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US climate change policy under President Joe Biden will be
closely tied to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, said
Gina McCarthy, the first-ever National Climate Adviser, during a 3
February talk at the Energy Storage Association's virtual Policy
Forum.
And with renewable power becoming a more significant part of US
energy capacity, McCarthy said expanding the use of energy storage
and integrating it more closely with grid operations will be
crucial to maintaining the resilience of the electricity
network.
McCarthy said storage is the answer to skeptics who ask her what
happens when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. "How
many times do we have to say these things?" she asked. "We have to
explain to the public we have answers. We can generate energy, and
hold it, and release it at the times we need it."
The former administrator of the US Environmental Protection
Agency under President Barack Obama, McCarthy said policy
initiatives in the first two weeks of the Biden administration
moved quickly because "President Biden and Vice President [Kamala]
Harris have terrific aspirations for what we can do in this
country, and addressing climate is part of it."
Climate change is "intertwined" with the other challenges that
the nation faces today, she said, citing COVID-19 health recovery,
the economy, and systemic racism. "We wanted to go fast … and base
our programs on the strongest plan we could," she said. "As a
nation, we just lost four years of looking backwards, instead of
using those years to push forward."
Infrastructure investments, such as battery storage and electric
vehicle charging stations, are tools that will both pull the US
economy out of a recession, but also "let young people—who have
been so instrumental on this—understand that we get it."
The Biden administration is thinking big, she said, "… about
where you want to go, not where you used to be. Let's not recreate
our fossil fuel-based economy that we know [helped to create] the
climate crisis."
In addition to returning the US to the Paris Climate Agreement,
McCarthy said that Biden has made it clear that his approach will
focus on creating "good-paying, union jobs"; "delivering
environmental justice"; and returning to a science-based approach
to climate change.
Taken together, McCarthy declared it a "whole-of-government
approach," to solving climate challenges. "I've got a small
stronghold office, but I am an orchestra leader for a very large
band," she said, meaning that she is coordinating with multiple
federal agencies on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
build a resilient infrastructure and economic base. "We are,
together, reviewing policies, practices, how we can use our
purchasing power, and conducting program reviews," she said.
Energy storage
As for energy storage, the topic of the conference, McCarthy
pronounced herself "excited because I think the technology is here.
There's a lot we can already do … already so much we can deploy …
that's what storage needs, a real deployment strategy."
The Biden administration wants to work with the power industry,
electricity grid administrators, and state utility commissions to
build resilience into the system's infrastructure, McCarthy
continued. "Storage has to be a component of that strategic
thinking. It has to be part of our platform to 'Build Back Better.'"
When resilience is demonstrated, McCarthy predicted that wary
consumers will support renewable power more strongly. "We have to
get the middle of the country understanding and active on climate.
We have to show them what resilience looks like, so there is
confidence they can embrace the challenge of the climate crisis and
… [that] the US can make it happen," she said.
Security and energy storage
A panel following McCarthy's remarks picked up on the theme of
resilience in the form of energy security, and how US trade policy
fits into the picture.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on 1 May 2020
that declared that the Department of Energy (DOE) would be in
charge of "Securing the United States
Bulk-Power System," which had not previously been under DOE's
mandate. How the Biden administration will approach this issue is
unknown so far, said the panelists.
"President Trump's order surprised us," said Philip Moeller,
executive vice president, Edison Electric Institute. But Moeller
said Trump was spot-on that it is a critical issue, both in terms
of materials and technology. "When you look at the supply chain,
there is the issue of commodities, such as lithium and making sure
we have a secure supply chain," said Moeller. "But more importantly
… [it] is the integrity of the devices that are going on the
grid."
At times, 90% of the solar power inverters sold in the US were
made in China, Moeller said, and Chinese components are commonly
found in many power grid applications, both hardware and software.
With the grid of the future dependent on greater sharing of
information and quicker response times, this raises the stakes for
security. "As we try and balance the need for distribution system
information-where are you going to add significant EV charging
capacity, for example-countering this is the need to make sure
sensitive information on the system stays where it cannot be
exploited by [people] in the domestic or international
environment," he said.
On the issue of the minerals needed for renewable power and
energy storage, US trade policy is likely to evolve from Trump's
stance, but how far is unknown at this time, said Suzanne Kane,
partner with Akin Gump in its Washington, DC office. "We do know
it's reviewing a broad range of Trump [administration] policies,
though we're not sure specifically where China tariffs fall in that
broader review," she said.
The cornerstone of Trump's policy towards China was an array of
tariffs on Chinese exports to the US of manufactured goods and also
minerals, some of which are important to the renewable power
industry, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of
1974.
On the one hand, Kane said that Biden and his nominee for
Department of Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, have made it clear
they will continue the prior administration's tough stance with
China. There is strong bipartisan support in Congress to maintain
tariffs as well, Kane said.
"But on the flip side, the Biden administration has stated it
will continue to work with China on areas of concern, including
climate change. So, clean energy is an issue," she said. "We are
hopeful that with the priorities of the administration in mind,
they will review the Section 301 tariffs and the products covered
by it."
One possibility is to roll back tariffs on some items that are
particularly strategic for the clean energy industry, Kane said.
Another is to reopen the process by which importers from China
could seek exclusions to the tariffs, if they can demonstrate that
a product is not available from anywhere else. Hundreds of
exemptions have been granted for medical equipment related to
fighting COVID-19 and a lesser number for industrial equipment. The
new administration has "wide discretion" to change the exclusion
criteria, perhaps granting more exclusions than were approved under
the prior reviews, Kane said.
Posted 04 February 2021 by Kevin Adler, Chief Editor
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