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DAILY ENERGY NEWS  | 12/26/2023
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A great story of how affordable, reliable energy can be transformative for communities. 

"Just as food is fuel (no pun intended) for our bodies, crude oil is food for our way of life. It provides the products we need for prosperous lives. No sane person would cut off their main food supply without lining up for a new food supply, first unless they wanted to starve to death." 

 

– Ronald Stein, P.E.,
Heartland Institute

Who could have seen cold winters coming in Minnesota?


Just the News (12/22/23) reports: "Minnesota cities worked to shift toward clean energy in public transit, but complications from acquired electric vehicles have prompted significant overhauls and additional expenditures to keep the buses operational. In Duluth, Minn., technicians installed diesel-powered heaters on electric buses as the city's electric fleet struggled to perform. In 2015, the city received a $6.3 million federal grant, according to MinnPost, for seven battery-electric buses from Proterra, which were delivered in 2018. Proterra, which went bankrupt in August, sold 550 buses. The company enjoyed outspoken support from the Biden administration, but the buses have given transit districts across the country extensive problems. Many of the buses, which were purchased with sizable federal grants, have broken down, and repairs have been slow going as a result of a lack of parts. The Proterra buses in Duluth struggled to make it up steep hills and to keep riders warm in winter. Proterra technicians installed diesel-powered heaters on the buses and increased the battery capacity so they could handle steep hills and subzero temperatures, which degrade the performance of electric vehicles."

Ghost of Christmas futures for anyone who got an EV under the tree.

If making EVs is a bad business and charging EVs is a bad business, why are we doing this again?  Billions in subsidies can only go so far!


Wall Street Journal (12/26/23) reports: "The companies that install and operate electric-vehicle charging networks are in the middle of a building boom, but their share prices are sputtering. ChargePoint Holdingsshares have tumbled 74% this year, and the company missed initial revenue projections for the third quarter. Blink Charging shares have dropped 67%, while EVgois down 21%, and both project annual losses. The charging providers don’t expect to turn profitable for about a year and face the prospect of EV market leader Tesla opening much of its popular charging network to other drivers starting in 2024. The blistering pace of U.S. sales growth for EVs has moderated. Some charging executives say they are running into challenges that include customer unease about the direction of the economy, higher costs and delayed deliveries of EVs to fleet customers. Companies say that with more EVs hitting the road, their chargers are in use more steadily—an important metric for the burgeoning industry. However, selling jolts of electricity to drivers still isn’t a moneymaker because of relatively low use rates. 'I think the investor class has grown weary of the industry’s lack of profitability,' said Blink Charging’s chief executive, Brendan Jones, who added that charging stocks had previously frothy valuations."

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $75.88
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.57
Gasoline: ↓ $3.12
Diesel: ↓ $4.01
Heating Oil: ↑ $268.73
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $81.44
US Rig Count: ↑ 670

 
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