for the American people.”
2. Vogtle reaches 100%!
Georgia Power recently announced that Vogtle Unit 3 has reached 100 percent power, a major milestone toward commercial operation.
The nuclear plant will power an estimated 500,000 homes and businesses.
Plug in: This month, Vogtle Unit 3 is projected to be in service, and Vogtle Unit 4 hasstarted receiving fuel in preparation for starting up.
3. Why 45Q matters – and why it’s not enough
One of the most critical clean energy incentives available today is the 45Q tax credit.
Recent modifications raised the incentive for heavy industry and power carbon capture operators from $50 per ton to $85 per ton of CO2 and up to $180 per ton for direct air capture (DAC) – think machines that selectively vacuum CO2 out of the air – sequestration projects.
Additionally, the legislation lowered capture thresholds and extended the construction windows for projects looking to take advantage of the tax credit.
Plug in: The 45Q tax credit now represents the most aggressive policy driver for the deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) across the globe. This incentive will further U.S. leadership by accelerating the creation of a network of new CCUS projects from existing and new coal and natural gas plants, as well as industrial facilities that produce a range of U.S. products.
Plug in: Check out our new blog post by senior policy associate Grant Cummings!
4. ADVANCE-ing out of EPW
This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 16-3 to pass the bipartisan Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2023 out of Committee.
The ADVANCE Act will support American nuclear energy leadership globally, as well as further prepare the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to review advanced reactors, and uranium conversion and enrichment facilities.
What’s clear: Consensus is building around the need for more nuclear energy to achieve America’s energy goals, play a key role in the global energy market, and lower global emissions. Bipartisan support for bills like the ADVANCE Act can help nuclear scale from building one reactor at home to building hundreds both domestically and internationally.
5. Rich at Economist Impact: Sustainability Week
ClearPath Chief Executive Officer Rich Powell joined The Economist Global Energy & Climate Innovation Editor Vijay Vaitheeswaran and Breakthrough Energy Senior Director of U.S. Policy and Advocacy Robin Millican in a fireside chat discussing how to accelerate innovation at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Rich highlighted:
The profound progress in the climate and clean energy space in the last decade;
A technologically inclusive approach to clean energy solutions as key to broad bipartisan consensus and achieving American competitive advantage; and
Shifting the narrative to goals-based progress versus spending-based progress to track successful clean energy innovation.
6. ICYMI
ClearPath announcedRoger Martella, GE’s Chief Sustainability Officer, joined its Advisory Board.
…and ClearPath added Cheryl Lombard as Senior Program Director for Regulatory Policy and Advocacy. Lombard was President and CEO of Valley Partnership, a trade association advocating for responsible development in the Phoenix, AZ metro area.
JPMorgan Chase announced a series of deals aimed at removing and storing 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, valued at over $200 million, marking one of the largest carbon dioxide removal (CDR) purchases to date.
7. Coming down the pipeline
Wednesday June 7 at 10:00 a.m. – The U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Advancing American Leadership in Quantum Technology.” Our advisory board member Paul Dabbar is testifying.
That’s all from us. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Yesterday, DOE 
