Menezes confirmed as deputy energy secretaryNuclear NewsPower & OperationsAugust 6, 2020, 7:43AM|Nuclear News StaffMenezesIn a bipartisan 79–16 vote, the Senate on August 4 confirmed Mark W. Menezes to be the nation’s deputy secretary of energy. Prior to his confirmation, Menezes had served as undersecretary of energy to both Secretary Dan Brouillette and his predecessor, Rick Perry. An official swearing-in ceremony will take place at a later time.Before joining the Trump administration in 2017, Menezes was an executive with Berkshire Hathaway Energy. He has also worked on Capitol Hill as chief counsel for energy and environment for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he served as chief negotiator for the House majority in the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.Menezes: “I am honored that President Trump and the members of the U.S. Senate have placed their confidence in me to serve as the deputy secretary of energy,” Menezes said. “I will continue to work alongside Secretary Brouillette to advocate for the use of all of America’s abundant energy resources, broadening our supercomputing capabilities and innovation at our national labs, and providing a strong national defense through a modern and dynamic National Nuclear Security Administration.” Testimonials: “Mark’s years of experience forming energy policy on Capitol Hill and advocating for sensible energy strategies in the private sector make him extremely well-suited to take on this role,” Brouillette said. “Under the leadership of President Trump, we will continue to unleash American energy, providing jobs and economic opportunity across the nation.”Also happy with the vote was the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), whose committee had approved Menezes’s nomination for deputy secretary on May 20 and favorably reported it to the full Senate by voice vote on June 9. Commenting on Menezes’s role as undersecretary, Murkowski said, “He has been responsible for many programs that help drive the innovation within the department, including for renewable energy as well as nuclear energy. Mr. Menezes also helped create the department’s cybersecurity office, which is dedicated to protecting our energy infrastructure from what have become very sophisticated and near-constant threats.”“No” votes: Fourteen Democrats and two Republicans opposed Menezes’s confirmation, including Nevada’s two Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both of whom expressed concerns over reported discussions by Trump administration officials about resuming nuclear testing, which would likely be conducted in their state. “Reports are suggesting that this administration is prepared to jeopardize the health and safety of Nevadans, undercut our nation’s nuclear nonproliferation goals, and further weaken strategic partnerships with our global allies just to flex its muscles on the global stage,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.Other Democratic senators insufficiently impressed with Menezes include Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, California’s Kamala Harris, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts’s Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.Perhaps more surprisingly, both of Iowa’s Republican senators cast votes against Menezes as well—in their case because of issues involving the Department of Energy’s treatment of the Hawkeye State’s biofuel industry.Tags:brouilletteenergy and natural resources committeemurkowskiperryShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Glick chosen to head FERCGlickThis morning, on his first full day in office, President Joe Biden appointed Richard Glick chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Glick joined FERC as a commissioner in late 2017, having been picked for the job by President Trump in August of that year. His term ends June 30, 2022.“I'm honored President Joe Biden has selected me to be @FERC Chairman, thank you Mr. @POTUS,” Glick tweeted. “This is an important moment to make significant progress on the transition to a clean energy future. I look forward to working with my colleagues to tackle the many challenges ahead!”Go to Article
The year in review 2020: Power and OperationsHere is a look back at the top stories of 2020 from our Power and Operations section in Newswire and Nuclear News magazine. Remember to check back to Newswire soon for more top stories from 2020.Power and Operations section Defense Department invests in three microreactor designs: Three reactor developers got a boost on March 9 when they each were awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to design a reactor that can fit inside a standard shipping container for military deployment. Read more.Go to Article
Judge halts Energy Harbor nuclear subsidiesAn Ohio court has granted a preliminary injunction that blocks Energy Harbor from receiving the “nuclear generation fund” payments that were set to begin January 1 as part of H.B. 6—the scandal-tainted legislation at the center of an alleged multi-million dollar racketeering and corruption scheme aimed at guaranteeing its passage.Signed into law by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in July 2019, H.B. 6 established a seven-year program to charge the state’s electricity consumers fees to support payments of about $150 million annually to Energy Harbor, which had announced in March of the previous year that it would be forced to close the financially strapped Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants without some form of support from the state.Go to Article
Bill would delay subsidies for Ohio nuclear plantsNew legislation to address Ohio’s scandal-ridden nuclear subsidy bill, H.B. 6, was introduced in the state’s House of Representatives on December 1. Unlike the measures introduced earlier this year that sought to either fully or partially repeal the bill, H.B. 798 calls for delaying subsidies for the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants by one year. (Currently, charges on ratepayers’ monthly electric bills are set to begin in January.) Cleveland.com has more on the story.Go to Article
Senate approves Trump’s FERC nomineesChristieClementsThe Senate has confirmed the nominations of Republican Mark Christie and Democrat Allison Clements to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by voice vote, bringing the agency to its full, five-member complement for the first time since before Cheryl LaFleur departed in August of last year.The chamber’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on November 18 to advance the pair to the full Senate for confirmation, following their testimony before the committee in September. President Trump announced his intention to nominate Christie and Clements in July.Go to Article
DOE moves to strengthen domestic supply chain of critical mineralsThe Department of Energy has issued new guidance for applicants to its Loan Programs Office (LPO), stating a preference for projects related to critical minerals. The guidance, a notice for which was published in the December 1 Federal Register, aims to boost the domestic supply chain of critical minerals in support of two of President Trump’s executive orders: the September 2020 order regarding the nation’s reliance on foreign sources for critical minerals, and the December 2017 order regarding the implementation of a federal strategy to ensure a domestic supply of those minerals.Go to Article
Senate bill introduced to reestablish U.S. leadership in nuclear energyBarrassoWhitehouseThe American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA), S. 4897, released as draft legislation in July and supported by a panel of energy experts at a Senate hearing in August, has been introduced in the Senate.The bipartisan bill—sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), and cosponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), and Cory Booker (D., N.J.)—was introduced on November 16.Go to Article
Gordon-Hagerty resigns as NNSA administratorLisa E. Gordon-Hagerty has resigned as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, the Department of Energy announced on November 6. William Bookless, who had been serving as NNSA principal deputy administrator for the past year-and-a-half, was named as acting administrator. Bookless spent more than three decades as a senior physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory prior to joining the NNSA.Go to Article
Fallout from Ohio’s H.B. 6 scandal reaches FirstEnergy C suiteChuck Jones, former FirstEnergy CEOAkron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corporation—former parent of Energy Harbor, the owner of Ohio’s Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants—announced on October 29 that it has fired its chief executive officer, Charles “Chuck” Jones, as well as its senior vice president of product development, marketing, and branding and its senior vice president of external affairs.The actions, according to FirstEnergy, were prompted by an internal company review undertaken in response to the scandal surrounding H.B. 6—the now infamous legislation signed into law last year by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that includes subsidies for Davis-Besse and Perry and that is at the heart of an alleged multi-million dollar racketeering and corruption scheme aimed at guaranteeing its passage.In the announcement, FirstEnergy said only that its review “determined that these executives violated certain FirstEnergy policies and its code of conduct.” Replacing Jones is Steven E. Strah, who had been the firm’s president.Go to Article
Nuclear champions make another push for NELAMurkowskiLuriaSen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Elaine Luria (D., Va.), along with 29 of their colleagues, sent a letter last week to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, urging them to include the text of the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) in the final fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).Murkowski joined Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and 18 other lawmakers in a similar letter to the Senate Armed Service Committee earlier this year. Murkowski and Booker introduced NELA on September 6, 2018 (NN, Oct. 2018, p. 39).The House and Senate passed their respective versions of the NDAA in July, by votes of 295–125 and 86–14, respectively. (NELA provisions have been included in the Senate’s NDAA and in the House’s Clean Economy and Jobs Innovation Act.) Last month, speaking at the 2020 Defense News Conference, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the final House and Senate conference report on the NDAA should be coming out soon after the November election.Go to Article