Energy News for May 7, 2015

  • by BPC Staff
  • on May 7, 2015
  • 0 Comments

 

POLITICO Morning Energy for 5/7/2015

By ALEX GUILLÉN, with help from Darren Goode

STEYER BACKS CLINTON DESPITE KXL CAUTION: Tom Steyer jumped into national politics two years ago by drawing a line in the sand on the Keystone XL pipeline, even suggesting he’d spend part of his vast fortune attacking Democrats who support the project. But on Wednesday, the environmentalist billionaire hosted a $2,700-per person-fundraiser for Clinton at his San Francisco home overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge — while some anti-Keystone activists were left to wave signs on the streets outside. It’s yet another sign that Steyer has never been the free-wheeling cage-rattler that he and his aides have sometimes portrayed him to be — and that Clinton’s reluctance to weigh in on the Keystone controversy isn’t quite the existential threat to her presidential ambitions that some punditry has assumed. Andrew Restuccia and Elana Schor report: http://politico.pro/1KMUTJw
CASSIDY WANTS TO EXPAND DOE AUTO LOAN PROGRAM TO TRUCKS, BOATS: Republicans are usually wary of giving more authority to DOE’s loan program, but Sen. Bill Cassidy wants to expand the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program to make money available for commercial trucks and even ships. Cassidy’s legislation would allow DOE to give ATVM loans for commercial trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds and U.S.-flagged vessels. The bill doesn’t appropriate any new money, meaning DOE would rely on the loan authority authorized by Congress years ago. The ATVM program has been largely dormant for years, but Cassidy’s office says this will help shake loose new applicants, and that commercial trucks and vessels have made significant progress in integrating alternative fuels. It also noted that the bill could help offshore operators comply with EPA and Interior Department air standards — a big plus for Cassidy’s offshore oil and gas-heavy state. Bill text: http://politico.pro/1H04BXO

— Cassidy’s interest in expanding the ATVM program is a bit of a turnaround for the Louisiana Republican, who in February grilled Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz about Tesla’s $465 million ATVM loan, which was paid back in full just one day after Moniz was sworn in nearly two years earlier.

Also in new legislation — Pipeline approval: The Oil and Gas Production and Distribution Reform Act, introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Heidi Heitkamp and Bill Cassidy, gives FERC more coordinating power among agencies involved in approving pipelines, and is designed to help accelerate the buildup of pipelines carrying shale gas and oil from regions like the Marcellus and the Bakken. It gives federal and state agencies 90 days after FERC issues a final environmental study to make a decision on authorizing an oil or gas project. Read: http://politico.pro/1DSTpaJ

HAPPY THURSDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where we hear writing a tipsheet is just like riding a bike: You never forget how (plus you can stick a baseball card in the spokes to make it sound real cool). Send your energy news to aguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @alexcguillen, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.

TSCA REFORM PICKS UP MORE CO-SPONSORS: An eclectic group of senators will give an update today on new cosponsors and potential opportunity for floor debate on a bipartisan update to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. “The press conference will announce a strong number of new supporters on both sides of the aisle for the bill, displaying this legislation will get done in this Congress,” a Senate aide emailed. The 11:30 a.m. presser in the Capitol will feature what has already been a rare gathering of senators who normally would be on polar opposite ends of climate and other environmental legislation, including Tom Udall, David Vitter, Jim Inhofe and Tom Carper.

— Inhofe’s panel approved the bill last week 15-5 with help from all Republicans and four Democrats. EPW ranking member Barbara Boxer remains a leading foe because the bill would preempt future action by California and others states on high-priority chemicals. Udall said on a call last week sponsored by Business Forward that the bill may hit the Senate floor in June.

KXL FOES WIN IN ALBERTA: Keystone XL foes got some help from an unlikely source in their quest to persuade President Barack Obama to kill the project: the Canadian oil province where the project would start. Voters in Alberta delivered a stunning rejection on Tuesday to the ruling Conservative party, which had reigned over the province for 44 years and had hitched its reelection hopes to Keystone and the energy industry. The victors, new Premier Rachel Notley and her center-left New Democratic Party, are dubious about Keystone and have no intention of lobbying for it on Capitol Hill — which means a significant loss of leverage for pipeline supporters in D.C. Elana Schor has more: http://politico.pro/1H2x8Pi

HAWAII LEGISLATURE PASSES 100 PERCENT RPS: Hawaii is getting ambitious. State lawmakers have passed a bill nearly unanimously that will require the state’s electric utilities to get 100 percent of their power from renewable energy by 2045. The state, which thanks to its remote location and heavy reliance on imports has some of the highest energy prices in the U.S., would also have interim goals of 30 percent by 2020 and 70 percent by 2030. The state gets about 21 percent of its power from renewable energy. The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. David Ige for signature.

Book ’em, Danno: Hawaii legislators also passed a bill dropping a state requirement to add ethanol to gasoline. The idea was to foster a local biofuels industry, but it never materialized and the state still imports its ethanol. The AP has more: http://apne.ws/1GQgyNi

EPA SENDS MULTIYEAR RFS PROPSAL TO OMB: As POLITICO Pro reported yesterday, EPA has sent its multiyear Renewable Fuel Standard proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, sources outside the government confirm. The proposal covers volume mandates for 2014, 2015 and 2016. An April agreement between EPA and oil industry groups was aimed at bringing the agency back on track. Under that agreement, EPA will propose 2015 mandates by June 1, and finalize 2014 and 2015 levels by Nov. 30. OMB has been reviewing EPA’s final 2014 RFS standards since August. The details of the proposal are still under wraps.

Good timing: Seven Senate Democrats and several biodiesel producers will hold a press conference this afternoon to press EPA to set strong mandates under the RFS through 2017. The lawmakers involved are Heidi Heitkamp, Dick Durbin, Maria Cantwell, Amy Klobuchar, Jeanne Shaheen, Al Franken and Mazie Hirono.

MONIZ LOWERS URANIUM TRANSFER RATES: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has signed a new secretarial determination that lowers the rates for uranium transfers to contractors in exchange for clean-up work or down-blending. A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, have been critical of Moniz’s May 2014 determination that allowed DOE to transfer up to 2,705 metric tons of natural uranium annually. Moniz notes that the new levels don’t mean he was wrong when he set the transfer rates last year, but that after “balancing” DOE goals and reviewing public comments, he has decided that the new lower rates “are appropriate in the near term.”

Details: DOE moves two types of uranium, part of an effort to unload supplies of uranium hexafluoride and enriched uranium for downgrading from weapons-level blends to reactor fuel. Moniz’s new determination concludes that for uranium hexafluoride, DOE can transfer up to 2,000 MTU this year and 1,600 MTU in 2016 and each year after. For enriched uranium, DOE can transfer 500 MTU per year, starting this year. Those transfer levels “will not have an adverse material impact on the domestic mining, conversion, or enrichment industry,” Moniz writes. His determination: http://1.usa.gov/1EXOiLR. Federal Register notice: http://1.usa.gov/1dNP3gj

Barrasso is not totally satisfied with the new levels. “While the Department of Energy’s decision to reduce its uranium transfers in 2016 is a positive step, this is no time to celebrate,” he said in a statement. “Last week, we learned that employment in the U.S. uranium production industry fell by 32 percent between 2013 and 2014 — the lowest level since 2006. It is as important as ever for DOE to make a legally binding commitment that it will not increase annual uranium transfers in the immediate or distant future. Until then, I will continue to watch DOE with a skeptical eye.”

CENTRUS POSTS Q1 LOSS, BUT BETTER THAN 2014: Centrus Energy — the uranium enrichment company formerly known as USEC — had a net first quarter loss of $15.4 million, or $1.71 per share, the company says. That’s an improvement from 2014’s Q1, when the company lost $50.8 million. The company forecasts total revenue for the year totaling $425 million to $450 million, and says it will end the year with cash and cash equivalents around $175 million to $200 million. “We are focused on strengthening our core business of selling low enriched uranium to our utility customers as we complete the final phase of transition from our legacy operations at Paducah,” new President and CEO Dan Poneman, formerly DOE’s deputy secretary, said in a statement.

But wait, there’s more: Peter Saba, the company’s general counsel and senior vice president, will step down on July 3. A company spokesman said only that Centrus and Saba “mutually decided that this was the right time for Peter to pursue new opportunities as the Company proceeds with its transition to new leadership.”

MOVER, SHAKER: The Colorado Oil and Gas Association has picked Dan Haley as its new president and CEO, to start on June 1 after Tisha Schuller steps down. Haley — most recently vice president of communications, development and strategy at EIS Solutions — was previously editorial page editor at the Denver Post.

DEMS DING INTERIOR ON LEAKING GAS CAPTURE: Senate and House Democrats want the Interior Department to do something about the leaking of natural gas from wells on public lands, citing a new GAO report that concluded officials have not done enough to improve gas capture standards. “Despite years of effort, Interior has not completed action on measures to reduce the negative economic and environmental impacts of venting and flaring,” write Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Peter DeFazio and Raul Grijalva. Letter: http://politico.pro/1EanzrA. GAO report: http://1.usa.gov/1IhCg0I

QUICK HITS

— State-owned oil giants in the Middle East are actually ramping up production and spending. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1zNtIxE

— The BP spill claims coordinator gets subpoena power. AP: http://bit.ly/1F6ZVlu

— Bank of America has a new policy reducing financial exposure to coal companies because of risk from future regulations and natural gas competition. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1JrVy20

— A new NOAA study concludes that ethanol refineries may release more of some ozone-forming gases into the atmosphere than previously thought: http://1.usa.gov/1IPqprn

— Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship is seeking court permission to travel to Las Vegas later this month. Coal Tattoo: http://bit.ly/1zC5rKk

— Vandals flood a conservative British lawmakers’ garden with 1,300 liters of heating oil. Telegraph: http://bit.ly/1cm1PlH

LIFT BAN, AND EXPORTS WOULD GROW: U.S. crude exports would reach 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2025 if the current ban on overseas sales was ended, a figure three times higher than the volume expected if the restrictions remain in place, the Energy Information Administration said in the latest in a series of hotly anticipated analyses earlier this week.

EIA’s new study, compiled by Dallas-based firm Turner Mason, projected that if the export ban remained in effect, shipments would reach 800,000 bpd by 2025 under a high-output scenario where the U.S. produced 14.7 million bpd.

The projected drop in U.S. crude imports by 2025 for a high-production scenario stayed largely the same regardless of whether export limits remained in place.

The study did not examine how changes to crude export policy would affect future production.

Tags: , , ,