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Maybe Governor Gavin should govern instead of running around the world trashing President Trump.
KCRA3 (2/1/26) reports: "California is bracing for another refinery closure this year as Valero prepares to idle its facility in the Bay Area. 'The state failed to save Valero,' said Jodie Muller, the new CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, which lobbies for the oil industry at the state Capitol. The governor's office said in a statement earlier this month it had been encouraged by talks with Valero and said discussions were ongoing on possible continued operations at the refinery. 'Once something is shut down, restarting it isn't like flipping a switch,' Muller said. 'It would take a large amount of time, effort, money and finding the workforce because now the workforce is going to find other jobs and look elsewhere.' The closure will come months after Phillips 66 shuttered is Los Angeles area refinery. While California has made progress on increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road, the latest state data show about 90% of registered cars in California still rely on gas. 'Consumers should be very concerned,' Muller said."
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Miss Glenn Youngkin yet?
The Wall Street Journal (1/30/26) opinion: "A federal judge ruled recently that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project could continue despite the Trump administration’s efforts to pause it on national-security grounds. Supporters of the project argue that the administration’s effort is hypocritical given its 'all of the above' energy strategy. Although the administration’s claims about national security may be a fig leaf, President Trump is right that offshore wind is a bad way to get energy. The CVOW will be one of the most expensive energy projects in U.S. history, and it will burden Virginia’s consumers for decades. Gov. Abigail Spanberger and others claiming the project will foster 'affordability' are wrong. Unlike the fossil-fuel plants, the offshore wind farm can’t produce power whenever needed. It will make the most power in spring and fall, when demand is lowest, and the least in summer afternoons, when demand is highest. Since Virginia’s offshore winds are weak, the company itself noted that the project would typically produce less than half its full power capacity."
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Inferior products yield inferior results.
Energy Bad Boys (1/31/26) article: "Winter Storm Fern rolled through the United States last weekend, leaving hundreds of thousands without power as ice and freezing rain brought down tree limbs and distribution lines in several parts of the country. Things got a little dicey early on January 24th in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) territory, as the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) declared Energy Emergency Alert 2 (EEA2), the step immediately below firm load shedding (EEA3). One reason for the EEA2 was likely that the wind decided not to show up for work during the storm, as wind speeds cratered due to the cold weather. Given the wind’s disappearing act in MISO and the EEA2 declared, the Section 202(C) emergency orders issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to keep three coal plants running in MISO look pretty smart. These orders include the Campbell Plant in Michigan (1,420 MW), and the Schahfer (847 MW) and F.B. Culley (104 MW) plants in Indiana."
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You like to trash coal, but I'll bet you're secretly glad the Trump administration is keeping these plants open.
Townhall (2/1/26) opinion: "Fresh off the heels of Winter Storm Fern, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released an alarming 10-year outlook about the U.S. electric grid this week. It’s worse than NERC’s last prediction: More than half of the electric grid is going to be at a high or elevated risk of blackouts within the next five years due to growing demand, accelerating retirements of reliable resources, and increasing reliance on weather-dependent wind, solar, and battery storage. The U.S. can’t afford to retire more coal-fired generation without more reliable, dispatchable replacements coming online — not weather-dependent wind and solar. For the week of Winter Storm Fern, coal-fired generation increased 31 percent from the prior week, and natural gas generation increased 14% to meet demand."
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Energy Markets
WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $62.22
Natural Gas: ↓ $3.54
Gasoline: ↓ $2.87
Diesel: ↓ $3.60
Heating Oil: ↓ $238.42
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $66.22
US Rig Count: ↑ 575 |
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"We are accelerating all of our work on zero-emissions vehicles, and we know that we have to navigate a managed transition that protects the environment, protects communities, protects workers in collaboration with the industry."
– Lauren Sanchez, California Air Resources Board
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Washington State's Climate Change Program Emmissions Reductions Correction
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The Unregulated Podcast. Episode #261: Welcome to Veganuary
AEA (2/2/26) The Unregulated Podcast: "On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the impacts of the recent winter storm on America’s electric grid, the future of renewables and electric vehicles, and the latest updates from the Trump Administration."
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