Time for Tariffs and Permitting Reform?

Tariffs time, baby – All eyes are on the U.S. Trade Representative after the Biden administration locked in 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports effective in a week and a half, and determined up next are a 50% tariff on solar cells and 25% tariff on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and transition metals.

• Before the duty news came down, walking around RE+ last week, I was honestly surprised at the sheer number of Chinese manufacturers with convention showroom booths, from EV company BYD to companies like Gotion that have riled up lawmakers in D.C. It was a charm offensive.
• If Ford executives are to be believed, China could still play a role in the future of the U.S. automotive industry. But that being said, I have my doubts U.S. trade policy will change on EV and solar supply chains given the big lobbying spend from domestic manufacturers and mining companies in Washington.

Permit time, time permitting – Lots of hay is being made of permitting reform back in D.C., where congressional Republicans have revived legislative efforts to overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.

• Action lately has largely taken place in the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees land use issues. The committee held a hearing on legislation to modify NEPA implementation last week. Its chair Bruce Westerman also introduced legislation that would change federal species preservation.
• These bills go much further than the bipartisan permitting compromise reached in the Senate, which focuses on judicial review, fossil fuel leasing, and renewable energy timelines.
• I’ll say this with all the painful confidence of someone who covered Congress for far too long: some centrists have applauded the bills but they’re DOA – especially if Kamala Harris wins the November presidential election. That’s simply because the math for radically changing NEPA just isn’t there, and doubly so for wildlife protection law.

Maine’s offshore wind – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it’ll officially hold the first offshore wind lease sale on Maine waters on Oct. 29.

• It is widely expected that for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine to succeed it must consist of floating turbines to accommodate concerns from the state’s politically powerful fishermen.
• BOEM issued a research lease for a floating offshore wind pilot project last month to the University of Maine for studying the technology.

Transformers, too – A White House-led infrastructure policy committee recommended the federal government should create a “virtual reserve” of transformers for energy security.

• The recommendations note a growing wait time for procuring transformers for the grid and note physical products wouldn’t be necessary. Instead, it says the government needs ample data on what’s in stock domestically and the capacity to offer pricing support to businesses for purchasing transformers and products in the supply chain.

Here’s what else I’m watching…

• The Treasury Department this morning proposed wide eligibility parameters for the IRA electric vehicle charging station credit.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson said congressional Republicans may preserve some IRA credits if the GOP maintains control of Congress next year. He didn’t say which credits, though I took a stab at predicting which would stay over the summer.
• Fresh off his op-ed for Heatmap, former White House National Economic Council head Brian Deese authored a new report on building out advanced transmission.

Climate activists are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reverse its approval of the Southeast Energy Exchange Market, a regional energy trading platform.