Manchin sabotages clean energy transition-again
Meeting domestic climate targets requires environmental laws restricting greenhouse gas emissions AND energy regulatory reform. Reforming federal and state energy rules will allow renewable and clean energy projects to fairly compete with legacy fossil fuel power plants in the market. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the key agency to facilitate this necessary transition to a clean electricity system to fight the climate crisis. Energy rules have a significant impact on meeting climate goals, including the connection of new clean generation to the nation’s electric system, transmission of electric resources, investment in utility renewables, and treatment of energy efficiency and battery storage.
President Biden nominated Richard Glick to chair the FERC. Glick supports regulatory changes to add more solar, energy efficiency, wind, and battery storage to the nation’s power system. Sen. Joe Manchin has thrown another wrench into the Biden administration’s climate progress. As chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Manchin is not scheduling a necessary hearing this year on Glick’s nomination. Glick’s departure at the end of the year would leave a R-D partisan split that could delay both existing FERC proposals and future progress in transitioning away from legacy fossil fuel plants toward cleaner energy resources and a more electrified energy system.
With Glick’s support, FERC is in the process of reforming critical rules to enhance renewable electricity transmission (such as off-shore wind), support aggregating customer energy efficiency and renewable projects (such as roof-top solar), and provide transparent accounting practices that recognize and manage renewable generation and Renewable Energy Credits.
Specifically:
· In April 2022 FERC proposed reforms for allocating regional transmission project costs. The current system is recognized as a bottleneck for new transmission projects. The proposed FERC rule would result in more accurate long-term planning for the generation mix that will exist in 20 years and prioritize transmission projects based on those projections.
· In June 2022 FERC proposed reforms for connecting clusters of clean generation projects to the nation’s energy system. The previous rule resulted in an overly-stringent, multi-year interconnection process for developers aggregating multiple clean energy generation sources. The reform would both add cleaner energy capacity to the electric system and support more customer investment in small clean energy systems. FERC extended the comment period to December 14, 2022.
· In 2020 FERC issued Order 2222 to expand opportunities for electric grid utilities to purchase green “capacity” for resale to their customers. This green supply could be from aggregated customer renewable generation (such as roof-top solar), energy efficiency, battery storage, and demand response. Despite the potential value to boost grid reliability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce system costs, many regional authorities still impose unnecessary metering and telemetry requirements that hinder green capacity projects.
· To deal with the growth of renewable generation and to provide transparent accounting for non-hydro renewable energy assets (such as solar and wind), storage, and renewable energy credits, FERC proposed changes to its uniform system of accounts for the first time since 2013. 87 Fed. Reg. 59870 (Oct. 3, 2022).
These are important recently proposed energy reform measures for expanding electrification, reducing greenhouse gases, advancing less expensive generation, and improving grid reliability. There are complexities in smoothly transitioning a legacy fossil fuel-based electric system to a more sustainable platform. Richard Glick has been instrumental in pressing for these reforms and has been a third vote for a majority inclined to move such improvements. Joe Manchin, who has personal financial support from coal interests, is using his political position to hinder FERC’s energy reform process. Without a fully engaged five member FERC commission there is potential that FERC reforms will lose momentum and reduce the ability to meet domestic climate goals.