View this email in your browser
MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  08/24/2020
Subscribe Now

Democrats everywhere are choosing now, of all times, to push for total green takeovers.


E&E News (8/24/20) reports: "Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker laid out an ambitious energy proposal Friday aimed at tackling climate change while also improving utility affordability and accountability. One pillar of Pritzker's sweeping plan would put Illinois on a trajectory to power the state with 100% renewable energy by midcentury and phase out polluting power plants by adding a price on carbon emissions. The 13-page statement of principles builds on the governor's call earlier this year for legislators to pass clean energy legislation this spring — an agenda derailed by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The plan recommends strengthening ethics laws and warns against crafting energy policy "behind closed doors," responding directly to the unfolding bribery scandal involving the state's largest utility, Commonwealth Edison. 'These principles represent guideposts for crafting a legislative proposal that puts consumers and climate first,' Pritzker said in a statement. The plan leaves many details to be ironed out. But it calls for scrapping a push by utility giant Exelon Corp. and a coalition of environmental groups to leave the capacity market run by PJM Interconnection LLC, the largest U.S. grid operator."

"At stake in this election is the survival of our nation. Democrats are going to waste your money on the Green New Deal. You know what you'd get out of that? Nothing. Nothing except debt and death"

 

– President Donald J. Trump

Good thing the Pebble Mine is full of Green New Deal minerals!


NS Energy (8/21/20) reports: "Northern Dynasty Minerals has discovered 'substantial quantities' of rhenium – a strategic metal with military applications – at its Pebble mine project in south-west Alaska. The Canadian miner said the combined measured and inferred deposit could increase the existing US resource base of rhenium by 84%, potentially boosting its chances of securing government approval for the mine’s development as it awaits the outcome of a highly-contested permit decision. The Trump administration is actively seeking to strengthen domestic supplies of critical minerals – of which rhenium is one – in order to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign imports from places like China and Russia."


Greenout!


Wall Street Journal (8/23/20) reports: "When rolling blackouts darkened parts of California this month, Frank Wolak, an economics professor and energy markets expert at Stanford University, had a painful sense of déjà vu. Mr. Wolak was among the people who helped California chart a course out of crisis in 2001, when a poorly conceived state electricity-deregulation law resulted in frequent power shortages, sporadic blackouts, astronomical wholesale prices and market manipulation. As Californians again experience rolling blackouts, and millions more are threatened with losing power, a warning that continues through Monday, Mr. Wolak said it was clear that 'California policy makers completely forgot the lessons from the crisis…in their rush to go green.' Once again, a big part of the problem is that California regulators have left the state dangerously exposed to buying large amounts of imported electricity on the spot market during peak periods on days when there is extreme energy demand—what Mr. Wolak likened to going to the airport on Thanksgiving and expecting to fly standby."

The most popular brand of electric vehicle still needs government support? Not a great endorsement of the product.


CNET (8/20/20) reports: "In today's round of pretty unsurprising news, Teslas are mighty popular in the US. In fact, Teslas made up just over 80% of all electric cars sold in the first half of 2020. Data from Buy Shares, a company focused on providing financial and stock market education, shows Americans purchased 87,398 electric cars in the first half of this year. Of that tally, 71,375 of them were Teslas. The Model 3 is by far the automaker's most popular vehicle with 38,314 sold, but according to this data, the EV maker still managed to move 18,861 Model Y SUVs despite a factory shutdown and the coronavirus pandemic. The Model X found 9,500 homes and 4,700 Model S sedans went home with owners in the first half of this year as well. The Model 3, Model Y and Model X make up the top three EVs sold in the first half of 2020, and the only car to break Tesla's streak is the Chevy Bolt EV. The brand sold 8,370 Bolt EVs, interrupting the Teslas and placing ahead of the Model S. The rest of the chart features some pretty measly numbers compared to Tesla and the Bolt EV from other top selling EVs so far. The closest any other brand gets is Nissan, which sold 3,006 Leafs in the first half of 2020." 

Why don't they just pull the plug on the Presidio, where all the Green groups that caused this are located?


Utility Dive (8/17/20) reports: "The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is bracing for rolling outages through Wednesday, after a record-breaking heatwave in the Western U.S. strained energy supplies and necessitated power shut-offs that affected hundreds of thousands of customers over the weekend. California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who met with CAISO, as well as officials from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC) this weekend about the power shortages — on Monday called for an investigation into the outages over the weekend, as well as agencies’ failure to predict them. The situation is the result of 'a perfect storm of events,' Seth Hilton, partner at Stoel Rives, said, including the heatwave, insufficient procurement of resources to deal with these situations, changing system needs — in part due to increasing amounts of solar and other flexible resources on the system — and a reduction in imports that CAISO could rely on." 

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $42.55
Natural Gas: ↑ $2.50
Gasoline: ~ $2.18
Diesel: ↓ $2.41
Heating Oil: ↑ $124.15
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $44.74
US Rig Count: ↓ 280

 
Friend on Facebook Friend on Facebook
Follow on Twitter Follow on Twitter
Forward to a Friend Forward to a Friend
Our mailing address is:
1155 15th Street NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC xxxxxx
Want to change how you receive these emails?
update your preferences
unsubscribe from this list