1. New commercial nuclear reactor in Georgia
In a huge milestone for nuclear energy, this week, Georgia Power announced that Vogtle Unit 3 has entered commercial operation, officially serving reliable, emissions-free energy to the State of Georgia.
- The unit can power 500,000 homes and businesses with its full output of 1,100 megawatts of electricity.
- Once all four units are online, the Plant Vogtle site will be the largest generator of clean energy in the nation.
- The initial operating license for the unit is 40 years long, but could be extended to operate into the 2100s.
Last week, Vogtle Unit 4 received the green light from the NRC to load fuel and begin its startup sequence, and is expected to be commercially operational by early 2024.
What's clear: There is incredible momentum behind the next generation of advanced nuclear technologies, and the American nuclear industry is gearing up to demonstrate and deploy the next wave of new reactors in the coming decades.
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2. Misguided permitting implementation rule
Last week, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released new guidance for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
This proposed rule will make it harder to deploy clean energy infrastructure projects. The top five missteps of the latest NEPA guidance are:
- Defaults to the status quo that is making permitting worse,
- Creates more confusion for project developers,
- Allows agencies to consider unrelated alternatives,
- Creates more bureaucracy and red tape, and
- Invites more litigation.
What’s clear: “The Administration is actively working against its own climate goals in this proposed rule. We need to deploy more clean energy projects, not fewer, and do so at a much faster pace and scale than we do today. The proposed rule will make it more difficult to site and permit projects, increase interagency bureaucracy, and ultimately increase emissions through permitting delays,” said ClearPath Chief Executive Officer Rich Powell.
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3. Clean energy messaging for August
ClearPath Action regularly conducts polling and focus groups with voters across the county. This tool, using polling and modeling from Echelon Insights shows Congressional districts’ views on climate and clean energy, and is a resource as lawmakers return to their districts for August recess.
A few toplines include:
- The majority of American voters believe we can reduce carbon emissions without new regulations.
- 76% of Independent voters feel more favorably toward their Member of Congress if they supported policies that promoted clean energy.
- Only 7% of all voters (14% GOP) believe climate change is not happening.
Want to learn more? Send us an email!
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4. ICYMI
- Natural gas deliveries to the U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities set a record in the first half of 2023, averaging 12.8 billion cubic feet per day.
- Japanese airline ANA signed an agreement with 1PointFive to purchase 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits enabled by Direct Air Capture (DAC).
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