Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
The fusion industry sees an opportunity in the Republican reconciliation push with the GOP's focus on "energy dominance" and baseload power.
Why it matters: Fusion could be a grid game changer, but the industry thinks it gets paltry support relative to other energy technologies funded through DOE.
- "We actually think fusion fits a lot of the themes that President Trump and the Republicans in Congress are talking about," said Trent Bauserman, head of federal affairs for Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the House's top energy appropriator, predicted the Trump administration would be "pro-fusion" but wouldn't have the same "fiscal appetite" for it as the Biden administration.
Driving the news: The Fusion Industry Association is pushing the Hill to dole out nearly $10 billion over five years to various fusion programs in reconciliation, CEO Andrew Holland told Axios.
- That would include $2 billion for DOE's milestone-based fusion development program and $3.7 billion for test stands and research facilities at the Office of Science.
- It's an opportunistic play for something the budding industry has persistently asked for: supplemental federal funding to pump up commercialization and flesh out programs authorized — but not funded — by the CHIPS Act.
- Although Republicans aren't committing behind closed doors, "it's on the table," Holland said. "It's not a 'No, we're not doing that.'"
Zoom in: The milestone program has to date awarded $46 million across eight companies, which piles on top of billions in private sector investments in the U.S.
- Recent scientific advancements have led private players like Commonwealth to believe they'll hit "net energy" — producing more energy than their device consumes — in the next few years.
- Broadly, the goal is to put power on the grid by the early 2030s. But that almost certainly won't happen without significant DOE support for commercialization and materials science.
Reality check: It's going to be tough to persuade Republicans to spend that kind of money when they're trying to pay for tax cuts and programs they view as the "green new deal."
- To wit, fusion companies would like to see the IRA's tech-neutral energy incentives continue.
- Plenty of skepticism still exists about the technology.
Between the lines: Still, fusion may have an ally in prospective Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
- "The last decade has seen more progress than in my lifetime, and I would love to see that come to commercial power in the next decade," Wright said at his confirmation hearing.
- China's focus on fusion could also whet the appetite among Republicans and the Trump administration to advance the technology.
What we're watching: Even if the industry's reconciliation push doesn't pan out, appropriators have steadily increased the budget for fusion energy sciences to around $800 million annually in recent years.
- "I hope that continues, but I think it's probably going to be tempered with a view towards, let's get the energy resources that we can count on now ramped up," Fleischmann said.
