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ClearPath Action Rundown 
September 12th, 2025

Happy Friday!

1. Congress can let America build with permitting reform

ClearPath Action Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Harrell testified before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources at a legislative hearing.

The hearing covered:

• The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act or the “SPEED Act;”
• The ​​ePermit Act; and
• The Studying NEPA’s Impact on Projects Act.

What’s clear: “The U.S. is in a global competition for energy, for AI and for manufacturing leadership. We can’t win without being able to build here at home. Congress alone can provide the long-term certainty developers need to make billion-dollar investment decisions in our economy. To let America win, we need to let America build." 

Plug in: Read Jeremy's testimony here.

2. NEW blog: Clean Baseload Power: A Politically Durable Energy Agenda

Post-One Big Beautiful Bill, a clear path for a politically durable American energy strategy has emerged: clean, firm 24/7 energy technologies.

Technologies like advanced nuclear, carbon capture, hydropower, fusion and enhanced geothermal systems have seen bipartisan support in:

• The Energy Act of 2020;
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021; 
• The Inflation Reduction Act, driven by Democrats in 2022; and 
• The One Big Beautiful Bill, driven by Republicans this year. 

What’s clear: There is a broad, bipartisan consensus that to compete with China, the U.S. must develop new energy projects. Instead of falling into the false choice trap of fossil fuels versus renewables, or the economy versus the environment, ClearPath espouses choosing markets over mandates and innovation over regulation to meet the growing demand with clean baseload power. 

Plug in: Read more in our new blog by Chief External Affairs Officer Luke Bolar.

3. EPA + Arizona advancing Class VI wells

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to “fast-track” the approval of primacy applications. This week, EPA announced a final rule granting Arizona primacy over all underground injection wells, including Class VI wells for the long-term storage of carbon dioxide. 

Class VI primacy is:

• An effective tool for streamlining the permitting process for Class VI wells – enabling states to review and approve carbon storage permits in a few months; and
• Key for unlocking carbon storage infrastructure and deploying carbon management technologies broadly.

What's clear: This administration is committed to streamlining the permitting process for carbon storage infrastructure. Six states currently have Class VI primacy, and over 230 individual Class VI permits are currently under review by EPA. With eight Class VI primacy applications currently in the queue, EPA has an opportunity to continue to support the efficient and timely build-out of critical energy infrastructure.

Plug in: Read more on unlocking Class VI well permitting here.

4. Baker Hughes and CTR partner to advance geothermal

Baker Hughes plans to develop a 500 MW geothermal project in Imperial County, California with renewable energy and critical minerals company Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) to advance the development of one of the world’s largest geothermal energy projects.

CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen Project:

• Is expected to support geothermal power production, delivering 24/7, clean baseload energy, fueling AI and data center growth, creating thousands of American jobs and strengthening our energy security; and
• Was selected as a Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act project, also known as FAST-41, accelerating its permitting process with streamlined federal support.

Baker Hughes plans to deploy high-temperature drilling technologies, field services and power systems traditionally used in the fossil fuel sector in order to deliver around 500 MW of geothermal energy.

5. Partnering on steel solutions

ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, has invested in American industrial heat innovator Electrified Thermal Solutions (ETS) through its XCarb Innovation Fund. The fund invests in companies developing breakthrough technologies that can modernize steelmaking by reducing costs and emissions while improving efficiency.

The two companies have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to trial ETS’ thermal energy storage technology, which:

• Electrifies heating processes up to 1,700°C to reduce costs and emissions;
• Modifies off-the-shelf brick technology to deliver clean, on-demand heat; and
• Will be tested at a commercial demo plant at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas.

What’s clear: Scaling American innovation requires strategic capital investment to move technologies from pilot to commercial stage. Arcelor’s investment is a vote of confidence in the technical and commercial viability of ETS’ technology, which can boost deployment.

6. The Circuit

7. Coming down the pipeline

Today, 12:00 - 1:00 P.M., Rayburn House Office Building – Hillary O’Brien will speak on a panel hosted by BPC, “Meeting the Demand: DOE’s Role in Fostering Innovation to Meet Our Energy Needs.” Register here.

September 22-26, New York, NY – Are you going to New York Climate Week? We are hosting events:

• September 22 – Carbon Innovation Forum in partnership with API. Energy executives will discuss the case for energy addition, the importance of American innovation and the strong market demand for putting more energy on the grid. Register interest here.
• September 23 – Energy Forum in partnership with Foreign Policy. CEO Jeremy Harrell will speak on how integrated approaches across policy, finance, and innovative fields can improve energy security and strengthen global market resilience. Register here.

8. ICYMI

• ABOVE: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that David Wright, after being nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate, was ceremonially sworn in as NRC chair on September 8th.
• DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund announced over $35 million to support emerging energy technologies related to grid security, AI, nuclear energy and advanced manufacturing as they move to market from DOE research labs.
• DOE announced $134 million to advance fusion technology. The majority of the funding will be used to help bridge the gap between research and commercialization.
• DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced its intent to launch the Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction–Gallium (TRACE-Ga) initiative. The initiative is designed to establish a secure domestic supply chain for gallium, which is critical to the energy, defense, and semiconductor sectors.
• Urenco USA is expanding its U.S. enrichment capacity again with a second new cascade of gas centrifuges at its New Mexico enrichment facility.

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!

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