Senate Confirms Ho Nieh to NRC as DOE Extends Michigan Coal Plant

Overview

• The Senate confirmed Ho Nieh to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a 66-32 bipartisan vote, bringing the agency to four commissioners with two Democratic appointees and a Republican chair.
• Nieh, praised by industry groups such as the American Nuclear Society, previously served more than a decade on NRC staff, worked at the IAEA, and most recently led regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear.
• The Department of Energy issued a third emergency extension for Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan, ordering operations to continue through February to bolster winter reliability.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed four rules to narrow Endangered Species Act protections, including ending blanket safeguards for newly listed threatened species, drawing opposition from environmental groups and support from House Republicans.
• The House approved Congressional Review Act resolutions to roll back Biden-era limits on coal leasing in Wyoming and oil and gas leasing in Alaska, with a separate NPR-A measure that already cleared the Senate now headed to the president.