Joe Biden

• On the margins of the G7 Leaders Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, the Biden Administration announced, along with multinational partners, intentions to provide up to $275 million to advance the deployment of a NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR) VOYGR™ small modular reactor (SMR) power plant in Romania.
• The Biden Administration’s announcement was a part of the G7 Leaders’ commitment to mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investments under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.
• Earlier this month, NuScale and Nuclearelectrica opened the first international NuScale Energy Exploration Center (E2 Center) in Europe, in collaboration with the U.S. and Romanian governments.
• The E2 Center’s opening highlights the rapidly growing global support for NuScale as a clean energy leader.

• The proposal would set new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants, effectively restricting their emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
• Operators of fossil fuel power plants would need to find feasible and innovative ways to avoid excessive carbon dioxide releases.
• That’s drawing attention to a relatively mature, but expensive technology: carbon capture and storage, or CCS.

CCS’s rocky path

• And the high number of projects suspended or terminated has prevented economies of scale that could lower the costs.
• The expected payoffs for CCS have improved over time, particularly with tax credits included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
• Until they successfully sequester CO₂, the power plant operators would need to bear the cost and risk of building a CCS network.
• Further, a research team at Harvard University estimates that the cost of carbon capture for gas power plants could still be uneconomical even with the tax credit.

Three big infrastructure challenges

• However, questions remain related to CCS infrastructure.
• Finally, the permit process has been a big limiting factor in expediting CCS deployment.
• The proposed rules will require a review process before they can be approved, and they are likely to face political headwinds and legal challenges.

Transforming the power sector

• Fossil-fueled power plants account for about 25% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
• But while the EPA’s new proposal may not solve all problems for deploying CCS, it could be an important step to accelerate transforming the power sector.
• In the absence of federal-level carbon taxes or emission trading systems in the U.S., this could be an effective way to send a clear signal to power sector players that it’s time to change.

• The proposal would set new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants, effectively restricting their emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
• Operators of fossil fuel power plants would need to find feasible and innovative ways to avoid excessive carbon dioxide releases.
• That’s drawing attention to a relatively mature, but expensive technology: carbon capture and storage, or CCS.

CCS’s rocky path

• And the high number of projects suspended or terminated has prevented economies of scale that could lower the costs.
• The expected payoffs for CCS have improved over time, particularly with tax credits included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
• Until they successfully sequester CO₂, the power plant operators would need to bear the cost and risk of building a CCS network.
• Further, a research team at Harvard University estimates that the cost of carbon capture for gas power plants could still be uneconomical even with the tax credit.

Three big infrastructure challenges

• However, questions remain related to CCS infrastructure.
• Finally, the permit process has been a big limiting factor in expediting CCS deployment.
• The proposed rules will require a review process before they can be approved, and they are likely to face political headwinds and legal challenges.

Transforming the power sector

• Fossil-fueled power plants account for about 25% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
• But while the EPA’s new proposal may not solve all problems for deploying CCS, it could be an important step to accelerate transforming the power sector.
• In the absence of federal-level carbon taxes or emission trading systems in the U.S., this could be an effective way to send a clear signal to power sector players that it’s time to change.

• Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS), a provider of home care services, commented on the proposed new rule announced last week by the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) known as “Assuring Access to Medicaid Services.” The proposed rule is in addition to those adopted under the Obama Administration in 2016 and incorporates new requirements covering additional Medicaid Services, including Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS).
• The proposed rule is not final and is subject to a sixty-day public comment period.
• The proposed rule has a stated goal of improving access to services for Medicaid beneficiaries.
• We note the express willingness of HHS, stated in the proposed rule, to entertain comments regarding both the appropriate minimum percentage and the related components in calculating such percentage.