Join us on social below!

ClearPath Action Rundown 
December 12th, 2025

Happy Friday!

It was great to see so many of you at our Holiday Party last night!

1. Energy Department advances investments in AI for science

The Department of Energy announced over $320 million in investments to rapidly advance the Genesis Mission’s AI capabilities that will begin building a discovery engine.

These four initiatives will deliver breakthroughs to secure U.S. energy dominance, strengthen national security and accelerate scientific discovery:

• The American Science Cloud (AmSC);
• The Transformational AI Models Consortium (ModCon);
• Robotics and automation; and
• Foundational AI awards.

What’s clear: “The engine of the Genesis Mission is the DOE’s world-leading National Laboratory system. We have the ingenuity, we have the resources, and now, with the Genesis Mission, we have a clear signal from the federal government that winning the AI race with energy is a national priority,” said ClearPath CEO Jeremy Harrell.

ClearPath, the U.S. Department of Energy National Labs and NVIDIA hosted an event of the next generation of American leadership in science and innovation with DOE Under Secretary for Science and Director of the Genesis Mission, Dr. Darío Gil; NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams; House National Labs Caucus Co-chairs Fleischmann (R-TN) and Foster (D-IL); House Science Committee leadership Babin (R-TX), Lofgren (D-CA) and Casten (D-IL); and Directors of the 17 DOE National Laboratories and AI industry representatives.

2. House passes three bills to modernize federal permitting

Three permitting modernization bills passed out of the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis, a step toward making federal reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) faster and more transparent to meet America’s rising energy and infrastructure needs.

The bills include:

• The Studying NEPA’s Impact on Projects Act, sponsored by Reps. Rudy Yakym (R-IN) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA); 
• The ePermit Act, sponsored by Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Scott Peters (D-CA); and
• The PERMIT Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).

“Modern tools and actionable data will speed up environmental reviews, strengthen accountability and provide clearer timelines for developers,” said ClearPath Action CEO Jeremy Harrell. “The legislation advanced by the House today will improve permitting transparency, identify systemic bottlenecks, and serve both developers and the public.”

What’s clear: Permitting modernization is essential to America’s energy dominance. These bipartisan votes reflect growing recognition that a more transparent and predictable permitting system is needed to build the projects that power a competitive U.S. economy.

3. Office of Energy Dominance Financing 101

This week, ClearPath released a new 101 outlining how DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) serves as one of the federal government’s most important tools for advancing American energy innovation. 

As global competition intensifies and demand for reliable power accelerates, EDF provides necessary capital, technical expertise and risk-sharing needed to move promising technologies from early development into full commercial deployment.

The new ClearPath 101 highlights how EDF accelerates American innovation:

• Closes the bankability gap;
• Provides end-to-end technical and financial diligence;
• Catalyzes commercial deployment and scale-up; and
• Delivers strong taxpayer value.

What’s clear: EDF plays a foundational role in American energy leadership through reducing barriers to commercialization, strengthening national competitiveness and enabling the technologies that will power the next era of American energy. ClearPath’s new 101 breaks down how EDF works, who it is for and why it remains one of the most effective tools for accelerating U.S. innovation.

4. NextEra announces AI-driven power buildout

AI is reshaping America’s power demand in real time. NextEra announced major agreements with Google, Meta, Exxon and others to build large-scale data-center hubs. The company is targeting 15 GW of new generation by 2035 to power these data center hubs, ensuring American energy infrastructure can support U.S. leadership in AI development.

• The Google partnership includes multiple GW-scale hubs now under development;
• Exxon and NextEra are exploring a 1.2 GW gas plant utilizing carbon capture for a hyperscaler; and
• NextEra and Basin Electric are evaluating a 1.45 GW gas plant for another data-center hub in North Dakota.

What’s clear: Data center build-out is driving an increase in energy demand, and hyperscalers need reliable, affordable power today. Natural gas, nuclear and geothermal, are key to powering the economy and strengthening U.S. energy leadership.

5. Fervo secures funding to scale next-gen geothermal

Surging energy demand and support from the Trump Administration have turned geothermal into one of the fastest growing energy options. Investors have noticed as Houston-based Fervo Energy announced a $462 million Series E round to build its first commercial power plant in Utah and accelerate additional projects ahead of a planned 2026 IPO.

The details: 

• Fervo plans to bring 100 MW of next-gen geothermal online in Utah in 2026.
• The company partnered with Google to support data center operations in Nevada.
• Fervo utilizes advanced shale drilling techniques to unlock new, economically viable geothermal resources.

What’s clear: As AI accelerates electricity demand, firm, clean and 24/7 resources like geothermal are gaining momentum. Fervo’s success signals growing investor confidence that enhanced geothermal can scale and contribute to America’s clean, reliable energy future.

6. The High-Capacity Grid Act: Growing the grid with innovation

America’s grid is old and facing unprecedented demand growth and wildfire risks. While America is a leader in developing innovative grid technologies, it lags behind in their deployment. Rep. Fedorchak’s (R-ND) new bill establishes a best-available conductor standard to incentivize the deployment of conductors that can:

• Save consumers money through greater efficiency and avoiding more expensive solutions;
• Accelerate demand growth by significantly increasing the capacity of existing rights of way in a fraction of the time it takes to build new transmission lines; and
• Enhance resilience and reliability by reducing thermal expansion that increases wildfire and equipment failure risks.

What’s clear: High-performance conductors are American innovations that improve grid reliability and affordability, and can play a key role in AI leadership. This bill positions American utilities to lead in the deployment of innovative conductor technologies.

Plug in: Learn more about how high-performance conductors and grid-enhancing technologies can address wildfire risks in ClearPath’s blog “Preventing Wildfires with Innovative Forest Management and Grid Technologies.”

7. INL selects five teams to advance real-world microreactor uses

As AI demand grows and companies look for reliable on-site power, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is moving quickly to demonstrate how microreactors can deliver. INL has selected five teams for its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) Project, a first-of-its-kind test reactor platform for data centers, industrial applications, autonomous operations and advanced sensors.

What to know:

• INL plans to bring the reactor online in 2027.
• The selected teams are Amazon Web Services (AWS), DCX USA with Arizona State University, GE Vernova, Radiation Detection Technologies, and Shepherd Power with NOV and ConocoPhillips.
• These teams propose testing cases including desalination, remote operations, advanced sensors and viability of powering data centers with advanced nuclear technologies.

What’s clear: The National Labs, through programs like MARVEL, can support private industry to remove barriers to scaling new nuclear reactors.

8. Newlab-JERA partnership accelerates industrial decarbonization

The Gulf Coast is becoming a proving ground for technologies that reduce emissions from heavy industry while keeping energy affordable. Newlab New Orleans and Japanese energy company JERA announced a partnership to accelerate next-generation carbon capture technologies for heavy industry across the region. 

What’s happening:

• JERA Ventures is joining Newlab’s New Orleans innovation hub to support companies focused on energy efficiency, carbon capture and port infrastructure;
• Newlab’s Louisiana facility will open next year at the former Naval Support Activity site;
• JERA has invested $300 million globally in clean energy and is expanding in Louisiana through low-carbon ammonia, shale gas and solar projects; and
• Both partners emphasize carbon capture’s role in reducing emissions from existing gas assets as electricity demand grows.

What’s clear: Carbon capture is essential for producing cutting-edge, low-carbon materials to meet growing infrastructure needs and strengthen U.S. energy security. Partnerships like this accelerate deployment and reinforce America’s leadership in clean, firm and reliable energy solutions.

9. USDA launches the Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program

The USDA launched the Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program to reduce farmer production costs, aiming to enhance productivity, improve soil health and improve water quality.

This pilot program will: 

• Implement the SUSTAINS Act, Republican-led legislation passed in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which allows for private investment to match funds for existing federal conservation programs at USDA; and
• Allocate $400 million to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $300 million to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

What’s clear: The Regenerative Pilot Program puts American Farmers first by reducing barriers to entry for conservation programs, leveraging private-sector partnerships and streamlining the application process for conservation programs. 

10. First testing of grid-scale battery technology: Grid Storage Launchpad

The DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) began its first utility-grade, grid-scale battery testing at the new Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), advancing large-scale energy storage technologies to support a reliable, affordable and secure electrical grid. 

As the nation’s proving ground for large-scale energy storage technologies, the GSL will:

• Launch a comprehensive first test of a utility-grade vanadium flow battery developed by Invinity Energy Systems under real-world grid conditions;
• Provide independent, rigorous feedback for developers so they can ready their technologies for commercial deployment and grid adoption, closing the gap between laboratory prototypes and utility-scale applications; and 
• Invite wider industry participation to accelerate validation of next-generation energy storage solutions and drive U.S. leadership in grid resilience and clean energy integration. 

What’s clear: The Grid Storage Launchpad’s first utility-grade battery test puts American energy innovators first by expanding large-scale validation capabilities, leveraging industry partnerships and streamlining pathways for grid-ready technology deployment.

Plug-in: ClearPath has championed this years-long effort as a true testament of American energy innovation and is excited to see this initiative move forward. Read more in our blog.

11. The Circuit

12. ICYMI

• The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council announced the completion of federal permitting for the Alaska LNG project.

13. Coming down the pipeline

Monday, December 15 at 1:30 p.m. – International Spy Museum – ClearPath CEO Jeremy Harrell will moderate a panel at C3 Solutions’ American Leadership in Energy Innovation Summit and will discuss permitting reform and how to meet our energy needs with Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT). Register here.

ClearPath believes America must lead the world in innovation over regulation…markets over mandates…providing affordable, reliable, clean energy. 

That's all from us. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

• Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here.
• Miss a week? Catch up on our Rundown archive.
• Follow us on Twitter: @ClearPathAction / @jharrell

View this Rundown online