Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Fusion power will get a spotlight Thursday that could help startups push for federal assistance in commercializing their technology.
Why it matters: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing could offer some insight on where DOE is headed with its research programs for a potentially game-changing technology.
Zoom in: Both House and Senate appropriators are proposing boosts for fusion programs for fiscal 2025.
- Fusion companies could also potentially take advantage of IRA programs like the 48C tax credit.
- Expect to hear from DOE's Jean Paul Allain during the hearing about the agency's "building bridges" plan for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.
The industry has visions of a fusion funding package to support programs authorized by the CHIPS Act and put more focus on commercialization.
- "We think there needs to be supplemental funding put together for fusion," Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, told Axios.
- That's not going to materialize immediately, but the industry's Hill allies definitely have their eyes on commercialization.
- "DOE's role in all of this should be to move the material science fast enough forward that we can get to commercial fusion," Sen. Martin Heinrich told Axios.
Between the lines: Another industry ask: moving fusion outside the Office of Science to make it an applied office like DOE's nuclear or fossil programs.
- Heinrich called that "a very intriguing idea."
