WHAT’S HAPPENING: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! In today’s edition of Daily on Energy, we give you the latest on the Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where President Donald Trump was joined by key energy members of his cabinet.
Maydeen is at the conference and sat down with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin earlier this afternoon. Read on for highlights from their conversation!
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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.
ZELDIN TALKS PERMITTING: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin sat down with Maydeen at Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick’s Energy and Innovation Summit this afternoon.
Regarding the ongoing bipartisan push for permitting reform, Zeldin said that the EPA’s work streamlining the process for energy projects is essential for winning the AI race.
“It is very important for us to be able to get these new projects approved, to be able to get it done as quickly as we can, to make sure the EPA isn’t slowing things down,” Zeldin told Maydeen.
“We are in a race to make America the AI capital of the world. We are in a race to unleash energy dominance, and the Trump EPA takes our responsibility and this opportunity very seriously, to be able to do everything in our power to help lead the way,” he said.
In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Republicans passed a resolution that would allow what Democrats called a “pay-to-play” scheme that allows companies to pay a fee to fast-track environmental review for projects.
Asked specifically whether the agency would consider offering a higher fee for an accelerated process for artificial intelligence projects, Zeldin demurred.
“That’s something that I wouldn’t have anything to add at the moment,” he said.
ENERGY SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT TALKS ENERGY AND AI: Energy Secretary Chris Wright touted the administration’s approach to increasing domestic energy production and promoting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence at the Energy and Innovation Summit this afternoon in Pittsburgh.
The Trump administration’s goal is to get the U.S. “off the energy crazy train,” Wright said on a panel discussion. He added that, in particular, the Biden administration sent the U.S. in the wrong direction by focusing on corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance issues.
Wright said that fossil fuels supply 82% of U.S. energy, even after the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated hundreds of billions of dollars to promote clean energy. He said that the legislation, which has been recently slashed by Republicans, wrongly focused on wind and solar.
“We’re able now in short order to just dramatically pivot the trajectory of American energy,” Wright said.
“If we’re going to win the AI arms race, we need massively more energy, not standing in front of the way of our energy today. We have to add massively to our electrical generating capacity. We want to reshore manufacturing and industry to this country and that’s all about energy,” Wright said.
Wright also spoke briefly about the importance of the DOE’s national labs. The department has 17 national laboratories that conduct research and development, including working on advancing artificial intelligence.
“AI is our second Manhattan project,” Wright said. “If we fumble the energy ball, we will not win the AI race, but we can and shall win the AI race.”
ELECTRICITY PRICES UP IN JUNE CPI REPORT: As inflation ticked up to 2.7% for the year ending in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that electricity prices rose by more than double that rate.
The details: In the most recent Consumer Price Index, the bureau revealed that electricity prices rose 5.8% for the year ending in June. On a month-over-month basis, electricity prices rose by 1%. Energy services overall, including utility gas, jumped to 7.5% for the year and increased by 0.9% compared to the month before.
Both electricity and energy services have continuously increased since December of last year, which some critics claim is due to existing policies from federal regulators.
“Families and businesses are getting hit with higher electricity bills, and the primary driver is the increase in transmission rates,” Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition chair Paul Cicio said, slamming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“These costs are out of control because monopoly utilities are exempt from the competitive bidding processes for new transmission lines that keep prices in check,” he added. “Existing FERC policy is anti-consumer and anti-free market.”
Gas down overall: While electricity prices are up, the Trump administration has continued to deliver on its promise to keep gas and fuel prices down for Americans. For the year ending in June, gasoline prices decreased by 8.3%, while fuel oil also dropped by 4.7%. These prices had been primarily dropping since President Donald Trump took office, though both slightly increased month-over-month. Compared to May, gasoline prices ticked up by 1% and fuel oil jumped by 1.3%, adjusting for normal seasonal variation.
CLEAN ENERGY INDUSTRIES LACKING ‘POLITICAL POWER,’ EX-BIDEN ENERGY OFFICIAL SAYS: The reason Republicans were able to include steep cuts to the renewables and clean energy industries in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was due to their lack of political power in public discourse, a former Biden administration energy official has said.
Jigar Shah, director of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office under former President Joe Biden, insisted in several social media posts this morning that clean energy advocates were “unprepared” in the fight to keep federal incentives long-term. Shah explained that investment in education on clean energy has dropped in the last decade, while critics have quickly grown their influence.
“Building true political power requires a broader strategy, not just defensive lobbying ever 2 years,” Shah said, adding that the industry can’t rely on just promoting the positive influence clean energy alternatives may have on local grids and communities.
Instead, he is calling on solar, wind, and electric vehicle advocates to go on the offensive and focus on building political power by establishing influence in small communities. For example, clean energy developers can be actively forming relationships with city council members and other local leaders outside of the traditional timeline for permitting and licensing processes.
“This industry is filled with builders—of projects, companies, careers, and futures,” Shah said. “Now we must become builders of political power too.”
NASA REVERSES PLANS TO PUBLISH SCRUBBED REPORT: In another hit to climate change research from the Trump administration, a major climate report will no longer be published by NASA.
The details: NASA confirmed to The Hill this week that it no longer plans to publish the National Climate Assessment, which had been located on globalchange.gov – a government webpage that has since been taken down.
NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens previously told the outlet that the agency had planned to host “all preexisting reports” on their website in order to ensure the “continuity of reporting.” Though now, the agency has said it has “no legal obligations” to host any information from the shuttered webpage.
Turning a blind eye: The decision comes as the Trump administration has sought to downplay reports and information regarding climate change, including through firing employees who worked on climate policy at different agencies such as the State Department. The EPA has also said it plans to review a key 2009 finding that determines greenhouse gases pose a risk to humans.
Top energy and environment officials have repeatedly brushed aside concerns about climate change and its role in causing extreme weather, with Energy Secretary Wright insisting yesterday that climate change is a “by-product of progress, not an existential crisis”
GOOGLE TO SPEND $3 BILLION ON HYDROPOWER FOR AI: In Big Tech’s latest effort to secure reliable and low-carbon energy to fuel its power-hungry data centers and artificial intelligence advancements, Google has announced a major investment in hydropower.
The details: Google is signing a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management’s renewable energy company, which includes 20-year purchase agreements for electricity generated by two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania.
The deal will initially provide Google with around 670 megawatts of energy and will later give Google the option to procure as much as 3 gigawatts worth of hydro-generated electricity through future projects and upgrades.
Becoming a big player: Big Tech has primarily kept its focus on natural gas, nuclear, and even large-scale renewable projects to power its operations. This week’s purchase agreement, though, makes hydropower a notable player in the effort to support AI, as the deal is the largest corporate clean power deal for hydroelectricity in the world.
“Our partnership with Google demonstrates the critical role that hydropower can play in helping hyperscale customers meet their energy goals,” Brookfield Asset Management President Connor Teskey said in a statement. “Delivering power at scale and from a range of sources will be required to meet the growing electricity demands from digitalization and artificial intelligence.”
APPLE INVESTS HALF A BILLION IN RARE EARTH MINE: Big Tech is looking to secure not just power, but also their supply chains for critical minerals. Apple is reportedly poised to announce its own large investment in the only rare earths mine in the U.S., to purchase domestically produced materials.
The details: Multiple sources familiar with the deal told Fox News Digital that Apple is planning to commit $500 million to MP Materials’ Texas mine in exchange for rare earth magnets. The deal is reportedly expected to also include the building of a new recycling facility in California, which will process the materials extracted to be used in Apple products.
A senior White House official told the outlet that the deal marks a “huge win” for the president and administration, which has sought to increase private capital in domestic critical mineral mining.
“Apple deserves a lot of credit for stepping up,” the official said. “It’s good for the country, good for American workers, and it’ll prove to be good business, too.”
The government’s stake: Apple’s expected investment comes just days after the Department of Defense said it also entered an agreement with MP Materials to build a domestic supply chain of rare earth minerals. The deal is driven by the administration’s goals to reduce its reliance on foreign imports, particularly from nations like China.
Through the multi-billion dollar deal, DoD is taking a $400 million stake in the company and will help fund the construction of MP Materials’ second domestic magnet manufacturing facility. The facility is expected to begin commissioning in 2028.
Drew Horn, CEO of GreenMet, previously told Maydeen that the deal is evidence that the U.S. government is willing to intervene in the industry and protect U.S. projects from price manipulation by countries like China, which dominates the critical mineral and rare earth supply chains.
CHINA TO PRODUCE NEW CLIMATE TARGETS THIS FALL: Amid pressure from the European Union to take more of a leadership role on climate change and reducing emissions, China has said it plans to release new climate targets later this year.
European Commission’s green chief Teresa Ribera confirmed this week that the bloc was informed by Chinese officials that they will release an updated plan to tackle climate change sometime this fall, according to Reuters.
Ribera said the Asian country has committed to a nationally determined contribution that is broad in scope, taking all greenhouse gas emissions and the economy into account.
“They will come up, later on, with their concrete update during the fall,” Ribera said.
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