SPP Markets+ Tariff Receives FERC Approval
Update provided by Southwest Power Pool
Southwest Power Pool’s proposed Markets+ service reached a significant milestone Jan. 16 when it received approval of its tariff by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Markets+ is the regional, day-ahead energy market developed in collaboration between SPP and more than 30 western entities, anticipated to launch in 2027. This tariff approval allows participants to begin phase two of Markets+ development following the execution of phase-two funding commitments.
SPP completed and filed the Markets+ tariff with FERC March 29, 2024. FERC sent a letter July 31, 2024, requesting more information on specific tariff elements, to which SPP responded in September 2024. While awaiting the commission’s approval of the market’s terms and conditions, SPP has continued to facilitate work among prospective market participants to craft detailed protocols that will define the service’s administration and operation.
The Markets+ tariff filing was a result of hundreds of hours of collaboration between SPP staff and the 38 western entities who signed phase one agreements and includes terms and conditions representative of the diverse perspectives of all stakeholders. Since the tariff filing last March, Markets+ participants have been defining detailed protocols for the market’s administration, which is currently underway.
The Bonneville Power Administration announced it would fund its share of phase-two development while it continues to collaborate with customers to develop a policy direction toward a day-ahead market option in May 2025.
“BPA is pleased that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved SPP’s Markets+ tariff, which was crafted through a robust stakeholder process,” said Rachel Dibble, BPA Power Services vice president of bulk marketing. “This guarantees BPA has two viable day-ahead markets to consider as we make our way toward a day-ahead market decision later this year.”
Phase two of Markets+ begins in early 2025 and includes the development of systems, testing, and parallel operations. Markets+ is expected to go live in 2027.
Speaker Johnson Outlines Budget Blueprint Timeline
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
On Jan. 14, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) laid out a six-week timeline for passing a budget blueprint through Congress. Under Johnson’s plan, the House would need to come together and write a budget resolution by Feb. 10, followed by floor debate and adoption that same week. The Senate would then debate and adopt the measure the following week. The speaker told Republican lawmakers he would like the budget blueprint completed before the House GOP retreat scheduled to start Feb. 27, although he acknowledged the House may need to address any changes from the Senate after the retreat.
Currently, the House and Senate are pursuing two different plans as it relates to the federal budget. Both are using a party-line budget reconciliation process, likely teeing up challenges to reaching a consensus within Johnson’s proposed timeline.
IRS Publishes First Annual Table for Clean Energy Production and Investment Credits
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
On Jan. 15, the Internal Revenue Service published its first Annual Table for the technology-neutral tax Section 45Y clean electricity production credit and Section 48E clean electricity investment credit. The Annual Table release follows the final rules for 45Y and 48E published earlier this month and confirms the certain types or categories of clean electricity facilities that qualify for the technology-neutral tax credits. It enumerates the following types or categories of facilities with a greenhouse gas emissions rate of zero: wind; hydropower; marine and hydrokinetic, solar, including photovoltaic and concentrated solar power; geothermal, including flash and binary plants; nuclear fission; fusion energy; and waste energy recovery property. A provisional emissions rate can be requested from the Department of Energy for types or categories of facilities not described in the Annual Table. The national laboratories are working on lifecycle emissions analysis for fuel cells that use electrolytic hydrogen, which the Department of Energy expects will be complete in the coming weeks.
Energy Secretary Nominee Testifies at Senate ENR Confirmation Hearing
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
Department of Energy secretary nominee Chris Wright testified on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15 at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The hearing was interrupted at times by climate protesters and punctuated by political debate over Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) moving forward with the hearing despite Democratic objections over the timing of Wright’s financial and ethics disclosure submission.
During the hearing, Wright laid out goals to expand energy production, including commercial nuclear, fusion, and liquefied natural gas, seeking to get rid of red tape and regulations restricting infrastructure development and use DOE’s national laboratory system to foster breakthroughs enhancing U.S. energy security and leadership. Republican panel members praised Wright’s support for all reliable and affordable sources of energy, with several asking questions about his support for improving the deployment and commercialization of nuclear, small modular reactors, and fusion energy. Democrats questioned his position on oil, natural gas, and climate change, with some of the most pointed questions during the hearing asked by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) regarding the ongoing wildfires in Southern California.
Wright remained vague about his plans for Inflation Reduction Act funding and support for executive impoundment, saying he would “implement the laws of the land.” However, he said he supports a suspension of future Department of Energy Loan Program loans as recommended by a recent inspector general’s report. Wright also stressed the importance of building and maintaining a reliable grid. When pressed specifically by Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) about DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, created by the IRA, Wright expressed general support for improving transmission, including grid expansion and the buildout of new transmission lines.
Wright does not appear to face strong opposition to his confirmation. Lee said he plans to move Wright’s confirmation along quickly, aiming for a full Senate vote by the end of this month.
Wright’s confirmation hearing is one of several this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee kicked off the week with defense secretary nominee Peter Hegseth’s confirmation hearing Jan. 14. During the hearing, Democrats lobbed criticism regarding misconduct allegations and lack of experience but failed to land a critical blow as Republicans aligned in their support for Hegseth’s nomination. Several other confirmation hearings are on the horizon, including hearings for Environmental Protection Agency administrator nominee Lee Zeldin, interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, and treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent set for Jan. 16.
House Budget Committee Chair Circulates Menu of Potential Spending Cuts
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has been circulating a menu of more than $5 trillion in potential cuts the House could consider to offset the cost of a budget reconciliation bill or other spending reform efforts. The document considers cuts to Medicare and other welfare programs, reversing Biden administration climate policies and programs, and cutting between $200 billion to $500 billion in clean energy tax credits. The list is vague in some respects. It mentions, without enumeration, the Green New Deal provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and it notes that eliminating the clean energy tax credits would be “subject to political viability.”
The savings in the document add up to as much as $5.7 trillion over 10 years—more than covering the $4 trillion Republicans are seeking to offset an extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—but most of the provisions are controversial even within the Republican Conference. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said GOP committee members will meet this week to discuss the potential pay-fors within their jurisdiction.
President-Elect Trump Nominates Energy, Environmental Deputies
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
On Jan. 11, President-elect Donald Trump tapped nominees for the No. 2 spots at federal energy and environmental agencies. The appointments include the return of former Interior Deputy Secretary Katharine MacGregor to her previously held role, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair James Danly for deputy secretary of energy, and former Environmental Protection Agency acting General Counsel David Fotouhi for deputy administrator. All three officials formerly served in the president-elect’s first administration.
President Biden Issues Executive Order to Boost Data Centers
Update provided by Meguire Whitney
On Jan. 14, President Joe Biden issued an executive order aimed at boosting data centers and accelerating clean energy investments to power them. The executive order opens federal lands to data center construction, as well as aims to accelerate new clean energy development to power them.
The executive order directs the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to identify potential sites for building and operating data centers and clean power capacity on federal lands by next year. The executive order prioritizes identifying sites that have access to transmission, do not negatively affect communities, and provide for “expeditious permitting” to accelerate construction. Data center developers would also need to bring on the full clean power needed to meet their data centers’ energy demands under the executive order.
With less than a week before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, it is unclear what effect the executive order will have. The goal of advancing data centers aligns with Trump’s pledges to keep the U.S. ahead on tech, but he could drop the executive order’s clean energy provisions, having previously said he would expand oil and gas power for data centers.