CERAWEEK: Granholm casts DOE as 'fierce fighter' in shift to low-carbon economy

Promising her department would be one of the US government's "most fierce fighting forces" in pursuit of the goal of a carbon pollution-free economy, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm March 3 announced plans to reinvigorate DOE's loan program and create a new office focused on jobs during the energy transition.

At the annual CERAWeek by IHS Markit energy conference, Granholm delivered an upbeat assessment of prospects for adding millions of jobs and promised not to leave oil and gas workers behind. She framed the administration's drive to reach climate targets and funnel investment into cleaner energy in the context of global economic competition with countries such as China.

"Biden is demanding that we get in the battle on behalf of our people to fight for them, and for too many years we have watched as others created economic opportunity for manufacturing for their citizens while we stood on the sidelines," said Granholm, referring to US President Joe Biden. "We've got to add hundreds and hundreds of gigawatts to the grid of clean energy over the next four years," she said, stressing the urgency of the task she sees before DOE during the Biden administration.

DOE will use "powerful tools" in its arsenal, she said, listing basic science breakthroughs pursued by national labs as well as several other DOE programs that seek to turn science into deployable technologies.

Loan program 'back in business'

To fund deployment of clean energy technologies, she said DOE's "once mighty loan program office, as of today is back in business," after much of the authority went unused over the last four years. DOE tapped Jigar Shah, most recently co-founder and president of Generate Capital, to head the loan office, overseeing DOE's $40 billion loan authority, she said.

DOE also is launching a new jobs office to help people in coal, oil and gas industries translate their skills to new clean energy jobs, according to Granholm. The office will "help us figure out how to create all kinds of jobs for all kinds of people in all corners of the country that have long felt unseen," she said, mentioning communities of color living with a legacy of air pollution as well as coal communities hit by global market shifts.

She added an advisor for equity, as well, to help target disadvantaged communities for new clean energy investments.

Michigan lessons

Using the example of prior her experience as Michigan governor helping draw investments in next generation auto industry technology, she suggested those in fossil fuel industries also may want to seize the chance to help diversify into clean energy solutions. She pointed to investments in carbon capture and storage, oil and gas company decisions to diversify internally or set net-zero goals as examples.

"In times where the market is raising its hand and saying, 'We're heading in a direction. You better come along or you're going to be left behind,' maybe we should listen to some of those signals," she said. "This is where the puck is headed, and it would be great to have partners in making that a successful transition."

She described carbon capture and storage as a "huge opportunity," hailed advances in green hydrogen and blue hydrogen paired with natural gas, and spoke of pursuing infrastructure including transmission grids or CO2 pipelines.

Her emphasis on opportunities came as some Republican lawmakers continued to voice fears of job loss tied to Biden's climate agenda. During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing March 3, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican-West Virginia, described skepticism about promises of green jobs in some states that have been impacted before. "Some of us kind of feel like its sort of a little pat on the head, you know, 'you're going to be OK,'" Capito said.

Texas takeaways

Separately, in light of recent events in Texas, where millions lost power during a cold snap in mid-February, Granholm said she hoped the Texas legislature would provide the ability to for the grid to be prepared to sustain such weather events, which are likely to occur with greater frequency in the future.

In addition, she hoped Texas would consider connecting to its neighbors so that "we can send ions across the grid in times of need," and that in times when Texas is "generating all sorts of clean energy it could send those clean ions out from Texas and take advantage of a market that is eager to accept it."