WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! We’ve reached the end of another week and, with the help of our editor Joe Lawler, today’s Daily on Energy dives into all kinds of energy sources, including oil, nuclear, and geothermal.
Today, the Trump administration has moved to cancel billions of dollars worth of clean energy investments, hitting projects poised for a number of Republican-led states.
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has offered multiple major approvals this week for new and advanced nuclear projects, including issuing a key environmental assessment for what will likely be the first decommissioned nuclear plant to restart in the U.S.
Plus, keep reading to learn more about the first wrongful death lawsuit filed in Washington against several major fossil fuel companies.
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: A mountain village in Switzerland was largely buried on Wednesday after a partial glacier collapse caused a massive landslide of rock and ice. Local officials have said 90% of the village was destroyed.
“Nature is stronger than human beings and mountain people know this well,” Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti told members of the press Wednesday. “But what happened today is absolutely extraordinary. It was the worst we could’ve imagined.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CANCELS OVER $3B IN CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS: The Department of Energy has terminated 24 awards for clean energy projects issued under the Biden administration, most of which were planned for conservative-leaning states like Texas and Alabama.
The details: Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced this morning that DOE has terminated 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations between August 2024 and January of this year – less than a week before President Donald Trump took office. Nearly 70% of these projects were signed and agreed to between the 2024 presidential election and Inauguration Day.
Wright accused the Biden administration of rushing these projects through, claiming today that they “failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars.”
DOE said the termination of the awards was set to generate around $3.7 billion worth of savings. The department confirmed to Callie that all 24 awards were cooperative agreements, meaning they were not contractually binding.
Who’s affected: Besides a handful of projects located in California and New York, the majority of the projects terminated today were planning to invest in Republican-led districts and states. A Daily on Energy review of the 24 projects found that over $2 billion out of the terminated funds would have gone to states where Trump won in the 2024 presidential election.
Most of these projects would have increased investments in carbon capture and sequestration and other decarbonization technologies. While many of the companies affected are focused on clean energy solutions, Exxon Mobil also saw a $331 million award canceled that would have helped fund a hydrogen project in Texas.
Other awards terminated include $500 million for a low-carbon cement project from Heidelberg Materials AG and $375 million for a chemical recycling plant in Longview, Texas.
PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT CLEARS MAJOR HURDLE TO RESTART: The Palisades Nuclear Plant in western Michigan has cleared a major hurdle in its efforts to restart operations as soon as this fall, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined there are no significant environmental impacts behind its reopening.
The details: First thing this morning, the NRC issued its final environmental assessment related to the nuclear facility’s restart and determined that there are “no significant impacts” for the plant to return to an operational status.
The NRC conducted the environmental review in tandem with the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which finalized a $1.52 billion loan to fund Holtec International’s efforts to restart the plant in September of last year.
This is the most positive finding the energy company could have received and helps clear a pathway toward the plant making history as the first decommissioned nuclear facility in the U.S. to come back online.
Local concerns: While the project has received federal and state support, homeowners near the plant previously told Callie about their environmental and human health-related concerns regarding nuclear waste sitting just yards away from their homes.
Bruce Davis and his wife Karen, retired in a home roughly 400 yards from the facility, have long worried about their proximity to the plant. In the early 2000s, Karen and two other family members were diagnosed with thyroid cancer within months of each other. Her family had been vacationing in the region since before the plant was built.
“I’m scared,” Karen said in January. “I’ve got a granddaughter, she’s coming over today. I babysit for her a lot, and I don’t want to expose her to anything like this.”
Read more from Callie on the NRC’s decision and her visit to the Palisades Nuclear Plant here.
PLUS…ANOTHER MAJOR NRC ANNOUNCEMENT: Yesterday, federal regulators offered their approval for a small modular reactor design from nuclear developer NuScale Power.
The NRC revealed it completed its technical review of the Oregon-based company’s 77-megawatt US460 SMR in less than two years.
“This completes the NRC’s technical review ahead of schedule and under budget, demonstrating the agency’s commitment to safely and efficiently enable new, advanced reactor technology,” the NRC said.
This marks only the second time the NRC has issued its approval for an SMR design, with NuScale also having received the first one back in 2020. That design was also for a much smaller reactor, only around 50 megawatts.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES EMERGENCY PERMITTING FOR GEOTHERMAL: The Department of Interior has announced new emergency permitting procedures to swiftly review and permit new geothermal projects to bolster domestic energy production.
The details: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced this morning that the department would be expediting environmental reviews for at least three potential geothermal projects set to be located in Nevada.
The expedited permitting process is anticipated to complete environmental assessments within 14 days, determining whether any of the selected projects can move forward.
DOI said the projects, led by geothermal company Ormat Nevada, met several criteria critical for the administration including supporting national defense and domestic energy resilience. These projects include:
- The Diamond Flat Geothermal Project, which plans to drill test wells and conduct geothermal resource confirmation activities on federal land.
- The McGinnes Hills Geothermal Optimization Project, which would upgrade and expand three existing geothermal power plants.
- The Pinto Geothermal Project, which would evaluate geothermal potential on public lands.
“Geothermal energy is a reliable energy source that can power critical infrastructure for national security and help advance energy independence,” Burgum said in a statement.
BIG OIL FACING WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT IN LANDMARK CLIMATE CASE: A woman in Washington state is looking to hold Big Oil accountable in the first ever wrongful death suit against fossil fuel companies over their contributions to climate change.
The details: The lawsuit, filed in Washington state court, targets a number of major oil companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and Olympic Pipeline Company, over the death of 65-year-old Juliana (Julie) Leon.
Leon died in June 2021 as a result of a major heatwave that hit Seattle. It was the hottest day in the city’s history, with temperatures reaching as high as 108 degrees Fahrenheit. The lawsuit, filed by Leon’s daughter, revealed that Leon died of hyperthermia, with her internal temperature reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
“As a resident of temperate Western Washington, Julie never could have imagined dying in this way. Defendants, which are manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of fossil fuels, knew differently,” the lawsuit reads.
The civil suit alleges the oil companies have been aware for decades that burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change and its effects, such as global warming. The suit accuses the companies of concealing this knowledge and deceiving the public of risks.
While Big Oil has faced a number of similar lawsuits from Democratic-led cities and states in recent years, it is the first time they have been sued over the death of an individual over their contributions to climate change.
Many of these similar suits have been thrown out. Chevron attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. pointed to this in a statement to the New York Times, saying the court “should add this far-fetched claim to the growing list of meritless climate lawsuits that state and federal courts have already dismissed.”
WHERE ‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ STANDS…RIG COUNT STILL DOWN ON THE YEAR: The total number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. is still down by dozens over the past 12 months, according to data from Baker Hughes released today. The number of drilling rigs active fell by around three this week to 563 and was down by 37 from this time in 2024.
The active rig count has continuously dropped through the month of May as oil prices have teetered around the $60 per barrel line – a benchmark many have suggested may not be profitable for domestic oil producers. Just before 2:30 p.m. EST, international benchmark Brent Crude had fallen to $63.93 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was down to $60.71 per barrel.
For months, analysts have estimated that prices will need to remain at or around $65 per barrel in order for producers to profitably pursue new drilling. Lower than that for an extended period of time, oil drillers and developers could feel negative effects – including a decline in oil production and potential layoffs.
OIL GIANT UAE PRAISED BY GREENPEACE: The United Arab Emirates, one of the top oil exporters in the world, has won praise from Greenpeace for requiring companies to report greenhouse gas emissions.
“By institutionalising emissions monitoring and climate adaptation, the UAE is setting a compelling example for countries across the region,” Greenpeace MENA executive director Ghiwa Nakat said in a statement, according to the AFP.
The emissions reporting is required under a law that came into effect today. The UAE has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
ICYMI: FIRST FINAL LNG EXPORT APPROVAL UNDER TRUMP: Wright yesterday gave final authorization for LNG exports to non-free-trade-agreement countries from the Port Arthur LNG Phase II project in Jefferson County, Texas.
The DOE said it was the first such approval of Trump’s term and “marks another step in restoring regular order to LNG export permitting–reversing the previous administration’s pause.”
Port Arthur LNG Phase II is owned by Sempra Energy and is projected to export 1.91 billion cubic feet per day once finished.
Sempra is also working on another project, Port Arthur LNG Phase I, which it said it expects to start commercial operation in 2027.
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