Budget & Policy

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Both House and Senate appropriators plan to provide more than $100 million in extra funds to help reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant following incidents earlier this year, though the two chambers disagree on where the funds will come from. The Department of Energy is expected to need significant funding […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2014 While both the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bills would boost funding overall for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management above DOE’s budget request, House appropriators are looking to provide less than what DOE is seeking for liquid waste cleanup […]

The following interview with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, who announced this week plans to leave DOE in the fall, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. WC Monitor 6/20/2014 To start things off, I think one of the things you’ll be remembered for during your time at DOE is the Department’s efforts to […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 The Obama Administration’s next choice to head the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, Monica Regalbuto, breezed through a hearing the Senate Armed Services Committee held on her nomination this week, and she has so far not indicated any big changes are in store for the structure of the DOE Office […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 After five years, Daniel Poneman is stepping down as Deputy Energy Secretary this fall. Poneman’s departure plans were announced in a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz sent to employees late this week. “It has been my pleasure to work with Dan in many settings over a couple of decades—from […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency, fielded an onslaught of questions from House Republicans this week during the first of what is sure to be many hearings on the EPA’s recently proposed carbon emissions regulations for existing coal […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 House appropriators are once again expressing concern over how the Department of Energy manages major projects in the Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration. While DOE has made some improvement in its ability to “deliver small projects on schedule and within budget,” the Department “continues to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 After years of trying, the Department of Energy may be moving closer to realizing a goal of getting new funding for the federal Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund, which helps cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 The Wyoming Pipeline Authority has submitted to the Bureau of Land Management a plan to develop an extensive carbon dioxide pipeline corridor through federal lands, Governor Matt Mead announced late last week. The project, called the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative (WPCI), would establish a network of pipeline corridors totaling […]

House Releases Additional Details of Its Version of Energy Spending Bill Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 Senate Democrats this week dropped plans to consider the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill in response to an attempt by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to add language to the measure that would block […]

Mike Nartker RW Monitor 6/20/2014 After five years, Daniel Poneman is stepping down as Deputy Energy Secretary this fall. Poneman’s departure plans were announced in a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz sent to employees late this week. “It has been my pleasure to work with Dan in many settings over a couple of decades—from […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency’s “outside the fence” approach in recently released proposed carbon emissions guidelines for existing power plants got a lot of attention during a Bipartisan Policy Center event this week, with Jeffery Holmstead, former Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation with the EPA and Susan Tierney, former […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 CO2 Solutions and Neumann Systems Group (NSG) announced this week that they have entered into a collaborative agreement to test their carbon capture technologies together in a pilot demonstration project. Canadian-based CO2 Solutions specializes in enzyme-enabled carbon capture technology which will be paired with NSG’s NeuStream technology, a high […]

GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 IN INDUSTRY Denbury Resources this week named Brad Kerr Senior Vice President of Planning, Technology, CO2 Supply and Pipelines. Kerr will be filling a vacancy left when Charlie Gibson was appointed to the new position of Senior Vice President of Production Operations. Kerr has previously held positions with Royal Dutch Shell and […]

The following interview with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, who announced this week plans to leave DOE in the fall, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 To start things off, I think one of the things you’ll be remembered for during your time at DOE is the Department’s efforts to […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 House appropriators are once again expressing concern over how the Department of Energy manages major projects in the Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration. While DOE has made some improvement in its ability to “deliver small projects on schedule and within budget,” the Department “continues to […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 Both House and Senate appropriators are looking to boost funds for Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility construction funding above the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 request and aim to prevent use of the funds to put the project into “cold standby.” Citing rising costs for the project, the Department of […]

Bill Hits Snag Over Carbon Emissions Amendment Controversy, Full Committee Markup Postponed Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee cleared its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act this week, zeroing out funding for work on a refurbished nuclear cruise missile warhead and drawing quick criticism […]

Full House Committee Clears FY 2015 E&W Approps Bill, Providing $8.2B to NNSA Weapons Program Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 The House Appropriations Committee cleared its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act this week, endorsing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s shift to what it called a “more realistic” strategy to […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 After five years, Daniel Poneman is stepping down as Deputy Energy Secretary this fall. Poneman’s departure plans were announced in a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz sent to employees late this week. “It has been my pleasure to work with Dan in many settings over a couple of decades—from […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act scheduled for this morning was cancelled last night due to a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over a controversial amendment that would scuttle new carbon emissions regulations on power plants. The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee cleared its version […]

The U.S. nuclear industry is pushing back against a provision in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would reauthorize new contributions to the federal Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund, which is used to cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites. The Senate bill would […]

Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman is expected to announce today his plans to leave DOE, effective this fall, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. Poneman has served as the No. 2 official in the Department for the past five years, having been confirmed by the Senate to serve as Deputy Secretary in May 2009. He […]

House appropriators cleared the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill yesterday, clarifying language that will give the Department of Energy the authority to divert up to $120 million in planned pension payments toward recovery efforts at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. An amendment drafted by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) stated that planned pension […]

The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee cleared its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, zeroing out funding for work on a refurbished cruise missile warhead and drawing quick criticism from a Republican Senator on the panel. As the panel unveiled some details of its funding bill, matching the Obama […]

The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee spending bill for Fiscal Year 2015 would boost Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility construction funding to $400 million and would prevent funds from being used for “cold standby” of the project, panel Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said yesterday following a markup of the bill. Citing rising costs for […]

Overall the Senate bill would provide $5.942 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management,  $320 million above DOE’s budget request, while the House bill would boost cleanup funds by $6.7 million above the budget request. The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee has not provided further detail at this point, but the […]

Both House and Senate appropriators plan to provide more than $100 million in extra funds for recovery of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant following incidents earlier this year, though the two chambers disagree on where the funds will come from. The Department of Energy is expected to need significant funding to restore operations at WIPP […]

The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes a reform to the nation’s nuclear waste policy that would enable the construction of a pilot interim storage facility, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said during the subcommittee markup yesterday. This reform would address the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which designates […]

House appropriators are looking to provide less than what the Department of Energy is seeking for next year to begin work on a new interim pretreatment capability for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. In its FY 2015 request, DOE asked for $23 million to begin work on the Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System, which is […]