Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute

Thank you to Ceres, Inc. for a fantastic New York Climate Week conversation on “Gridlock or Growth? Securing the Infrastructure for America’s Thriving Economy” ✅ I was excited to talk about the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute Thriving Economy Project policy blueprint! -With John Pappas

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Thriving Economy Project webinar yesterday! We had a great turnout and appreciated your thoughtful questions and active participation throughout the meeting. Thank you for your interest and for the valuable feedback you shared as we move into the next stages of the project. We look forward to sharing more updates with you soon. If you missed the webinar or would like to rewatch it, the full recording is now available on our website. You can also find the full Thriving Economy Project report, executive summary, and supporting materials there. Explore the project and watch the full webinar recording: https://lnkd.in/ew3qJ4Bq

🌏 LAST CHANCE TO PARTNER WITH US AT COP 31 IN ANTALYA 🌎 As we prepare for our Congressional delegation to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, this November, we’re looking to connect with attending organizations that are interested in engaging with the delegation. We welcome ideas for bilateral meetings, public or private events, roundtables, speaking opportunities, press engagements, site visits, and other programming. If your organization is planning to attend COP31 and would like to engage with the delegation, please submit this short form by October 1st for consideration: https://lnkd.in/gNtbA6nm

Tomorrow at 2pm ET, Max Frankel and I are speaking on a Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute webinar on the just-released Thriving Economy Project report! The webinar will provide an overview of our 800+ policy ideas, a deeper dive into the report itself and the process in pulling it together, our next steps, and a moderated discussion and Q&A. Register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/gyGzH7vs Learn more about the Thriving Economy Project here: https://lnkd.in/e5XerYz6

After more than 60 Member of Congress appearances as well as countless discussions and panels by Thriving Economy project policy experts, #NewYorkClimateWeek is officially a wrap! We kicked off the week alongside Business Roundtable and Anthesis Group with a dinner focused on how Members of Congress and business leaders can work together to address affordability and sustainability. Throughout the week, we worked with partners including Grove Climate Group’s Clinton Britt, Eric Fins, and Katie Greenberg, Crux, Food Tank, Siemens, Ceres, Inc., Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20), and many others, before convening our broader community at the Clean Energy Innovators Reception, co-hosted with Emerson Collective, The Climate Solutions Foundation, Conservative Climate Foundation, and Elemental Impact. Members visited Axios House and Concordia, joined conversations with Bill McKibben, League of Conservation Voters, Saad Amer, and other leaders from across the climate community. They met with international partners to discuss the role of U.S. congressional leadership in strengthening competitiveness, investment, energy security, and international cooperation. Members also had the privilege to meet with the United Nations Secretary-General during the week. Thank you to all of our partners for the work that went into making these conversations possible, and to everyone who joined us and made the week such a success. Climate Week was particularly meaningful for us this year because it came just one week after the launch of our Thriving Economy Project. We were able to take the project’s ideas directly into conversations with the cross-sector leaders who can help translate them into action. We’re energized by the enthusiastic response to the Thriving Economy Project, by the incredible work happening across the climate community, and by the momentum behind turning these ideas into real-world progress. Next week, we’ll continue the conversation with a public webinar taking a deeper dive into the report, followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A with Max Frankel and project lead Eric Fins. Register for the webinar: https://lnkd.in/er63dVze Learn more about the Thriving Economy Project: https://lnkd.in/ew3qJ4Bq

At UNGA and Climate Week, Members of Congress are making the case that climate leadership and affordability belong in the same conversation. Yesterday, we met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to share ideas from our Thriving Economy Project and discuss how lowering costs, growing economic prosperity, and advancing climate solutions must go hand in hand. As we look ahead to COP31, Members of Congress have an important diplomatic role to play: showing up, strengthening relationships with allies, and keeping the U.S. engaged in the global climate fight. 📸 UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

I was proud to be a part of this effort. Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute's Thriving Economy Project came out this week featuring 800+ policy ideas from hundreds of participants. Here's what stood out. The report is centered around affordability. The big ideas: Help data centers meet their pledge. A federal ratepayer-protection floor for large loads, faster interconnection for flexible ones that bring their own capacity, and a data-center-funded pool for LIHEAP and weatherization. Use the grid we have already paid for. Utilization is under 50%, versus nearly 70% historically. The report proposes federal utilization metrics, grid-enhancing technologies, VPPs, flexible load and performance-based ratemaking. It cites Brattle's estimate of more than $100 billion in savings over a decade. Fix utility incentives. FERC review of utility returns, an end to ratepayer-funded lobbying, executive pay transparency and RTO governance reform. Fast household relief. Some pass through of low cost wholesale power from solar/wind, everyone gets to install batteries and utilities can use them to reduce costs for everyone. Build faster. A national transmission backbone using Federal highway right-of-ways, expanded FERC siting authority, a 30% transmission tax credit and technology-neutral permitting. Bridge the valley of death for American technologies that receive strong private sector support in nuclear, geothermal, storage and fusion with demos, LPO loans, long-term federal power contracts and NRC reform. Make federal commitments durable. Limit termination-for-convenience clauses and bar rescinding awarded funds except by law. Quietly one of the biggest ideas. Standards and Coordination: Most of the ideas can be done with the existing Federal workforce. We don't have to grow government to get this done. Many proposals are regulatory and reduce costs for utilities and industry. What's missing: Hydro licensing barely appears, despite a wave of relicensing ahead. The menu presented in this document isn't legislation, but for anyone working on grid flexibility, VPPs or data center policy, it's worth a read. Any of the policies that you thought were most interesting?

We’re taking the Thriving Economy Project to New York Climate Week! On Tuesday, September 22nd, SEEC Institute will bring together Members of Congress behind the project for a press breakfast on the policy ideas developed to help lower costs, strengthen U.S. competitiveness, create good jobs, deliver reliable and affordable energy, and build a more resilient economy. It’s also a chance for press to hear directly from Members engaging at COP31 about how international cooperation connects back to affordability and prosperity at home. For Americans, that means competing in global markets, securing critical supply chains, growing U.S. businesses, and helping families thrive. For international partners, it means engaging directly with the lawmakers shaping U.S. energy, trade, investment, innovation, and global partnerships. 📍 Midtown Manhattan 📅 Tuesday, September 22nd ⏰ 9:30 AM ET Members of the press can RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gVs6BsZ8 Learn about the Thriving Economy Project: https://lnkd.in/ew3qJ4Bq #NYCW #ClimateWeek #ThrivingEconomyProject #CleanEnergy #PressConference #MediaAdvisory #NYCmedia

Supply chain weaknesses slow down clean energy development & electric grid modernization. We need both supply-side and demand-side policies to onshore key industries and create high quality jobs. Many of these policies have bipartisan appeal. Today, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute released the Thriving Economy Project policy blueprint. I wrote Chapter 5 on "Cheap, Abundant, and Clean American Energy for All" with Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA-49). Here's what we recommended: 🔹 Extend and expand the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit: 🔸 Reaffirm long-term support for 45X for solar and storage manufacturing. Provide Production Tax Credits for domestically manufactured LDES components, including electrolytes, thermal media, tanks, heat exchangers, compressors, and mechanical assemblies. 🔸 Remove the 2027 termination for 45X for wind energy components to provide long-term certainty. 🔸 Expand 45X for key next-generation geothermal components, including drill bits; large diameter well casings and drill string components, including insulated drill pipes; high temperature, high pressure sensing and power electronics; geothermal electricity production equipment; heat exchangers; air-cooled condensers; and production well pumps. 🔸 Expand 45X for power transformers, switchgear, and grid-forming inverters. 🔸 Expand 45X for the production and incorporation of domestically produced high-performance rare earth magnets, which are critical for EVs, wind turbines, and many other applications. Provide a higher credit for recycled magnets. 🔸 Expand 45X for components of industrial heating technologies, including geothermal, solar thermal, electric heat pumps, and clean hydrogen. 🔹 Extend and strengthen the Clean Electricity Investment Credit with the Domestic Content Bonus and high road labor standards. Ensure a continuing role for demand-side incentives to sustain domestic supply chains for clean energy and electric grid components and equipment. 🔹 Provide additional funding for the Section 48C Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit. 🔹 Direct DOE to supplement Defense Production Act support with long-term purchase commitments between utilities and manufacturers to stabilize market demand and de-risk manufacturing expansions. Allow other DPA tools to be used, including price floors, price insurance, and equity investment, for clean technologies with appropriate guardrails and environmental review. 🔹 Expand DOE EDF to invest in the manufacturing needed to develop the domestic supply chain for clean energy and electric grid components and equipment. 🔹 Expand and incentivize the use of the U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship programs. 🔹 Establish place-based initiatives in partnership with state policymakers and regional commissions to provide holistic support to expand advanced manufacturing for clean energy and electric grid components and equipment.

Today marks the release of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute's Thriving Economy Project. Developed with nine Members of Congress and informed by policy experts, businesses, organizations, and people from across the country, the Thriving Economy Project offers actionable ideas to lower costs, create jobs, strengthen U.S. competitiveness, and build a more reliable and resilient economy. TEP Senior Director Evan Chapman served as policy expert for Chapter 6: 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. The chapter highlights new ideas for fostering an energy innovation ecosystem that will drive technological advancement across the economy. In a new blog, Evan describes his work on the Thriving Economy Project and the behind-the-scenes work needed to transform an idea into passed legislation: https://lnkd.in/ehF-B28z Explore the Thriving Economy Project at https://lnkd.in/ew3qJ4Bq.