WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and Happy Friday, readers! As President Donald Trump left Washington, D.C., for his first presidential trip to North Carolina and California today, the nation’s capital gave a warm welcome to two giant pandas from China that made their debut at the Smithsonian National Zoo. 

It has been a busy few days for the energy industry, as the recent nuclear revival has made its way to Iowa’s Duane Arnold nuclear plant and Japan has expressed interest in buying more LNG from the United States. 

Today’s edition of Daily on Energy also dives into the president’s trip, highlighting his remarks about FEMA and federal assistance for California. 

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: “Other governments are waiting with bated breath for us to pare back our grants, loans and tax credits so they can use the same tools to sweet-talk the next generation of factories to their shores,” former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm wrote in a New York Times op-ed yesterday. 

“Consider electric vehicles: It’s no secret China wants to dominate the global market. Today, it accounts for more than half the world’s electric vehicle production. But over 450 electric vehicle battery companies have announced they are moving to America or expanding factories here since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act — many of them leaving China to do so. It would be a national embarrassment to cede this entire industry back,” she wrote.

NUCLEAR REVIVAL HITS IOWA: The shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear plant in eastern Iowa is inching closer to a restart, as NextEra Energy has asked for a licensing change for the facility.

The details: A representative for the renewable energy company confirmed to Bloomberg that it filed a request with federal regulators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday, marking the first step toward bringing the plant back online.

In an earnings release issued Friday, NextEra reiterated its interest in restarting Duane Arnold, saying the company is “continuing to make progress in evaluating the recommissioning” of the plant. The company said it hopes to restore the facility’s operating license to restart operations as early as the end of 2028.

Some background: The Duane Arnold nuclear plant, just 8 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids, opened in February 1975. The 600-megawatt plant shut down in 2020 after one of its major customers ended its power purchase agreement. It had been licensed to operate until 2034.

NextEra CEO John Ketchum first said the company was interested in restarting the plant last summer as long as it could be done “safely and on budget.” It remains unclear how much it will cost to restart the plant or who the power would be sold to. 

Read more from Callie here. 

FEMA EXECUTIVE ORDER IN THE WORKS: A Trump administration-driven reform of the Federal Emergency Management Agency seems increasingly probable as the president today revealed his plans to sign an executive order targeting the agency.

The details: “FEMA has really let us down, let the country down,” Trump told reporters after Air Force One touched down in Asheville, North Carolina, this morning. “We’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA is not good. I think when you have a problem like this, I think you want to use your state to fix it and not waste time calling FEMA,” the president continued. “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.”

Some background: In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the Biden administration was accused of politicizing its emergency response, prioritizing helping Democrats over Republicans in western-North Carolina. FEMA was also falsely accused of redirecting funds from disaster relief to assisting illegal immigrants.

California disaster aid: Meanwhile, as Trump travels to Los Angeles to visit the areas destroyed by the wildfires, he demanded the state implement voter ID and water reform to receive disaster aid. 

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles: voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen,” Trump told reporters after Air Force One landed in North Carolina.

The president has repeatedly made unfounded claims of voter fraud in California. The president will be arriving in Los Angeles later today and is expected to be greeted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

The governor’s office called the president’s statement on conditions for aid as “wrong.” 

“Under current CA law you must be a CA resident and US citizen (and attest to being one under penalty of perjury) AND provide a form of ID such as driver’s license or passport that has been approved by the Secretary of State in order to register to vote,” Newsom’s office stated. 

Read more by Naomi Lim here. 

‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ TO FACE WALL STREET HURDLES: Shale executives are throwing cold water on the president’s promises to increase oil and gas production within the U.S., indicating that some investors will be hesitant to go along. 

A reminder: Throughout his first week in office, Trump has repeated his vow to support the U.S. economy and lower prices for Americans by increasing the nation’s oil supply. 

“We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” the president said during his inaugural address on Monday. 

Yesterday, he went a step further, calling on OPEC+ to lower prices. While this would result in more price drops at the pump, it would also devalue shale and oil companies across the globe. 

Who’s in charge: Despite Trump’s promises, some in the industry have said Wall Street will actually be calling the shots regarding increased oil production. 

“Wall Street will dictate here — and you know what? They don’t have a political agenda,” Wil VanLoh, CEO of major shale investor Quantum Energy Partners, told the Financial Times. “They have a financial agenda…They have zero incentive to basically tell the management teams running these businesses to go and drill more wells.”

Even those with direct stakes in oil producing regions like the Permian Basin are skeptical the administration will be successful in facilitating a major oil boom. 

“As much as the incoming administration is very favourable around energy and power . . . we don’t see a significant change in activity levels going forward,” CEO of oilfield services company ProPetro David Schorlemer also told the outlet. 

JAPAN LOOKS TO INCREASE U.S. LNG IMPORTS: One of the largest utility providers in Japan is looking to increase the amount of liquified natural gas it purchases from the United States, as Trump has vowed to increase exports worldwide. 

The details: A senior executive with JERA confirmed to Reuters that the energy company plans to diversify its supply of LNG in order to meet demand brought on by new data centers and artificial intelligence. 

The power company already handles upwards of 35 million metric tons of LNG each year, with nearly half of its supply coming from Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Ryosuke Tsugaru, who heads up the company’s LNG division, told the outlet that JERA only buys roughly 3.2 million tons from the U.S. 

“My plan is to rebalance that and to make our LNG supply portfolio more diversified,” Tsugaru said, adding, “My plan is to increase our exposure to the U.S. energy projects.” He did not reveal by how much the JERA is looking to increase its U.S. supply. 

Assist from Trump: An increase in U.S. LNG supply will likely be made possible by the Trump administration’s plans to restart reviewing applications for LNG export projects that had been paused under President Joe Biden. 

Tsugaru told Reuters that he supported the new administration’s actions on supporting oil and gas development, saying, “The US is now major energy supplier to global market. So we are very much hoping America continues to be reliable and competitive source of supply.” 

It is worth noting, though, that the Japanese company may face competition from others within the European market, as Trump has threatened tariffs if the European Union fails to purchase more LNG. 

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN’S SCHOOLING WAS DISRUPTED BY EXTREME WEATHER IN 2024: Extreme weather has disrupted school for over 240 million students in 85 countries last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a report. 

Cyclones, flooding, droughts, and more wild weather caused many children to miss school in 2024, the report said. Heatwaves were the predominant climate hazard disrupting schools, with over 118 million students affected in April, it added.

“Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heatwaves, storms, droughts and flooding,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. 

FRIGID TEMPERATURES BOOST COAL PRODUCTION: Coal-fired power production has soared due to several winter storms and cold snaps.

It was the highest across the lower 48 states from Jan. 1-22 since at least 2019, and up 6% from the same period last year, according to stats from the financial data firm LSEG reported by Reuters.

Production increased by 170% from plants burning fuel oil which is the highest in three years and output from natural-gas-fired plants is close to being the highest production rate ever for this time of the year. 

Power producers must increase production to meet heating demands. Earlier this week, the Gulf Coast experienced record-breaking snowfall and below-normal temperatures. Meanwhile, frigid temperatures are expected to hit the Midwest and Northeast next week. 

ICYMI – TRUMP TAKES AIM AT SOLAR: Wind power is not the only renewable energy source under threat from the Trump administration as the president slighted solar energy earlier this week. 

The details: In the second part of his Fox News interview that aired Thursday night, Trump echoed his criticisms of the wind energy industry, saying he doesn’t want windmills in the U.S. He pointed to his executive order signed on his first day in office to block all lease sales for offshore wind projects and pause new approvals, permits, leases and loans for wind projects both on and offshore. 

Unexpectedly, Trump then shifted his attention to solar power. 

“You know what else people don’t like? Those massive solar fields built over land that cover 10 miles by 10 miles,” he said. “I mean, they’re ridiculous, the whole thing. By the way, do you know where the panels come from? One hundred percent of the panels, they’re made in China.” 

Trump also dismissed the solar power industry on Monday through an executive order that declared a National Energy Emergency in the U.S. In the order, the president included a definition for “energy.” It included natural gas, oil, uranium, geothermal, and even biofuels, but wind and solar were nowhere to be found. 

Quick facts: China has long dominated the solar power industry, holding a share in all manufacturing stages of solar panels that require a variety of critical minerals and rare earth elements. The International Energy Agency has estimated this share is well over 80%. 

However, manufacturing and production of solar panels within the U.S. has dramatically increased in recent years – in part thanks to the Democrat-passed Inflation Reduction Act. As of December, the Solar Energy Industries Association estimated that at least 67 new solar and storage manufacturing facilities were online in the U.S., with 48 more under construction. 

In the third quarter of 2024, the U.S. added 9.3 gigawatts of new solar module manufacturing capacity. The industry has estimated that, at full capacity, U.S. solar module factories can meet nearly all solar demand in the country. 

RUNDOWN 

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