WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and Happy Wednesday readers! In today’s Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen take a look at how President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders could affect how lawmakers vote on his two energy nominees. Read on to find out which utility company plans to restart construction on a pair of nuclear reactors abandoned years ago.
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.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS MAY AFFECT VOTES FOR TRUMP NOMINEES: The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on two of President Donald Trump’s key energy nominees tomorrow, but the stack of executive orders signed by the president this week could affect how lawmakers vote.
California Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla told Daily on Energy alum Josh Siegel that the orders could sway his votes on Department of Interior nominee Doug Burgum and Department of Energy nominee Chris Wright. The senator said the executive orders conflict with what the nominees told lawmakers during their hearings.
“It was completely against what his secretary of Energy nominee said in terms of unleashing American energy [at his confirmation hearing],” Padilla said. “Renewable energy sources are the epitome of prioritizing energy independence and national security.”
Trump’s executive orders paused federal green funding, paused offshore wind projects, directed an end to policies supporting electric vehicles, and much more.
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, also told Siegel that Trump’s executive orders promote fossil fuel and could create an energy shortage.
“The suspension of offshore wind is going to increase prices. This is not ‘all of the above.’ This is eliminating American energy sources because he’s got preferences. This guy is going to raise the price of electricity by killing a bunch of cheap energy that we all need in order to power our country,” said Schatz.
Both nominees appeared before the committee in separate hearings last week that were mainly drama-free and it is unlikely the nominees will have a difficult time being confirmed by the GOP majority.
A PATH LAID FOR LEE ZELDIN: While Trump took aim at a number of Biden administration climate policies and executive actions in his sweeping executive orders signed Monday, he notably did not directly address several controversial rules approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
However, it did provide instruction for those heading up key agencies like the EPA to walk back, suspend, or revise any actions “identified as unduly burdensome” on the energy industry, with particular focus on natural gas, oil, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical minerals and nuclear power.
Former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin has yet to be confirmed by the Senate as EPA administrator and faces a tight deadline of 30 days to fulfill the president’s order.
Expected walkbacks: Republicans, including Trump, have criticized a number of EPA rules and regulations implemented under the last administration, including emission standards on coal, oil, and natural gas power plants. As this wasn’t specifically listed in the president’s slew of executive orders, some experts have predicted he is paving the way for Zeldin to reverse more than anticipated.
“One reason that you might not include a list of specific regulatory action is that it inevitably limits the focus of the agencies to those rules,” former EPA acting general counsel Kevin Minoli told E&E News. “And it may be that they wanted to cast a wider net.”
NUCLEAR REVIVAL REACHES SOUTH CAROLINA: South Carolina’s largest utility company, Santee Cooper, is the latest energy provider to embrace nuclear power, as it seeks to restart construction on two nuclear reactors.
The details: Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the utility is looking for proposals from buyers who would complete construction on a pair of reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. The company was expected to make the announcement today.
The facility currently has one reactor in operation and saw construction halted on the remaining two in 2017. They had been expected to be in operation by 2019.
Those familiar with the decision told the outlet that Santee Cooper would likely enter an agreement with a construction company and tech firm, which would then use the power generated at the facility for their own technological advancements.
Riding the nuclear wave: A similar purchase agreement was made between Microsoft and Constellation Energy in the fall, as the two companies are seeking to reopen Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
Several other large tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Google have also recently announced major investments in the nuclear power industry, backing construction of small modular reactors and other new generation.
Read more from Callie here.
MICROSOFT TAKES ON AMAZON RAINFOREST RESTORATION: In an effort to secure more carbon credits and meet its climate pledges, Microsoft is making a major investment in restoring the Amazon rainforest.
The details: Microsoft confirmed to the Financial Times today that it will be buying 3.5 million credits over the course of 25 years from the Brazil-based start-up Re.green. In exchange, Re.Green will put the funds towards restoring the shrinking rainforest by planting native trees.
The exact value of the deal has not yet been released, however it has been estimated to be around $200 million.
Some background: Over the last decade, U.S. headquartered tech companies have opted to purchase carbon credits through investments in renewable energy and climate-friendly projects in order to lower their emissions profile as their carbon footprints have grown amid AI advancements.
A source close to a carbon registry confirmed to the Financial Times that Microsoft has been “leading the pack” of tech companies pursuing the offsetting credits. Last year, Microsoft announced similar deals with Re.green and BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group for a total of 10 million carbon credits.
The process, though, is often criticized due to doubts as to whether the credits can deliver the intended levels of emissions reductions.
LNG EXPORTER SLASHES IPO VALUATION BY NEARLY HALF: One of the largest liquified natural gas exporters in the U.S., Venture Global, has cut the potential valuation for its initial public offering by more than 40%.
The details: The company today said it was seeking a valuation as much as $65.33 billion and planned to lower its offer price, increasing the number of shares available, according to Reuters. It originally said it was seeking a valuation of more than $100 billion.
In January, Venture Global said it planned to sell 50 million shares for up to $46 each. Now, that has jumped to around 70 million shares going for roughly $27 each. At this price range, the company can raise nearly $1.9 billion – a dramatic drop from the original goal of $2.3 billion.
The lowered valuation and offer price comes as analysts previously warned against the company’s original targets. Some had predicted that a high valuation of around $110.4 billion would deter possible investors. By comparison, rival LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has a market value of around $54 billion, according to Bloomberg.
It also coincides with the president signing an executive order calling for the restart of export permit approvals for new LNG projects in an effort to boost U.S. energy output abroad.
The order effectively reversed a pause on new project approvals implemented by the Biden administration in January 2024. The timing of the approval freeze was highly scrutinized as it came around the same time Venture Global sought approval to build a $10 billion facility in Louisiana.
LATEST ON WINTER STORM IN THE GULF: The Gulf Coast yesterday witnessed record breaking snowfall in areas like Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana.
“This has been the worst winter storm to hit the Gulf Coast in decades,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “Businesses have been forced to shut down. Supply chain and shipping logistics have been disrupted severely. With the cold remaining in place, the impacts and interruptions from this winter storm will be felt for days to come.”
According to AccuWeather, Milton, Florida, saw 9.8 inches of snow last night. Then Lafayette, Louisiana reported 9.5 inches of snow yesterday, and Rayne, Louisiana, saw 10.5. There was a blizzard warning issued for the first time along the Gulf Coast. At least nine people across the region died.
“Here’s something you don’t see, well, EVER! On January 22, Florida and Louisiana have more snowpack than *checks notes* *checks notes again* South Dakota,” the National Weather Service tweeted.
ICYMI – TRUMP TOUTS $500 BILLION FOR AI DATA CENTERS: President Donald Trump yesterday touted a joint venture investing up to $500 billion to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S.
OpenAI, Oracle, MGX, and Softbank are the companies within the new joint venture, called “Stargate,” which will begin building out AI data centers and electricity generation across the U.S. The companies intend to invest $500 billion over the next four years, according to the website.
“The largest AI infrastructure project is all taking place right here in America,” Trump said. “There’s great competition for AI and other things, and they’re coming in at the highest level.”
Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Larry Ellison of Oracle joined Trump when announcing the investment. Although Trump announced the investment yesterday, the project started during the Biden administration.
“This will be the most important project of this era,” Altman said.
RUNDOWN
The Washington Post Not even sea life is safe from the L.A. fires
Inside Climate News Executive Orders on Energy and Climate Have Advocates Across the Nation on Edge
The Guardian ‘I felt death in the flames’: how lighting a forest fire inspired one man to transform a barren ranch into rainforest