NDN Blog

Senator Jeff Bingaman, Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is well known for his reasoned and bipartisian approach to energy legislation.  On the Senate Floor today, Senator Bingaman outlined the myths and the realities of gasoline prices, oil prices and domestic production.  

Energy, especially oil and gasoline prices have been at the forefront of the current Transportation bill before both the House and the Senate this week.  A sticking point in this bill is the Keystone Pipeline XL and much has been made of the impact of this pipeline on the rising price of gasoline today. 

Senator Bingaman, in a reasoned and articulate speech, laid out the causes of higher gasoline prices in the United States.  In a direct reference to the Keystone Pipeline, Senator Bingaman points out that "we do not face cycles of high gasoline prices in the United States because of a lack of domestic production.  We do not face these cycles of high gasoline prices because of lack of access to federal resources, or because of some environmental regulation that is getting in the way of us obtaining cheap gasoline."  

Instead, the Senator states, prices that we pay for oil and the products refined from oil, such as gasoline, are set on the world market.  They are relatively insensitive to what happens here in the United States with regards to production.  Instead, the world price of oil and our gasoline prices are affected more by events beyond our control, such as instability in Libya last year or instability in Iran and concerns about oil supply in Iran this year.

Senator Bingaman shows that the oil production in the United States is 3rd largest producer of oil, second to the Soviet Union and Saudia Arabia. 

Click here for a full transcript of his remarks.  

In his first solo live press conference since November 2011, President Obama, made it clear that he is opposed to higher gasoline prices stating "I want gas prices lower because high gas prices hurt families".

Four Senior House Democrats Senda letter to Commodities Future Trading Commission on Gasoline Prices. Natural Resources Committee Ranking Democrat Ed Markey (D-MA), Financial Services Committee Ranking Democrat Barney Frank (D-MA), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Democrat Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler on Wednesday.  The foursome urged the CFTC to follow through on rules to establish position limits for speculators in energy markets – particularly in light of the recent increases in gasoline prices.  The legislators expressed concern that the CFTC has become timid in the face of litigation and pressure from Republican lawmakers.

EPA’s Air Chief Provides Preliminary Details of Forthcoming “Tier 3” Fuel Standards.  Responding to an inquiry by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and 67 other Members of Congress, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Gina McCarthy provided details regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's  “Tier 3” emission standards for fuels and light-duty vehicles.  Ms. McCarthy clarified that EPA’s only planned change to gasoline standards is a potential reduction in maximum sulfur levels to 10 parts per million (ppm).  According to McCarthy, the more stringent sulfur standard would increase the cost of gasoline by approximately one penny per gallon by 2017.  She also noted that at least seventeen refineries around the country are currently capable of meeting the 10 ppm standard, and are already exporting such fuel to Europe.  The proposed Tier 3 standards are expected to be released later this month.

The Department of Energy has signed three separate agreements with Hyperion Power Generation and NuScale Power to develop plans for deploying small modular nuclear power reactors at the DOE's Savannah River Site facilities near Aiken, S.C.    Nuclear power advocates have long wanted the government to foster use of small reactors to supply low-carbon power in areas where big ones don't make sense, and these public-private ventures will help with siting and land use issues at Savannah River that could guide such efforts elsewhere.

The  is a rising trend of super-efficient, solar-powered new homes which allow homeowners to combat rising energy costs by giving back to the power grid. These Net-zero-energy homes are at the leading edge of the U.S. green building trend and some owners are even realizing a small profit from their home's power-generating capacity. However, the price of net-zero-energy homes are still $30,000 to $40,000 higher than those that are not net-zero-energy but that margin is dropping with a decline in photovoltaic costs.  Intelligent house layout and design, and home features such as dual-pane windows, air-tight ductwork and high-caliber wall and attic insulation, are significantly curbing energy consumption. When coupled with solar energy, captured through photovoltaic panels, these homes are becoming their own mini power plants that feed electricity to the grid.

Billing systems and customer information systems (CIS) used by electricity utilities and retailers will begin to change during 2012 to enable better use to be made of data collected from the smart meters now being deployed in large numbers around the world according to a new report from Innovation Observatory.   This report, "Smart Grid Billing Outlook 2012-2016” by  Danny Dicks points out that  while smart meter deployments have been growing steadily over the last 3-4 years, utilities' IT system priorities have been focused on preparing for how to deal with large volumes of smart meter data. This year the emphasis changes towards making use of that data – to develop innovative tariffs and new services, including for charging of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to announce a decision on March 19, 2012 on the issue of tariffs for Chinese-made silicon modules and cells in its investigation into whether to impose duties to offset the impacts of any illegal Chinese subsidies. If the agency finds in favor of the tariff, the effective date of duties under its critical circumstances finding would be in late December.

Proponents believes that this tariff would prevent the global solar manufacturing market from being dominated by China’s unfair trade practices, which they say has created a worldwide price decline of 40% in 2011 (despite rising demand) and closure or downsizing at seven US solar plants. Proponents, represented by the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) include Solar World which has a major plant in Oregon, but is located in Germany. CASM points to a spike in Chinese imports at the close of 2011, asserting that this was evidence of anti-competitive dumping in advance of tariff impositions.

Opponents of this tariff contends that the U.S. is a net-exporter of solar products to China by $200 million and a tariff would put this at risk. Opponents are represented by Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE). They note that less than 20% of jobs in the American solar industry are in manufacturing, while the majority of solar jobs lie in retailers, installers, service/support and engineers, and raw materials,  CASE commissioned a study by the Brattle Group which found that an 100% tariff on Chinese modules would cost as many as a net 60,000 jobs in the United States over three years and net economic losses amounting to between $698 million and $2.6 billion

Each side has a legitimate case. No one wants to see the establishment of a Chinese monopoly on silicon manufacturing, but no one wants to dampen the rate of installations.  Will the tariff raise prices for American consumers and cause US job losses  Or, will a failure to impose a tariff allow Chinese manufacturers to continue to dominate, and eventually monopolize, the PV market through unfair trade and subsidy practices?

Our Clean Energy Initiative will host a lunchtime panel discussion on this subject on Friday, March 16 at 12Noon.  Featured panelists will be: William Morin of Applied Materials, who will discuss the disruptions tariffs can have on the US solar industry and the overall value chain.  Lewis Leibowitz of Hogan Lovells LLC, who will talk about the impact of these cases on American manufacturers that depend on imports to be competitive in the marketplace and Elizabeth Drake of Stewart and Stewart LLC who will review why the trade remedy laws are an important tool for addressing trade distortions and remedying harm caused to domestic manufacturers by dumping and subsidies.  The panel discussion will be held at our event space located at 729 15th Street, Washington, DC.  PLEASE RSVP TODAY!

Matthew Wald has in interesting blog in the New York Times today about the health impacts from the radioactive materials released in theFukushima Daiichi meltdowns.  In a panel discussion hosted by the Health Physics Society it was determined that the health impacts  will probably be too small to be easily measured but that the area cordoned off by the Japanese government as uninhabitable is probably far too large, the experts said. The overall theme of the discussion was that radiation is widely feared but poorly understood, and is a smaller problem than the vast destruction and loss of life caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

The Energy Department is taking issue with a Tuesday POLITICO story  describing Secretary Steven Chu as saying DOE is working to promote alternatives to oil rather than directly lowering gasoline prices. "This report is false," a DOE spokeswoman said. "In the hearing Tuesday, the secretary repeatedly reiterated his concern about the impact that increased prices at the pump are having on families and that we continue to do all we can to provide relief. That said there are no quick fixes, which is why this administration has taken steps to continue to expand production, dramatically increase the efficiency of the vehicles we drive, and invest in alternate fuels - all with an ultimate goal of reducing our reliance on foreign oil and protecting American families from the ups and downs of the international oil market."  Chu's testimony

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) unveiled  the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 this morning at an event with Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.). The legislation will mandate that power companies provide a major portion of the country’s electricity from low- or no-carbon sources like wind, solar and natural gas.  “The 24-page bill employs a straightforward, market-based approach that encourages a wide variety of clean electricity-generating technologies,” according to Bingaman’s office.  The bill is expected to echo a proposal first outlined by President Obama in his 2011 State of the Union address. The plan calls on utilities to generate 80 percent of the country’s power from “clean” energy by 2035.  However, it is unlikely that this bill will pass Congress this year.  

The Justice Department this week issued its first annual report on environmental justice activity, and it's worth paging through to see how DOJ has been coordinating with other federal offices to beef up enforcement of environmental laws. If you already thought the administration was pursuing prosecutions and settlements related to alleged violation of climate regs, for instance, this document will give some examples. It also describes extensive interagency outreach and discussion efforts to tie Justice lawyers into health and safety issues that other agencies regulate. Part of the focus is on poor or other disadvantaged areas, Justice said, because "low-income, minority, and Native American communities are often disproportionately burdened with pollution, resulting in health problems, greater obstacles to economic growth and a lower quality of life."

Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday the United States should "embrace" the Keystone XL pipeline.  According to Clinton, "One of the most amazing things to me about this Keystone pipeline deal is that they ever filed that route in the first place since they could've gone around the Nebraska Sandhills and avoided most of the dangers, no matter how imagined, to the Ogallala [aquifer] with a different route, which I presume we'll get now, because the extra cost of running is infinitesimal compared to the revenue that will be generated over a long period of time, "So, I think we should embrace it and develop a stakeholder-driven system of high standards for doing the work."  Clinton spoke at an energy conference on innovations Tuesday at the National Harbor.

Many of the expired or expiring tax breaks, especially those for renewable energy, may have to wait until a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.  To the lament of many in the clean energy business, the extenders missed a chance to ride on the payroll tax cut extension, and now industries such as the wind industry hope lawmakers will make the credits retroactive if and when they act. 

This Friday, March 2, the Department of Commerce is expected to issue a preliminary determination in its countervailing duties investigation- or a tariff - on solar cells from China.The preliminary anti-dumping duty ruling is not scheduled until March 27. 

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming distributed an eight-page memo of arguments against using the Stategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) against the latest rise in gasoline prices, arguing that doing so is a politically motivated stunt that threatens U.S. preparedness against a real oil emergency. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee a possible SPR release remains “on the table.” Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski conceded there is probably little that Congress can do in response. “The way the SPR is set up, it allows for that discretion," she said. But she added that parameters for using it "need to be more clearly defined.”

The Washington Post had a brillant editorial on exactly why gasoline prices are going up.  What editorial writer Charles Lane says is that world crude oil prices determine 76% of per-gallon price of gasoline - a  vast majority - according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.   Those prices have been trending upward for more than a decade, largely because of surging demand in China and other reemerging markets. Gas prices have followed suit.  The Keystone pipeline has absolutely none - no effect on rising gas prices.  Obama made a pitch that a $14 million federal grant to help make fuel from algae. As Lane said, "that particular miracle’s been just around the corner for decades now".

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) unveiled his clean energy standard (CES) toward the end of the week. The CES would require power companies to supply increasing amounts of the nation’s electricity from carbon-free (or at least lower-carbon) sources such as renewables, nuclear and natural gas over time.  In his last two State of the Union speeches, President Obama has advocated for a CES. Senators Wyden, Al Franken and Chris Coons are among the co-sponsors.  Although this is unlikely to pass, it is a good campaign platform to counter Republican plans. 

You can't miss the jousting over who is to blame for this years jump in gas prices.  Each side has their ideas of what policies the country should be pursuing.  The Republican's blaming of President Obama prompted a high-profile speech saying there are "no silver bullets" to stop price spikes, and dismissing the GOP's favored drill-more approach as a "bumper sticker" rather than a solution. CQ's Geof Koss reports how Both sides are working the message war with hopes of helping swing the presidential election. Some Democratic lawmakers are already urging Obama to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tamp down prices, while GOP officials are decrying the "Obama premium" in fuel costs and getting public support for approving the Keystone XL pipeline to deliver more Canadian oil.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) will have a stiff primary race on his hands.   He is challenged by Michigan state legislator  Jack Hoogendyk who earned 43% of the vote in the 2010 primary with support of conservative groups including Club for Growth which is already running ads against Upton for being too liberal.  With  $1,709,245 cash on hand and a record of blasting the Administration's energy agenda, Upton will no doubt give him a good race.

Congress may have gotten closer to putting together a short-term highway bill, now that House leaders agreed to drop key parts of the costly five-year plan they were trying to pass. That could be a vehicle for another Keystone measure. The latest idea, still taking shape, is for the House to prep a less-costly, shorter-term transportation bill that moves closer to the two-year, $109 billion plan moving through the Senate. The full House already passed an energy measure that was one part of its highway bill package that includes language to speed a Keystone decision and to allow energy drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge and offshore areas now considered off limits. While the Senate is expected to block the drilling provisions, bipartisan support for Keystone has already been shown.

There is no "silver bullet" to stopping the rise in gasoline prices, President Obama said even as he listed ways his administration is boosting domestic oil output and fostering efficiency and alternative fuel programs.  His speech, at the University of Miami in Florida, is at a time when fast-rising pump prices for gasoline and diesel are ratcheting up household expenses a lot like last year. 

President Obama said this year's oil price spike is largely driven by concerns over Iran, which at times has threatened to close the Persian Gulf to oil tanker traffic and is in a tense standoff with industrial nations over their sanctions of its oil sales and its suspected nuclear weapons program. Longer-term, he said fuel prices will keep rising as China, India and Brazil continue their fast growth in autos and fuel use.

At the same time, Obama said with rising gas prices "we’re experiencing yet another painful reminder of why developing new energy is so critical to our future," and cited administration efforts to sharply boost vehicle fuel efficiency and develop algae-based fuels. The White House posted two fact sheets on energy issues in connection with this speech.

The first in a series of forums to outline a viable business model for U.S. renewable electricity in the 21st century took place yesterday. The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), which creates innovative financial products for the clean energy economy, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are lead organizers of the event.

"This is the first time top leaders from the utility and renewables industries have met to hammer out an executable plan to boost renewable energy integration nationwide," said Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, president of ACORE. "Everyone in the forum wants more renewables, but we may not all be aligned on how to get to that shared goal. This year's forums aim to reach that alignment so utilities and renewable energy companies can strike forward most effectively."

Republican Presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich has released a full 29 minute energy commercial on his views on how to craft a better energy policy.  “I know that we can do better,” Gingrich says. “And I know that if we open up American energy, think about the things that happen simultaneously. We get a lot more jobs, that is, people that come off of unemployment … And they go to work taking care of their family and paying taxes. So government revenue goes up, government expenses go down.”