At a hearing of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee this week, Senator John Hoeven confirmed Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette’s visit to North Dakota in May for the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and secured a commitment from him to include coal country as part of the trip. The senator first invited Brouillette to the state during his confirmation process last year.
“We appreciate Secretary Brouillette’s commitment to come to North Dakota’s coal country and to work with us to ensure that coal is fairly valued as a reliable source of baseload power,” said Hoeven. “At hearings this week before both the Energy Committee and the Energy and Water Appropriations Committee, the secretary expressed his strong support in helping us to advance this effort, which will help ensure the resiliency and reliability of the nation’s electric grid. We look forward to the secretary’s visit, and we appreciate his commitment to make our lignite industry a priority during the trip.”
This week, Hoeven spoke with Brouillette at both a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing and at a Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee hearing. At the hearings, the Senator stressed to the Secretary the importance of ensuring a better capacity value for coal and Brouillette affirmed his commitment to assist in maintaining the grid’s access to affordable and reliable coal-generated electricity.
Fair Value for Coal-Generated Electricity
- Hoeven has been pressing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on this issue, including Chairman Neil Chatterjee and James Danly, the administration’s nominee to serve as a FERC Commissioner.
- Hoeven and Senator Kevin Cramer introduced an amendment to repeal the one-year extension of the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). The measure was introduced as an amendment to the American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA), which is currently under consideration by the Senate.
Additionally, Hoeven secured support from the secretary to help advance the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, like Project Tundra, to support reduced emissions and greater energy production. Specifically, Hoeven is working to:
- Modernize the 48A and 45Q tax credits to help make CCUS projects more commercially-viable.
- This month, the administration issued two pieces of key guidance on the implementation of the 45Q tax credit. Hoeven worked with the administration to advance this important step, which provides greater clarity to developers of CCUS projects and will enable them to begin moving forward with financial arrangements and construction plans. Hoeven continues to urge the Department of the Treasury to issue the third and final piece of the 45Q rules as soon as possible.
- The senator is sponsoring bipartisan legislation to update the eligibility standards for the 48A tax credit, which are not currently technically or economically feasible for CCUS retrofit projects.
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