Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Oct. 12. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
CONGRESS APPROVES SIGNIFICANT HYDRO REFORM IN WRDA
Congress approved significant hydropower reform in a bicameral Water Resources Development Act, including a bipartisan bill from Reps. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) that would trim federal reviews of small conduit (or energy-recovery) hydropower projects. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) pushed similar language in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Promoting Conduit Hydropower Facilities Act (H.R. 2786) aims to aid projects that are typically low environmental impact because they are constructed as part of existing water infrastructure, such as irrigation canals and pipes that deliver water to cities and for industrial and agricultural use, which is one of the most promising untapped sources for new hydropower.
Also included in the WRDA package:
Important measures previously proposed by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) that reduce the burdensome licensing and relicensing for non-federal hydropower facilities.
The Promoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act (H.R. 2872) from Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), which would establish a streamlined environmental review process for qualifying non-powered dam projects. The Department of Energy estimates the U.S. non-powered dam power generation potential is equivalent to roughly two dozen large coal power plants.
The Promoting Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Act (H.R. 2880) led by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) would streamline the federal licensing process stymying the development of pumped storage hydropower facilities that make up the vast majority of U.S. electricity storage technologies.
“This is a major suite of Republican and bipartisan efforts to help clean, reliable hydropower,” ClearPath Action Executive Director Rich Powell said. “Despite the recent cost-declines in batteries, they are no substitutes for the long-duration energy storage services pumped storage hydro facilities can provide,” Powell said.
Rich and our lead in-house hydro expert Justin Ong explained how the future of hydro no longer looks like the Hoover Dam but more like your bathroom sink. They dove in on how electricity could be created from existing flows of water, be it pipes in municipal systems or an irrigation canal on a ranch.
Thirteen House lawmakers led by Reps. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) and Bill Foster (D-Tenn.) are asking DOE to “launch a new crosscutting research and development (R&D) initiative aimed at aggressively driving down costs and improving the performance of a diverse set of grid-scale storage technologies.”
In a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the lawmakers note that he has previously touted that “next-generation storage solutions have the potential to transform the U.S. electricity system, make the grid more resilient, and enable greater integration of our domestic energy resources.”
But the lawmakers stress that federal energy storage R&D at DOE “is not aligned towards unified outcomes.” “Establishing an ambitious “MoonShot” goal for this promising technology area would harmonize the research done by the tens of thousands of scientists across the country and help facilitate the technological breakthroughs you envision,” the lawmakers wrote.
Knight and Foster co-sponsored the BEST Act this Congress to direct DOE to establish a goal of developing storage technologies that can be deployed at $100kWh or less, among other criteria. The spirit of the bill was captured in language included in the FY19 Energy and Water spending bill to encourage DOE to launch an effort similar to what the lawmakers are calling for in the Oct. 9 letter to Perry.
ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell and graphics guru Mitch Kersey produced a short and snappy video explaining why these moonshot goals for grid-scale storage, advanced nuclear and other clean energy technologies will help prioritize efforts at DOE that can be a mile wide and an inch deep.
NEI OFFERS ROADMAP FOR DEPLOYING MILITARY MICRO-REACTORS
The Nuclear Energy Institute released a roadmap for the military to deploy micro-reactors at defense installations, an important precursor to broader use of next-generation nuclear technologies that could be used in remote areas spanning from Alaska to Puerto Rico. The Defense Department manages more than 500 fixed installations and is the single largest energy consumer in the U.S. The main challenges to deploying these micro-reactors are not technical, but rather regulatory and licensing, NEI notes.
THE PATH AHEAD
OCT. 23 The Global America Business Institute and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP event on “The Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy (NICE Future) Initiative. Features Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation Sarah G.J. Lennon, senior Canadian and Japanese nuclear officials and ClearPath Managing Director-Policy Jeremy Harrell. RSVP
LAWMAKERS PRESS DOE ON “MOONSHOT” STORAGE EFFORT
