WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon readers, we are halfway through the week! With Congress back in session, Callie and Maydeen kick things off looking at a surprising withdrawal from the United Nations climate change conference. With the climate summit in full swing, White House officials are affirming the U.S. energy transition, while also encouraging the EU to embrace the newly finalized methane fees.
Today’s edition of Daily on Energy also takes a peek at the nuclear industry embracing AI. Plus, keep reading to find out who has announced recent support for the Senate permitting reform bill.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
COP29 – ARGENTINA PULLS NEGOTIATORS: Just three days after the UN’s climate change conference began, Argentina’s negotiators are heading home by orders of Argentinian president Javier Milei, who has called climate change a “socialist lie” and a hoax.
The details: Argentina’s undersecretary for the environment, Ana Lamas, confirmed to The Guardian that the country’s negotiators were ordered to withdraw from the conference. Lamas declined to provide any detail as to why Milei made the decision.
“It’s true,” Lamas told the outlet. “We have instructions from the ministry of foreign affairs to no longer participate. That’s all I can tell you.”
Some background: Milei has also moved to cut environmental programs in Argentina and once vowed to leave the Paris Agreement. However, negotiators attending COP28 confirmed in December 2023 that the country would remain in the agreement.
MORE AT COP29 – ZAIDI SAYS OIL BOOM HELPS ENERGY TRANSITION: White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said that higher oil production has helped the U.S. in its transition toward clean energy, Bloomberg reports.
Zaidi said at COP29 that the U.S. can lead both on oil production and on driving the switch to clean energy, saying that “climate … action depends on where we invest in more infrastructure dollars, and what’s the pace of decarbonization in the U.S.”
Zaidi said the administration’s approach has been to ensure there is “energy availability for the demand that exists on the market today — no shocks, no upward price pressure.”
“My message to everybody around the world is that it doesn’t matter what your energy mix is today. We can all travel the distance and get there and keep one and a half degrees within reach,” he added.
ELECTRICITY PRICES STILL ON THE RISE: With inflation rising to 2.6% for the year ending in October – the first rise in annual inflation in six months – electricity prices have continued to increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The details: In the most recent Consumer Price Index Summary, the bureau revealed that electricity prices rose 4.5% for the year ending in October. Month-to-month, electricity prices were up 1.2%. This is an acceleration from September, which saw prices rising by only 3.7% for the year, and 0.7% on a month-to-month basis.
Passing the blame: With year-over-year electricity inflation rates remaining dramatically lower than their June 2022 peak of around 13.7%, some industry players have claimed the current rising prices are a result of policies issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“Electricity price inflation is a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) policy failure – not a market failure,” Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition chair Paul Cicio said in a statement. “Electricity prices will continue to escalate due to tens of billions of dollars being spent on electricity transmission projects that are not competitively bid, a policy that monopoly utilities oppose to increase their profits. Without competition, utilities do not have an incentive to reduce transmission costs.”
But…energy prices are decreasing: Regardless of the uptick, overall energy prices decreased last month, with the bureau reporting a 4.9% drop in the last 12 months for the energy index – which includes gasoline, fuel, and electricity. Month-to-month, widespread energy prices saw no change from September.
DIABLO CANYON EMBRACING AI: Diablo Canyon, California’s only operating nuclear plant, is reportedly entering an agreement to use artificial intelligence systems in order to keep the plant running.
The details: California-based nuclear AI company Atomic Canyon announced Wednesday that it will be partnering with Diablo Canyon operator Pacific Gas & Electric to build AI systems within the nuclear plant. It was not immediately clear how much the agreement was worth. However, it was revealed that the AI software will be used to sort through millions of documents to create plans for the plant to continue to meet licensing requirements, according to Reuters.
The software, called Neutron Enterprise, is expected to run on computers supplied by tech giant Nvidia to process decades worth of data and documents and make it easily accessible for regulatory planning. PG&E has also suggested that, in time, the AI software could even be used for additional tasks such as maintenance scheduling, according to Reuters.
Key quote: Atomic Canyon founder Trey Lauderdale told Reuters that most operating nuclear plants have a “huge corpus of data.” “But it can be really challenging to find documents when you have so much data that’s available. A lot of this data is microfiche. It’s not like they went and labeled what all this data was,” he said.
Some background: The Diablo Canyon Power Plant received approval in December 2023 to extend its operations until at least 2030. The plant is considered to be the largest source of clean energy in the state, providing around 17% of California’s carbon-free electricity and nearly 9% of the state’s total electricity supply. Previously, the nuclear plant’s reactors had been scheduled to shutter in 2024 and 2025.
GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS ON TRACK TO REACH RECORD HIGH: New data from the Global Carbon Project shows that the carbon emissions from fossil fuel are on track to reach a record high in 2024.
As world leaders aim to cut emissions and transition to clean energy, the research group said there is “‘no sign’ that the world has reached a peak in fossil CO2 emissions.” It added that total carbon dioxide emissions are projected to be 41.6 billion tonnes in 2024, up from 40.6 billion tonnes last year.
The new research comes as global leaders at COP29 try to negotiate climate plans and strike a deal on climate finance.
“The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly dramatic, yet we still see no sign that burning of fossil fuels has peaked,” said Pierre Friedlingstein of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute.
“Time is running out to meet the Paris Agreement goals – and world leaders meeting at COP29 must bring about rapid and deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions to give us a chance of staying well below 2°C warming above pre-industrial levels,” he added.
CEMENTING METHANE FEE ACROSS BORDERS: The Biden administration is looking to make it more difficult for Trump to repeal its newly finalized methane emissions fee by turning its attention to Europe.
The details: In a letter reviewed by Reuters, the Biden administration asked the European Union to align itself and comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s methane fee rule finalized on Tuesday. The letter, signed by Department of Energy’s Brad Crabtree and EPA’s Joe Goffman, specifically points to U.S. LNG exports to Europe. The officials have asked the EU to allow exports that meet the methane guidelines to automatically be considered in compliance with European import standards.
“We understand that this process will take time. However, we would like to begin discussions as soon as possible, to ensure the continued reliable and stable supply of natural gas from the United States to Europe,” it reportedly reads.
Earlier this year, the EU approved a similar limit on methane emissions on oil and gas imports to the bloc – starting in 2030. However, exact limits have not been publicly announced. Imposing similar or identical limits to the EPA’s methane fee could make it near impossible for a Trump administration to walk back the rule.
A reminder: First proposed in January, the rule imposes a fee on oil and gas companies if their methane emissions exceed certain levels. The EPA has estimated that the rule will result in reductions of 1.2 million metric tons of methane through 2035 — roughly equal to the impact of taking nearly 8 million gas-powered vehicles off the road for just one year.
The fee is expected to only be applied to “high-emitting” oil and gas producers that report emissions of more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. Facilities that report wasteful methane emissions will face a fee of $900 per metric ton in 2024, $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 in 2026 and beyond.
CHENIERE ENERGY SUPPORTS THE U.S. REMAINING IN PARIS AGREEMENT: President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to withdraw the U.S. again from the 2015 Paris Agreement, but the U.S. largest LNG exporter, Cheniere, said it supports the U.S. remaining in the agreement and its methane limits, Reuters reports.
On a webinar yesterday hosted by asset management company Tortoise Capital, Vice President Anatol Feygin said, “We are supporters of the Paris agreement. We are supporters of the methane rule,” referring to the European Union’s methane emission limits on oil and gas imports. He added that reducing the company’s emissions will ensure natural gas plays a role in the energy transition.
Earlier this week, the CEO of Exxon Darren Woods also discouraged the Trump administration from pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement.
RENEWABLES ABROAD FACING MORE POST-ELECTION RISKS: Investor concerns over Trump has reportedly led to European renewable powerhouse RWE pulling back on green energy investments.
The details: The Germany company revealed on Wednesday that it would be offering a $1.59 billion share buyback program for investors, according to the Financial Times. Additionally, RWE has said it plans to scale back on its own investments in clean energy projects like offshore wind. While the company invested around $10.5 billion in 2024, RWE now only plans to invest just under $7.4 billion for 2025 and 2026.
RWE has pointed directly to the results of the U.S. presidential election as the reason behind the renewable pullback, as Trump has vowed to target clean energy projects, such as offshore wind, in his new administration. “Given the results of the US elections, the risks for offshore wind projects have increased,” the company said.
Some reaction: While the shift in funding may impact RWE’s 2030 goals, investors appeared pleased with the move. Shares in the energy company reportedly jumped by 7% Wednesday.
“The risks of RWE’s aggressive investment strategy in the US and on the hydrogen side have started to materialize,” RWE investor Enkraft Capital’s Benedikt Kormaier told the Financial Times. “It is only prudent that the investment program is now prudently reviewed and scaled back and capital distribution to shareholders is increased.”
TECH GROUPS PUSHING FOR PERMITTING REFORM: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin and ranking member John Barrasso’s “Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024” has gained the support of several tech groups.
The Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI), Chamber of Progress, ClearPath Action, Inclusive Abundance Action, and several others sent a letter yesterday to congressional leadership asking them to prioritize the passage of the permitting reform bill.
The legislation introduced earlier this year would help accelerate the permitting of critical energy and mineral projects. It would shorten the judicial review timelines on all types of federal authorizations for energy and mineral projects. The bill would also help the build-out of interregional transmission lines and speed up the approval of natural gas exports.
“In order to increase access to energy for consumers and industries across the economy, Congress must take up permitting reform that allows America to build critical energy infrastructure,” the letter reads.
It added “The Energy Permitting Reform Act would tackle a number of issues at the core of America’s bottlenecked development of critical energy infrastructure by: expediting the development of renewable generation projects and transmission lines, expediting court review of critical energy and mineral projects, and reshaping the development of interregional transmission line planning.”
RUNDOWN
Inside Climate News Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
New York Times This Is 29 Years of International Climate Summits, Visualized
Reuters Carbon markets give environmentalists hope after US elections