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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  | 08/20/2021
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Who knew that natural gas was helpful to meet peak demand? Apparently not the CA cities working to make it illegal. 


Bloomberg (8/19/21) reports: "California, a state that has been aggressively weaning its power grid off of fossil fuels, is now working on adding several natural gas-fired plants in an effort to keep the lights on this summer. The California Department of Water Resources is in the process of procuring five temporary gas-fueled generators that have individual capacities of 30 megawatts, said spokesman Ryan Endean. The units will be installed at existing power plants and are expected to be operating by the middle of September. The move comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the power grid on concern about supply shortages during hot summer evenings when solar production wanes. The order, issued last month, aimed to free up energy supplies and speed up power plant development to help avert blackouts. It also temporarily lifted air-quality rules.Earlier this year, California regulators balked at ordering utilities to add new gas-fired generation after environmental groups said it would run counter to the state’s decarbonization goals. Officials have been scrambling to shore up power resources ever since brief blackouts hit in August 2020 during an extreme heat wave."

"Unfortunately, this administration continues to project hostility to the oil and gas industry, while encouraging imports from the same industry overseas. Until that hypocritical attitude changes, our supply will sit on the sidelines, and our country in second place." 

 

– E.J. Antoni, Ph.D.,
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Amidst record coal prices, Biden to “review” (which is Washington-speak for “stop”) the coal leasing program.


Bloomberg (8/19/21) reports: "The Interior Department will kick off a formal review of the federal coal program on Friday, according to a notice scheduled for publication in the Federal Register. The Bureau of Land Management will solicit public comments on whether the regulatory framework should be changed to guide better decisions on which coal resources should be made available, and how to measure the climate impacts of federal coal production, transportation, and combustion. The move is the latest step in an ongoing tug-of-war between Democratic and Republican administrations over coal leasing on federal lands. The Obama administration had paused federal coal leasing in 2016, but the Trump administration restarted it the following year. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland then struck down the Trump order, leading to the new review."

Do the battery powered cars of the future need chips? 


BBC (8/19/21) reports: "Toyota is to slash worldwide vehicle production by 40% in September because of the global microchip shortage. The world's biggest carmaker had planned to make almost 900,000 cars next month, but has now reduced that to 540,000 vehicles. Volkswagen, the world's second-biggest car producer, has warned it may also be forced to cut output further. The Covid pandemic boosted demand for appliances that use chips, such as phones, TVs and games consoles. On Thursday, German firm Volkswagen, which cut output earlier in the year, told Reuters: 'We currently expect supply of chips in the third quarter to be very volatile and tight. We can't rule out further changes to production.' Toyota's other rivals, including General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Daimler, BMW and Renault, have already scaled back production in the face of the global chip shortage. Until now, Toyota had managed to avoid doing the same, with the exception of extending summer shutdowns by a week in France the Czech Republic and Turkey."

The car companies should be pushing back on EV mandates and supporting the American Energy Alliance, not kowtowing to a President who doesn’t care about them or their customers.


CNBC (8/19/21) reports: "Automakers are spending billions of dollars to transition to cleaner and greener battery-powered vehicles, but the new technology has come with an even steeper cost: Reputation-damaging vehicle fires, recalls, sudden power loss and problems getting some of the cars started. The learning curve with batteries is steep for traditional automakers, and battery technology remains challenging even for Tesla, which has faced similar issues. But automakers are eager to embrace the new technology with President Joe Biden in the White House pushing for half of new car sales to be electric by 2030, a plan that will likely come with billions of dollars in tax and other incentives. While costly recalls occur in traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines, many of the current trouble spots for electric vehicles are software and batteries — two areas crucial to EVs that are not historically core areas of expertise for Detroit automakers...The problems are already showing up on corporate balance sheets. Three high-profile automaker recalls within the last year — by General Motors, Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor — involving about 132,500 electric vehicles cost a combined $2.2 billion. Most recently, GM said it would spend $800 million on a recall of its Chevrolet Bolt EV following several reported fires due to two 'rare manufacturing defects' in the lithium-ion battery cells in the vehicle’s battery pack."

If you oppose a carbon tax, take a stand and contact us.
Tom Pyle, American Energy Alliance
Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Phil Kerpen, American Commitment
Andrew Quinlan, Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity
Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform
George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom
Thomas A. Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste
Richard Manning, Americans for Limited Government
Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks
Craig Richardson, E&E Legal
Benjamin Zycher, American Enterprise Institute
Jason Hayes, Mackinac Center
David Williams, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
Seton Motley, Less Government
Nathan Nascimento, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
Isaac Orr, Center of the American Experiment
David T. Stevenson & Clint Laird, Caesar Rodney Institute
John Droz, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
Jim Karahalios, Axe the Carbon Tax
Mark Mathis, Clear Energy Alliance
Jack Ekstrom, PolicyWorks America

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $63.23
Natural Gas: ↑ $3.94
Gasoline: ↑ $3.17
Diesel: ↓ $3.28
Heating Oil: ↓ $194.29
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $66.03
US Rig Count: ↑ 579

 
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