Congress Would Fund Fusion Cost-Share Program in Committee-Passed Appropriations Bill
On July 12, 2021, the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill that includes $45 million in Fiscal Year 2022 funding for a new milestone-based public-private partnership cost-share program for fusion energy as was authorized in the Energy Act of 2020.
The bill includes $698 million for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, $26 million higher than what was enacted in 2021 and $23 million higher than what was proposed by President Biden’s 2022 budget. Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee incorporated $580 million for Inertial Confinement Fusion and $600 million for ARPA-E, both significant funding increases from FY21. This bill also provides the Department of Energy with policy direction, supporting the findings of the FESAC report and the creation of a stellarator facility.
The relevant language from the Committee Report is:
The recommendation includes up to $45,000,000 for the Milestone-Based Development Program as authorized in section 2008 of the Energy Act of 2020. The Department is directed to support these activities at a level commensurate with the prioritization recommended in the ‘‘Powering the Future: Fusion and Plasmas’’ report. The Department is directed to provide to the Committee not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act a briefing on how the authorities provided in the Milestone-Based Development Program can be applied to the prioritized activities recommended in the ‘‘Powering the Future: Fusion and Plasmas’’ report.
The House Appropriations Committee held a full Committee markup of their version of this bill on July 16, voting to pass this bill with 33 yeas.
The FIA and its members will continue to push for the maximum amount of full-funding for fusion power in the infrastructure package and will work to ensure that fusion receives equivalent or higher levels of funding from the Senate Appropriations bill.
Read the bill report on the House of Representatives’s webpage. Read the text draft of the bill on the House of Representatives’s webpage.
This page will be updated as this bill continues along the legislative process.
More information about the FIA’s efforts to create a new public private partnership program are available through these links:
FIA CEO Andrew Holland Writes OPED for Investment in Fusion Energy as an Infrastructure Priority
Bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus Seeks Energy Department Update on Public-Private Partnerships
Building a Public-Private Partnership Cost-Share Program for Fusion Power
More information about the FIA’s efforts to create a new public private partnership program are available through these links:
FIA CEO Andrew Holland Writes OPED for Investment in Fusion Energy as an Infrastructure Priority
Bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus Seeks Energy Department Update on Public-Private Partnerships
Building a Public-Private Partnership Cost-Share Program for Fusion Power
