WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! This afternoon, both the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees kicked off what are expected to be marathon markups for their portions of the sweeping budget reconciliation legislative package.
The hearings are expected to go well into the evening and likely early tomorrow, depending on procedural delays and amendments brought forth by Democrats on the committees.
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Also in today’s edition of Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen take a look at the Department of Energy’s plans to fast-track oil and gas leasing on public lands.
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.
RECONCILIATION MARKUPS BEGIN: The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees began marking up their portions of the reconciliation bill, which include measures to slash funding and tax credits enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The opening of the E&C hearing featured raucous protests that had to be broken up by the Capitol Police – our colleagues Rachel Schilke and Lauren Green have coverage of the spectacle here.
The E&C bill would claw climate funding authorized by the IRA, including from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Read our rundown of that portion of the legislation here.
The Ways and Means legislation, meanwhile, would essentially take a sledgehammer, rather than a scalpel, to the IRA’s clean energy tax credits. Our coverage of that text is here.
ELECTRICITY PRICES STILL ON THE RISE IN APRIL: While inflation continued to drop for the month of April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest report has found that electricity price growth accelerated.
The details: With an update to the Consumer Price Index, the bureau revealed that the rate of price growth of electricity was 3.6% for the year ending in the month of April, up from 2.8% in March. Month-over-month, electricity prices increased by 0.8%, a slight decrease from the month before. Energy services, including utility gas, were also up 6.2% for the year ending in April. Utility gas by itself increased by a massive 15.7% for the year.
At the same time, multiple other areas of the energy sector did see some relief, with prices for energy commodities, gasoline, and fuel oil falling by 11.5%, 11.8% and 9.6% respectively for the year ending in April. The bureau estimated that the energy sector overall saw prices fall 3.7% for the year ending in April, while increasing by 0.7% month over month.
DOI STREAMLINES OIL AND GAS LEASING ON PUBLIC LANDS: The Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management have updated a policy to fast-track the process for oil and gas leases on public land.
The DOI issued a memorandum that orders BLM to increase the lands offered for onshore oil and gas lease sales and to decrease leasing timeframes. The updated policy would push BLM to complete parcel review and offer parcels in an oil and gas lease sale within a six-month timeframe. DOI said the expedited efforts are aimed at boosting energy production.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are ending the unnecessary delays and bureaucratic roadblocks that have held back American energy production for too long,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Adam Suess.
“This policy puts us on a fast track to Energy Dominance—opening up more federal land for responsible development, cutting review times nearly in half, and sending a clear message that the United States is serious about job creation, low energy costs, and putting American energy first,” Suess added.
The move is aligned with the Trump administration’s agenda to boost oil and gas production on public lands to help lower energy costs.
NETFLIX AND META COULD LOSE CARBON CREDITS AMID MAASAI HERDERS DISPUTE: Several major companies, including Netflix and Meta, are at risk of losing major carbon credits amid a court dispute as to whether a 13-year conservation project the companies backed actually helps Maasai herders as it claimed to.
The details: Earlier today, international nonprofit Verra suspended its approval for the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project, according to the Wall Street Journal. The project was aimed at preserving roughly 4.7 million acres of grassland to sequester carbon in the soil. It has long been viewed as controversial, as critics claim the carbon project has threatened traditional grazing practices for the Maasai herders and other people living in the region.
In 2021, around 165 pastoralists from two different regions sued the Northern Rangelands Trust, which managed the project, for allegedly using their land without consent. A Kenyan court ruled in favor of the herders earlier this year. The plaintiffs have argued that the ruling invalidates roughly 20% of the project’s credits.
The impact: Since it was launched in 2012, the project’s trust has sold over six million carbon credits worth as much as $90 million to major tech companies like Netflix and Meta. These companies go on to use these credits to offset emissions related to their operations. It remains unclear how much of the companies’ credits could be at risk in the dispute. If either company sees all of their stock involved, it could leave them open to legal challenges regarding overstated environmental investments.
GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION FUND COULD CREATE MORE THAN 40,000 JOBS, REPORT SAYS: The Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program could save consumers $52 billion and create up to 41,000 jobs, according to a report by Energy Innovation and the University of New Hampshire.
The analysis found that the fund, created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to build clean energy projects across the country, specifically in low-income communities, could create 36,000 to 41,000 more jobs annually compared to current policies. Specifically, it would produce around 10,000 manufacturing jobs and around 8,000 construction jobs, with the remainder falling into other service jobs.
The report said it will add $21.3 to $23.9 billion in wages earned between 2025 and 2031. The program will also save consumers $52 billion over the next 20 years. The program will generate a total investment in the economy of $65.5 billion.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has targeted the program, claiming it was mismanaged during the Biden administration. Zeldin has sought to freeze and pull back nearly $20 billion in promised grants. The fund’s grantees have brought a lawsuit against the EPA and are battling to reclaim their funds in court.
ICYMI – EQUINOR MAY KILL NEW YORK WIND PROJECT ENTIRELY: As the Trump administration has refused to budge on its order to pause a New York wind farm from being built, Norwegian energy company Equinor is reportedly considering killing the project altogether.
Quick reminder: In mid-April, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the agency would be pausing ongoing construction of the Empire Wind Project off the coast of Long Island. The project, which is fully permitted, began construction at the start of the month and was expected to power up to 500,000 homes once in operation in 2027. Burgum claimed at the time that the Biden administration rushed approvals for the project.
The details: Weeks later, the project remains on pause and is costing the company around $50 million each week, president of Equinor Renewables Americas Molly Morris told Bloomberg yesterday. Morris told the outlet that if the administration refuses to reconsider its pause, Equinor may be forced to terminate the project. The move would likely cost the company up to $2.7 billion in investments.
“It’s about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the US,” Morris said. “They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.”
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