New year, same great show

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 01/02/2023

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Want to know how this year all turns out? Tom and Mike boldly predict how 2023 will shake out on the latest episode of The Unregulated Podcast. Now streaming on our website, or wherever you listen.

"Except in special circumstances, all construction of power generating facilities should cease immediately, and power companies should be forbidden to encourage people to use more power. Power is much too cheap. It should certainly be made more expensive and perhaps rationed, in order to reduce its frivolous use."

– Paul Ehrlich,
Doomsayer and Media Darling (1971)

Having trouble at the pump? Don't worry, you can get a nice break on a $300,000 electric sports car.

Fox Business (12/30/22) reports: "The Biden administration issued guidance Thursday explaining which electric vehicles (EV) qualify for tax credits and included a workaround that allows a wide range of cars to be eligible. The Department of the Treasury said in its announcement that under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which President Biden signed into law in August, regular consumer EVs would qualify for the commercial clean vehicles credit of $7,500 if leased instead of purchased. The workaround allows dealers or businesses that lease cars to collect the credit on leased EVs that, if purchased, would not be eligible for the tax break. 'In providing today’s guidance, Treasury is simply following the tax laws and the IRA as written,' a Treasury Department spokesperson told FOX Business on Thursday evening. 'The tax laws governing ownership in a lease situation and what is a legitimate business use — and therefore what would fall under the 45W credit for commercial vehicles purchased for use or lease — are longstanding, settled, and clear.'...In addition, the Ferrari 296 GTB which costs nearly $323,000, the McLaren Artura which costs about $237,000, the Mercedes-Benz which costs $105,000 and the Porsche Taycan which costs $84,000 would all similarly be eligible for a credit. 'These are lawn ornaments for most people. It's to show that you're a good person because you have an electric Mercedes,' Dan Kish, a senior fellow at free-market think tank Institute for Energy Research, told FOX Business. 'That kind of virtue signaling — when people are just struggling to get by — is just the sort of elitist mentality that seems to surround a lot of the whole green agenda.' 'Even when you put boundaries around it, as we were told they did, it turns out the Treasury Department simply writes its own rules,' he added."

Something or another is always tangling up the future of offshore wind, which is just a few billion in handouts away from a big breakthrough.

Wall Street Journal (1/1/22) reports: "Offshore wind developers are facing financial challenges that threaten to derail several East Coast projects critical to reaching the Biden administration’s near-term clean-energy targets. Supply-chain snarls, rising interest rates and inflationary pressures are making projects far more expensive to build. Now, some developers are looking to renegotiate financing agreements to keep their projects under way. The Biden administration has set a target for the U.S. to develop 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030—enough to supply electricity to roughly 10 million homes. Analysts say that target will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve if cost and supply issues persist...Global market dynamics have compounded the hurdles. The U.S. is building its first wave of offshore wind farms at the same time European countries try to accelerate their own projects to secure electricity supplies following the invasion of Ukraine. That has strained the supply chain, as well as the availability of specialized installation vessels needed to transport and hoist massive turbines."

Even a broken clock...

New year, new rate, the same law of supply and demand.

OPB (12/29/22) reports: "Many Oregonians can expect higher electricity bills starting on New Year’s Day. Oregon’s utility regulator on Thursday announced approved rate increases for Portland General Electric and Pacific Power customers, citing increased costs to produce and purchase electricity. 'Unfortunately, fuel cost increases and supply chain delays caused by global events, combined with increasing volatility in regional electricity markets, drive the price for utilities to produce and purchase electricity,' Megan Decker, who chairs the Oregon Public Utility Commission, said in a press release. Effective Jan. 1, PGE customers will see a 6% increase in their electrical bills. Typical PGE residential customers using 780 kilowatt hours per month can expect monthly bills to increase from $114.54 to $122.60. Meanwhile, Pacific Power customers will see a 15% increase. In a press release, the company said a typical residential customer using 900 kilowatt hours per month can expect monthly bills to increase from $91.89 to $111.34."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $80.26
Natural Gas: ↓ $4.47
Gasoline: ↑ $3.21

Diesel: ↓ $4.67
Heating Oil: ↑ $329.50
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $85.91
US Rig Count: ↓ 859

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