WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and Happy Monday, readers! We are one day away from Election Day, with polls predicting a close presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. 

In today’s Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen cover several nuclear energy matters, including the U.S. and South Korea reaching an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation. We also look at the buzz around Mark Zuckerberg‘s plans to build an AI data center that runs on nuclear energy. 

The newsletter also covers the United Arab Emirates’ annual oil and gas summit, and its promises to boost oil production in coming years. Finally, in today’s election countdown, we also look at South Dakotans weighing in on the future of a carbon pipeline. 

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.

BIG TECH NUCLEAR DEALS IN DOUBT AFTER FERC DENIAL: Traders may be having doubts regarding the strength and viability of partnerships between Big Tech and energy companies backing nuclear as federal regulators blocked a request to expand nuclear power to support an Amazon data center. 

Some background: Earlier this year, Amazon announced it would be colocating a data center with Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Talen has since sought to increase the amount of nuclear energy that would be sent directly to the Amazon data center to 480 megawatts from 300 megawatts. If approved, the expansion of the amount of energy used by Amazon’s data centers would signal major regulatory support for such agreements between energy companies and Big Tech to use nuclear power to advance artificial intelligence. 

The details: In a 2-1 vote, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday rejected the request, citing the possibility of higher bills for customers and risks to grid reliability. 

“Colocation arrangements of the type presented here present an array of complicated, nuanced, and multifaceted issues, which collectively could have huge ramifications for both grid reliability and consumer costs,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie wrote in the order rejecting the request. Chairman Willie Phillips dissented. 

Read more from Callie here. 

U.S.-SOUTH KOREA REACHES NUCLEAR AGREEMENT: The Department of Energy announced that the U.S. and South Korea have reached an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation. 

The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday reinstating their commitment to expanding nuclear energy while upholding high standards and strengthening each other’s export controls on nuclear energy technology, the department said. 

“These further commitments will provide a springboard for the expansion of our bilateral work in combatting climate change, accelerating global energy transitions, and assuring critical supply chains while creating billions of dollars worth of new economic opportunities and the creation or maintenance of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs for both of our industries,” the DOE stated. 

The agreement will undergo final review in each country. 

IN OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS, OFFICIALS WEIGH BUYING MORE U.S. ENERGY IF TRUMP WINS: South Korea is considering increasing U.S. energy imports if former President Donald Trump is reelected, Bloomberg reports. 

For months, officials in Seoul have been preparing for the next U.S. president, citing that there is greater risk to trade if Trump wins, according to people familiar with the matter. South Korea may ask companies to increase their purchase of U.S. oil and gas if its trade imbalance with the U.S. becomes a problem with the Trump administration. 

Trump has promised to impose tariffs on all imports, with large tariffs specifically on Chinese goods. South Korea is also a significant manufacturer of semiconductors for the U.S. Bloomberg reports that, in recent weeks, officials in Seoul have held meetings with businesses and think tanks to discuss post-U.S. election strategies. 

ZUCKERBERG’S NUCLEAR-POWERED DATA CENTER BUZZKILL: Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to build an artificial intelligence-focused data center to be powered by a nearby nuclear plant have reportedly been partly blocked by buzzing bees.

The details: Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to the Financial Times that plans to construct the data center became complicated after a species of rare bees were discovered at the site where the facility was to be built.   

Zuckerberg had been planning to build the facility next to an existing nuclear power plant operator to use carbon-free energy to support Meta’s AI advancements. The Meta founder reportedly told the company of the hurdle during an all-hands meeting last week. If the company had been able to build the data center, it reportedly would have made Meta the first tech giant to have nuclear-powered AI, two people familiar with the meeting told the Financial Times. 

Some background: Meta’s buzzing barrier comes as other major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have announced deals to use nuclear power to support AI and data center developments. Unlike other green energy sources like solar and wind, nuclear projects can take much longer to receive approval – particularly when building from scratch. Limited options remain for Big Tech to partner with existing or retired nuclear plants that could come back online. As a result, many are turning their sights on alternatives, such as small modular reactors, to further invest in nuclear energy.  

UAE OIL AND GAS SUMMIT PROMISES: The United Arab Emirates has launched its annual oil and gas summit with a vow to dramatically increase its petroleum output in the coming years. 

The details: The UAE opened the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference Monday with its pledge to boost its oil production despite dropping global prices and reports that oil producing bloc OPEC+ is again weighing delaying its expected output hike. 

The UAE – which hosted the UN’s COP28 discussions last year, where hundreds of countries vowed to lower the use of fossil fuels – has said it plans to increase its oil output by 5 million barrels a day in the coming years. Sultan al-Jaber, head of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, reportedly called for a diverse energy mix at the start of the summit, pointing to massive energy demands from artificial intelligence developments. 

Key quote: “No single source of energy is going to be enough to meet this demand,” al-Jaber said, according to Newsweek. “Oil will continue to be used for fuel and as a building block for many essential products.”

TOTALENERGIES CEO SAYS NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD MAINTAIN ENERGY DOMINANCE: Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of the French-based oil company TotalEnergies, told CNBC that the next president should work to maintain the country’s energy dominance.

“U.S. energy has been unleashed. In fact, when you look to what happened since the last two, three years, production of oil has never been so high … [the] revolution of U.S. shale is really taking place,” Pouyanne told CNBC.

He added, “My view is that whoever the [winning] camp is, in fact, energy is really one of the big competitive advantages for the U.S. and whoever will win [will put] U.S. first, I would say.”

The U.S. is the largest producer and consumer of oil in the world, according to the Energy Information Administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who once favored banning fracking,  has moved to the center on the issue, as oil production has become more important in domestic politics and in terms of national security. Meanwhile, Trump has promised to accelerate oil production and deregulate the industry. 

ELECTION COUNTDOWN – SOUTH DAKOTA CARBON PIPELINE BALLOT MEASURE: South Dakota will vote on whether to uphold Senate Bill 201, a piece of legislation in response to the Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed 2,500-mile pipeline project. 

If voters reject the “Regulation of Carbon Dioxide Pipelines Referendum” ballot measure, it would undo regulation to facilitate the construction of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. The proposed pipeline project would send carbon emissions from 50 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota to be buried underground in North Dakota. 

Corn associations have expressed support for the ballot measure. Danita Murray, the executive director of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, told AgWeek that agriculture needs the pipeline and that the law can protect landowners when working with pipeline companies. 

“Right now, things aren’t great in agriculture. We’ve got high input prices and not great commodity prices,” Murray said. “This is something that we think is important, it’s timely. And yes, our board has supported and has policies that went through our annual meeting last year that supports the pipeline.”

Additionally, the bill would allow counties to impose a $1 surcharge per linear foot on related pipeline companies during any tax year and half of the revenue would go toward property tax reduction.

Environmentalists and critics have claimed the bill would strip landowners the ability to decide what is built on their land.

Read more about this year’s energy and environment ballot measures. 

Tomorrow is Election Day! 

A LOOK AHEAD: 

• Nov. 4 The United Nations is releasing its Trade and Development Report on Least Developed Countries, looking at how carbon markets can be utilized to support economic growth and climate action in these areas. 
• Nov. 4 – 7 is the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.

• Nov. 5 Election Day! 
• Nov. 6 The US Energy Association is holding a webinar on “National Energy Technology Laboratory Carbon Storage Planning Inquiry Tool (CS PlanIT).”

• Nov. 7 The United States Energy Association will hold a webinar “The National Tribal Energy Roundtable.” 
• Nov. 7 Heatmap Labs and Edge Zero are hosting a webinar on maintaining grid reliability through real-time grid monitoring. 
• Nov. 8 The Hudson Institute will host the “North American Energy Preeminence Forum.” 
• Nov. 8 The Solar Industries Association is hosting a discussion on boosting semiconductor manufacturing through Section 48D in the solar industry.

RUNDOWN 

New York Times What It Means to Come of Age in Climate Chaos 

E&E News Future of US energy goes to the ballot box

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