WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! It’s day eight of the government shutdown, and Senate Republicans have continued advancing President Donald Trump’s nominees. This morning, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing to consider key nominations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency. 

In today’s edition of Daily on Energy, we provide the latest updates on what – or rather who – may have been behind the devastating Palisades wildfire early this year. 

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Plus, we have some more news on coal for you today as the newest coal power plant opened (the only one to come online in the last 12 years) is now temporarily shutting off. 

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.

SENATE DEMOCRATS GRILL NRC NOMINEE OVER SAFETY AND LEGALITY: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing today to consider the nomination of Ho Nieh to fill one of two vacant posts at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Democrats on the committee raised the alarm about the Trump administration’s attempts to restructure the independent agency. Nieh, who has decades of experience in the nuclear sector, currently serves as vice president of regulatory affairs for Southern Nuclear. He also has 20 years of experience working at the NRC in several key roles. 

Trump’s NRC restructuring: In recent months, the White House has taken steps to overhaul the independent agency. President Donald Trump in May signed an executive order to reform the NRC, aiming to push the agency to expedite the approval process of reactors.

Trump, over the summer, also fired Democratic commissioner Christopher Hanson, who argued that his termination was without cause. 

What Democrats are saying: The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, said he was concerned about the administration’s political influence over the NRC. 

“For instance, when the White House is willing to fire NRC commissioners without cause, that’s a pretty good sign that they seek to exert political influence,” Whitehouse said. 

Regarding Whitehouse’s concerns, Nieh said, “I will 100% stay committed to the state independent safety mission of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure that all the decisions NRC made are, in fact, made independently, with the right technical input.” 

Whitehouse added, “Even if it gets you fired?” 

“My focus is going to be on the NRC safety mission,” Nieh said. “I do not envision a circumstance where the president or anyone in the administration would advocate for anything unsafe that would be counterproductive to the vision embraced in the Advance Act of Congress, as well as the executive order [ordering the reform of the NRC].” 

Read here to see what other Democrats had to say about the NRC reform. 

MAN CHARGED WITH STARTING THE CALIFORNIA PALISADES FIRE: Authorities earlier today arrested a man who allegedly started Los Angeles’ most destructive fires in January. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said today they have arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht in connection to starting the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. 

Authorities said that Rinderknecht, an Uber driver, has been accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Day, which then sparked the Palisades fire on Jan. 7. 

The suspect lied to authorities about his whereabouts when the Lachman Fire started. But  authorities said they looked at geolocation data from his cellphone, collected 13,000 items of evidence, carried out 500 scientific tests, and reviewed millions of phone records to make a case for his arrest. 

Rinderknecht also allegedly generated a ChatGPT image showing a burning city that was collected from his digital devices. 

“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said. 

The Palisades Fire was L.A.’s most destructive and damaging fire, killing 12 people and burning over 23,000 acres. 

Read more by Washington Examiner’s Emily Hallas here. 

NEWEST COAL POWER PLANT TEMPORARILY CLOSES FOLLOWING FAILURE: Evidence suggests that coal may not be able to meet the moment for energy demand under the Trump administration, as the most recently built coal-fired power plant in the U.S. is poised to be offline until 2027. 

The details: The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis revealed this week that the Sandy Creek coal power plant, which opened in 2013, is expected to remain closed until March 2027. 

The plant has been offline since April of this year, when the facility suffered from what appears to be a major failure. Initially, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said the 932 megawatt plant would be closed until June of next year. Few details have been made public about the outage, and it remains unclear what exactly caused the apparent failure. 

Some background: No coal power plants have been built in the U.S. since Sandy Creek opened, as the traditional source of power became less cost competitive and reliable than alternatives like natural gas. 

The Trump administration has sought to revive coal to secure more baseload energy amid increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. However, critics argue these facilities have become too costly to operate and maintain, particularly as renewables like wind and solar grow cheaper to deploy. The temporary closure of the Sandy Creek plant also raises the question if modern coal-fired power plants have the reliability needed to meet demand. 

“Maybe someday coal will play a part in the US power grid but for now it’s just too unreliable to compete with wind, solar and batteries,” Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten wrote in a post to X, mocking similar criticisms leveled against intermittent renewable energy in recent years. 

NESTLE EXITS GLOBAL CLIMATE ALLIANCE FOR DAIRY INDUSTRY: The Western pullback from international climate change-related commitments among major corporations continues, as Nestle has reportedly left a major alliance dedicated to reducing methane emissions in the dairy industry. 

The details: Nestle confirmed to Bloomberg this week that it was no longer a member of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, which was first formed with the support of the Environmental Defense Fund in December 2023. 

Nestle was one of the six founding members of the group, which also includes Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Bel Group, and Danone. Other corporations that have since joined the alliance include Starbucks, Idaho Milk Products, Groupe Lactalis, and Canadian dairy producer Agropur.

Members of the group have pledged to measure and report methane emissions associated with their dairy products. Initially, they vowed to publish a plan on how to lower these emissions by the end of last year, but that was later delayed until 2025. 

A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that the departure came after a regular review of external organization memberships. Nestle insisted that the company is still committed to cutting its emissions associated with its dairy products. It did not explain why it exited the group. 

It has yet to be seen if Nestle’s departure will spark a similar exodus seen among major banks and financial institutions with the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Those exits ultimately resulted in the group ceasing operations entirely. 

ENERGY REGULATORS CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE: The Senate has confirmed Laura Swett and David LaCerte to fill the open seats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the independent agency a 3-2 Republican majority. 

Swett and LaCerte were confirmed yesterday afternoon in a party-line vote on a slew of agency and ambassador nominees. After months of frustration over the slow pace in confirming Trump’s nominees, Republicans changed Senate rules last month through the so-called “nuclear option,” allowing them to bypass Democratic opposition. 

Swett and LaCerte are expected to make their first public appearance at FERC’s regular open meeting on Oct. 16. The independent agency does not appear to have been heavily affected by the government shutdown, but if the federal funding lapse lasts for an extended period it may be forced to rely on significantly pared-down staff. 

LaCerte is currently expected to serve on the commission through June 2026, while Swett’s term ends in June 2030. Both could be renominated to FERC by the president before the end of their respective terms. 

GM TO PROVIDE ITS OWN ELECTRIC VEHICLE INCENTIVE: General Motors will provide $6,000 of its own money to continue supporting electric vehicle leases, following the ending of the federal EV tax credit. 

GM is ending its plans for a program that would extend the $7,500 tax credit for new EV leases beyond Sept. 30. Instead, the company will now use its own money to provide customers $6,000 for EV lease support. 

“GM worked on an extended offer for the benefit of our customers and dealers. After further consideration, we have decided not to claim the tax credit,” a company spokesman told Bloomberg in an email. “GM will fund the incentive lease terms through the end of October.” 

The federal tax credits ended at the end of September. It provided consumers to receive up to $7,500 for purchasing a new EV and $4,000 for a used one. 

Since the end of the federal tax credits, automakers are seeking  ways to continue to promote EV adoption. Tesla yesterday debuted more affordable versions of its most popular cars – the Model 3 Standard and Model Y Standard. The Model 3 standard will cost around $38,630 and the Model Y Standard will start at $41,630. 

ICYMI – CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR REJECTS GEOTHERMAL BILL: California isn’t welcoming geothermal developments with open arms just yet, as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have streamlined the certification process for drilling projects. 

The bills: Two geothermal bills hit Newsom’s desk yesterday, both of which would make it easier for geothermal power plants to be built in the state. However, only one – AB531 – was signed by the governor.

This bill, introduced by Assemblymember Chris Rogers, will allow geothermal power plants to be certified through the California Energy Commission’s streamline opt-in process. Previously, the CEC was allowed to certify hydrogen facilities, solar power plants, energy storage systems, and thermal energy projects, as well as transmission projects connected to these clean energy facilities. 

A second bill, AB527, also would have streamlined the certification process, but it was rejected by the governor. This bill specifically would have provided a California Environmental Quality Act exemption for certain exploratory wells drilled by geothermal developers to determine if the area is fit for drilling and extraction. 

The veto: While Newsom expressed support for expanding geothermal energy in California, he rejected the bill Tuesday over potential increased fees associated with the legislation. Newsom claimed the California’s Geologic Energy Management Division would have been forced to combine new regulations for geothermal wells with existing rulemaking by January 2029. He warned the bill would delay “much-needed regulations” and force the Division to increase fees on geothermal operators. 

This, Newsom said, “could disincentivize geothermal development in California beyond any incentive provided by a CEQA exemption for one party of a project’s permitting process.” 

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