House Republicans Try to Clear Way for SMRs // States Ask FERC for Independent Transmission Monitors // Could Russia Benefit From OPEC+'s Cuts?

House Republicans Try to Clear Way for SMRs

Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced legislation last week to allow small businesses to more easily access and benefit from nuclear energy. 

They were led by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds who said, "As a champion for representing small businesses around our great nation, I’m proud to introduce this bill to ultimately level the playing field for small businesses that seek to get involved in the advanced nuclear industry."

In its exclusive on the legislation, the Daily Caller reports that the bill, the Nuclear Assistance for America’s Small Businesses Act, "would delay the collection of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) application fees for businesses with fewer than 750 employees. The independent agency receives 90% of its funding from user fees, and expects to collect more than $752 million in Fiscal Year 2022."

The NRC's prohibitively expensive fees have been a thorn in the side of firms trying to develop advanced nuclear reactor designs. Earlier this year, the NRC rejected Oklo's 600-page application for its reactor design after two years of review. The NRC's ability to extract hefty fees and tack on years to companies' development timelines hamstrings the advanced nuclear industry's ability to get off the ground. 

“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s current application review process and the fees associated with agency engagement are the epitome of burdensome government barriers that disincentivize small business participation and nuclear innovation. This bill will assist small businesses by providing them with the option to defer a portion of their accumulated NRC fees until after their application review process concludes," Donalds said.

States Ask FERC for Independent Transmission Monitors

During a conference last week, state regulators and consumer advocates suggested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should create independent transmission monitors (ITMs) to facilitate siting and building transmission lines. 

Transmission has become a hot-button issue in American energy as states have rushed to onboard more renewables, which tend to be built far away from where their electricity is needed and thus require new transmission to connect to the grid. Plus, the neglect of already existing transmission has led to tragedy, as Pacific Gas & Electric's ancient powerlines sparked a wildfire that killed dozens in California a few years ago. 

"The conference comes as annual utility transmission spending grew to $40 billion in 2019, up from $9.1 billion, in 2019 dollars, in 2000, according to a March 2021 report by the Energy Information Administration," reports Utility Dive. 

Many states don't have enough transmission experts to go around, which means that processes for building more transmission have little to no oversight. 

Robert Ethier, ISO New England, vice president for system planning, said New England's states "don’t have the resources to contribute as much as they would like" when it comes to transmission planning. "We think they should have a very big role, going forward, in deciding how the transmission system gets expanded to meet their policy goals, but … they don’t have the technical resources to engage more actively in helping us design what the future ought to look like.”

But others at the conference told FERC they weren't so sure more oversight is needed. Utility Dives reports, "FERC, states and grid operators are already 'on the beat' overseeing transmission development, according to Jon Schneider, a Stinson partner representing the Large Public Power Council. An ITM may not provide additional value, he said." Southern Co. agreed.

By the end of the conference, FERC Chairman Richard Glick agreed that there were "gaps in transmission oversight between FERC, states and grid operators as well as informational gaps."

Could Russia Benefit From OPEC+'s Cuts?

Russia could benefit from OPEC+'s recent production cut of 2 million barrels per day. How? 

Some analysts have pointed out that "the actual cut from current OPEC+ oil production would be half that figure, at around 1 million bpd-1.1 million bpd. That’s because many producers haven’t been able to produce to their quotas for months," reports Oilprice.com. Russia has joined countries like Nigeria and Angola in their failure to meet quotas. 

"Russia is estimated to have been around 1 million bpd below its 11-million-bpd quota for September," Oilprice.com reports. Thus, it won't have to curb any of its production but instead can hang back and enjoy more profits from higher energy prices. 

Some read OPEC+'s production cut as a response to the West's threat of price caps on fossil fuel products. “What we think is that this decision by OPEC+ is one purported self-interest--is a mistake and it’s misguided,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "It’s clear that OPEC+ is aligning with Russia with today’s announcement."

It's hard to understand what Jean-Pierre meant given that Russia is an OPEC+ member and the cartel was ostensibly created to represent its constituents' interests. Regardless, if the price cap inspired OPEC+'s production cut, then it continues the West's current trajectory of improving Russia's position by trying to punish it. 

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Conversation Starters

1. Power bills in Australia are set to rise by 35% over the next few months, in part because of the nation's clean energy goals which replace coal with renewables. "It's horrendous, it's unpalatable. We don't want energy consumers getting their power bills and setting fire to them," Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery told a conference of energy retailers in Sydney.

2. Republicans have withdrawn over $1 billion in funds from BlackRock over their ESG investments. "In recent weeks, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Arkansas have announced they would divest funds from BlackRock totaling more than $1 billion," Oilprice.com reports. “This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from mandates BlackRock has called for that would cripple our critical energy sector,” said Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder. “I refuse to spend a penny of Treasury funds with a company that will take food off tables, money out of pockets and jobs away from hardworking Louisianans.”

3. Center of the American Experiment just published eye-popping data on a single coal plant in North Dakota. "We are constantly told that the wind is always blowing somewhere, but did you know that the Coal Creek Station, a 1,150-megawatt (MW) power plant located in central North Dakota, produced more electricity than all of the wind turbines on the entire Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO) combined for 65 hours straight in 2020?" Isaac Orr writes. 

Crom's Blessing