Biden to Announce EV and Energy Tariff Spikes Tomorrow: As Politico reported, President Joe Biden plans to announce raising the tariffs on Chinese EV materials, batteries, critical minerals, solar products, steel, and aluminum. Biden is set to announce the changes Tuesday and comes after a review of an agreement made with China in which Beijing failed to purchase $200 billion worth of American goods over the course of 2020 and 2021. The tariff hikes align with other efforts by the administration to boost domestic production of clean energy products and semiconductors.  

FERC Finalizes Long-Range Power Line Rules: Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalized two major rules to accelerate the planning and permitting of long-distance electric transmission lines. The first rule requires grid planners to consider wider benefits of transmission and craft plans that span at least 20 years. The second rule will open a pathway to federal permitting of transmission lines within certain national interest corridors -- a preliminary list was released May 8.

DOE Appoints Board for New Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation: Last Thursday, the Department of Energy appointed its first board of directors for the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI), authorized through the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. Appointments include Vicky A. Bailey (Founder and CEO, Anderson Stratton Enterprises LLC); Rita Baranwal (Senior Vice President, Westinghouse Electric Company); Tomeka McLeod (Vice President for Hydrogen, BP); Mike Boots (Executive Vice President, Breakthrough Energy and Former Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality); Kathleen A. McGinty (Chief Sustainability, Johnson Controls), among others.  

25 States Formally Challenge Power Plant Emissions Rules: Last Thursday, twenty-four states filed their expected challenge to the Biden Administration’s fossil fuel emissions rule, calling it an unlawful bid to remake the nation’s electrical grid The lawsuit, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The new EPA rule would force the nation’s current fleet of coal plants to capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions — or close down — by 2039.

House Passes Nuclear Energy Bill: Last Wednesday, the House passed the “Fire Grants and Safety Act”, to which the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2024 was attached.  The proposed nuclear energy policies include increasing the NRC workforce, streamlining the licensing process for advanced reactors, and supporting the development of fusion technology.

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