WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, Daily on Energy readers! Just three days remain before it is officially autumn! But who’s counting?

As we wrap up another week, today’s newsletter takes a closer look at California’s renewed acceptance of fossil fuels in order to bring down energy costs in the state. 

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Nuclear energy dominated over the summer, with one utility reporting that its nuclear power plants had near-perfect reliability despite seeing extreme temperatures and record-breaking levels of humidity. 

Keep reading to catch up on the notable energy- and environment- related nominees that were confirmed by the Senate yesterday afternoon after Republicans changed the rules to get around Democrats. 

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.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: House lawmakers earlier this week introduced a bill to expand the advanced manufacturing production tax credit for companies that produce components for nuclear fusion energy. 

At the sidelines of National Clean Energy Week, Jackie Siebens, director of public affairs at Helion Energy, told Maydeen that “This administration acknowledges that America needs to win, not just in traditional nuclear power, not just in AI, but certainly in the last frontier of energy innovation, which is fusion.” 

“Ultimately, we need the federal government to move more into a space of helping support the private sector to build out the full ecosystem of a commercial fusion marketplace,” she added. 

NEWSOM SIGNS SWEEPING CLIMATE AND ENERGY LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping climate and energy package today aimed at reducing energy costs, cutting emissions, and increasing oil production. 

The legislation consists of six bills passed last week by state legislators. The legislation covers several initiatives, such as extending the state’s cap-and-trade program, approving new oil drilling, and expanding the state’s wildfire fund.

Some details: The package would extend the state’s cap-and-trade program, which was set to expire in 2030, through 2045. Newsom rebranded the program as the “cap-and-invest” program, which is meant to hold polluters accountable by placing limits on emissions and charging companies for exceeding the limits. 

It would also streamline the permitting process for thousands of new oil wells in Kern County to help boost the state’s oil supply and stabilize gas prices. California’s gas prices are typically the highest in the country, which has been linked to oil companies leaving the state in recent years. The legislation is a move by lawmakers and the governor to bring back oil companies to the state to help ease prices at the pump. 

The legislation also expands the state’s wildfire fund. The fund was depleting after the Eaton Fire sparked in Los Angeles County earlier this year. A measure in the package would replenish the fund with $18 billion over a decade. 

Read more by Maydeen here. 

CRES PRESIDENT TALKS PERMITTING: Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions President and CEO Heather Reams said that the White House has significant influence over lawmakers’ efforts to reach a compromise on permitting reform.

“We’ve got members of Congress going, we really like to get a signal from the White House, because we need to know how we need to negotiate a permitting bill,” Reams told Maydeen at the sidelines of National Clean Energy Week. 

Republicans in the House Natural Resources Committee have introduced bills to streamline the permitting process for infrastructure and energy projects. Lawmakers are striving to finalize an agreement by the end of the year, but significant disagreements persist over permitting reform.

Reams stated that “the administration is the wild card here,” adding that the White House has yet to indicate that permitting reform is a priority.

She said that lawmakers have noted they would “love a signal from the administration that they want this.” Reams added that during the negotiations over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the White House was a “heavy hitter” in the talks. 

Still, Democrats have raised concerns that renewable energy projects may encounter obstacles even after permitting reform is passed, due to the Trump administration’s approach to curbing the growth of renewable energy sources.

“Any supporter – Republicans or Democrats – and any supporter of renewable energy, any industry, is rightly concerned that they could be singled out again,” Reams said. “We at CRES would be very against that, of course, but we’d have to really rely on members of Congress to counterweight the administration.” 

UTILITY SAW NEAR-PERFECT RELIABILITY OVER THE SUMMER WITH NUCLEAR: Nuclear energy continues to prove itself as one of the most reliable sources of power, as Constellation Energy announced today that its clean energy centers powered by nuclear had near-perfect reliability over the summer. 

The details: Constellation Energy operates 21 nuclear reactors at 12 sites across the Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. During June, July, and August, these facilities collectively operated 98.8% of the time. The utility revealed that it has been able to upgrade all of the reactors’ capacity factors over the last decade, meaning they now operate with higher reliability than the year they were connected to the grid.  

“Constellation has reinvested billions of dollars to upgrade and enhance our U.S. nuclear fleet with state-of-the-art equipment and controls, and that investment is paying huge dividends for families and businesses in the PJM, NYISO and MISO service territories,” CEO and president Joe Dominguez said. “Like the well-known phrase about the postal service, neither snow nor rain nor heat or gloom of night will keep our team from powering America 24 hours a day 365 days a year.”

Some background: Nuclear has long been considered to be the most reliable source of energy when compared with traditional fossil fuels and renewables. Data compiled by the Energy Information Administration indicates that nuclear power has an average capacity factor of 92.5%, meaning it produces maximum power more than 92% of the time during the year. Natural gas and coal sit far behind, at 56.6% and 40.2% respectively. Wind power and solar are typically ranked as having the lowest capacity factors, of around 35% and 25% respectively. 

DOMESTIC DRILLING BACK ON THE UP: For the third consecutive week, the number of active rigs in the United States has risen – a positive sign for the Trump administration and its “drill, baby, drill” agenda. 

Data released by Baker Hughes this afternoon shows there are three more active oil and gas rigs in the U.S. this week, bringing the total tally to 542. All three of the rigs added are located on land and primarily used for oil drilling. 

The count is still 46 fewer than this time last year, remaining near four-year lows. With the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel still in place and domestic and international crude prices remaining in the low to mid $60s, producers are not expected to undo the previous cuts by the end of the year. 

As of around 2:30 p.m., Brent Crude was down 1.05%, selling at $66.73 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate had also fallen by 1.21% and was priced at $62.80 per barrel. Both were set to close for the week on a small high of less than 20 cents. 

ICYMI – SENATE CONFIRMS ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT NOMINEES: The Senate confirmed a slew of agency and ambassador nominees yesterday afternoon, after Republicans in the upper chamber changed the rules to bypass Democratic opposition. 

The dozens of nominees included several now set to join the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, Council on Environmental Quality, and the Department of Agriculture. This includes: 

• Dario Gil to serve as under secretary for science at DOE
• Brandon Williams to serve as under secretary for nuclear security at DOE
• Tristan Abbey to serve as the administrator of the Energy Information Administration
• Leslie Beyer to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Interior
• William Doffermyre to serve as solicitor for DOI
• Katherine Scarlett to serve as chair of CEQ
• Theodore Garrish to serve as an assistant secretary of energy focused on nuclear energy 
• Kyle Haustveit to serve as an assistant secretary of energy focused on fossil fuels

Ultimately, 48 nominees were confirmed in a single 51-47 party-line vote. Click here to read more on how Senate Republicans made the rule change through the so-called “nuclear option” from the Examiner’s Ramsey Touchberry.

EU PHASING OUT RUSSIA GAS ONE YEAR EARLY: Following pressure from Trump, the European Union is now planning accelerating its phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas. 

The details: Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, confirmed in a series of posts to X that the EU will be ending all imports of Russian LNG by January 2027. Additionally, the EU is proposing new sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers that have evaded western sanctions as well as Russian cryptocurrency schemes. Officials said the bloc will also be targeting central Asian banks and Chinese refineries connected to Russian exports.  

“Cash from energy sales keeps Russia’s war going,” Kallas wrote. “So we’re going after these revenues by designating 118 new vessels as shadow fleet and enablers, and banning re-insurance of listed vessels.”

Increasing pressure from US: The decision comes after the Trump administration escalated its call on Europe to end purchases of Russian energy in order to cut off revenue being used to fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. In a further effort to cut off Russia’s energy exports, members of the Senate are now proposing expanding sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet. 

Republican Sen. Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen joined forces to introduce The Shadow Fleets Act today. The bill, if enacted, would also expand sanctions on Russian LNG projects and the defense industries base. 

“Putin will use every trick in the book to evade US sanctions, and the US is cracking down on this illicit shadow fleet of ships that he uses to fund his war,” Risch in a statement. “These ships and the oil sales they facilitate directly threaten American and European security, and will be stopped.” 

ICYMI – HOUSE PASSES ENERGY BILLS TO BOOST GRID: Yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed three bills with bipartisan support addressing several energy security concerns while also propping up the production and transportation of fossil fuels.

The details: The Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act was the first to pass, in a 224-203 vote, with seven Democrats voting in favor. This bill would streamline federal approvals and permitting for oil, gas, and electricity projects across the Canadian and Mexican borders. 

The second bill passed, in a 217-209 vote, was the reauthorization of the National Coal Council, an advisory committee within the Energy Department. Four Democrats voted in favor of the bill, and three Republicans voted against.

The third bill brought to the floor, the Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power Act, also passed in a 216-206 vote. Five Democrats voted in favor, and only one Republican voted against the bill.

Also known as the GRID Power Act, this legislation would expedite the interconnection process for “dispatchable” and baseload energy projects, allowing traditional sources of energy such as fossil fuels to connect to the grid more quickly. This terminology typically excludes intermittent sources of energy like wind and solar. 

What’s next: All three bills now head to the Senate, where Republicans will also need to secure Democratic support to send the legislation to Trump’s desk — a goal that might not be too far out of reach, given the bipartisanship seen yesterday afternoon.

Read more from Callie here.

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