WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy first day of spring, readers! Today’s edition of Daily on Energy kicks off looking at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s monthly open meeting, where Chairman Mark Christie gave an all-but endorsement for more coal power.
Also this morning, a judge in the District of Columbia Superior Court heard arguments regarding a bid to dismiss a climate change case brought against several large fossil fuel companies. Keep reading to find out when the judge expects to issue a ruling on the matter.
Plus, Callie and Maydeen continue to keep an eye on developments regarding liquefied natural gas exports, as some industry players insist they will keep following Biden administration standards for methane emissions.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
FERC TOUTS GAS, COAL, AND NUCLEAR AS PRIMARY ENERGY RESOURCES: Following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s monthly meeting this morning, Chairman Mark Christie highlighted three key dispatchable types of energy that can and are supporting the national grid during inclement weather.
The details: Thursday morning, FERC held its March commission meeting to vote on a number of issues, including giving approval to regional transmission organization Southwest Power Pool to expand into the Western Interconnection. In a press conference held after the meeting, Christie was pressed on whether the independent commission has received any directive from the administration on preserving coal-fired power plants.
Christie, who was nominated to FERC in 2020 by President Donald Trump during his first term, noted the agency has not received a “specific direction” from the executive office. Though he also took the opportunity to highlight FERC’s support for coal power within the nation’s total energy makeup.
“We are losing dispatchable generation at a pace that is not sustainable. We’re not replacing it with equivalent capacity value resources,” Christie told reporters. “And so what’s dispatchable? It’s nuclear, coal, [and] gas. Those are the three primary dispatchable resources.”
Christie went on to say that in non-RTO regions across the country there are utilities still operating coal-powered plants longer than originally planned.
“That’s already happening, it’s part of the mix,” the chairman said. ‘We have to have dispatchable resources, and the extent that coal is part of the dispatchable resource mix…We cannot be losing these resources without replacing it with equivalent capacity. Actually, we don’t need equivalent capacity. We need more capacity.”
Some context: On Monday evening, Trump ramped up his support for the coal industry, saying he was authorizing his administration to reverse planned retirements of coal-fired plants. Members of the president’s cabinet have made similar statements in recent weeks, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It remains unclear how the administration’s plans may alter existing policy or if they plan to use emergency power to revive closing sites.
INTERIOR SECRETARY MAKES MOVES TO OPEN UP ALASKA: The Department of Interior has announced several actions to open up Alaska for increased drilling, fulfilling the president’s executive order to unleash the state’s untapped energy potential.
The details: Thursday afternoon, Burgum announced three main actions to expand exploration and development opportunities for the fossil fuel industry in the state. This includes:
- Reopening up to 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
- Reinstating a program making the entire 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge available for oil and gas leasing.
- Revoking withdrawals along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor and Dalton Highway to pave the way for future pipeline projects.
“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum said. “For far too long, the federal government has created too many barriers to capitalizing on the state’s energy potential. Interior is committed to recognizing the central role the State of Alaska plays in meeting our nation’s energy needs, while providing tremendous economic opportunity for Alaskans.”
D.C. JUDGE HEARS ARGUMENTS IN BIG OIL CASE: A judge at the District of Columbia Superior Court heard arguments today regarding big oil companies’ bid to dismiss a suit by D.C. accusing them of misleading the public on the impacts of fossil fuel products.
What is the case about? The District of Columbia sued Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell in the D.C. Superior Court, claiming the oil companies violated D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) by misrepresenting the effects of fossil fuel products to consumers for decades. The district says that fossil fuels have caused environmental damages, such as rising temperature and sea levels.
The arguments: Oil companies argued today that the district has failed to identify the misrepresentation by the companies.
“The plaintiff’s claims are meritless as they fail to identify a single alleged misrepresentation by Chevron in their entire complaint. Addressing climate change requires a coordinated international policy response, not meritless state and local lawsuits that have been repeatedly dismissed by multiple federal and state courts,” Theodore Boutrous, Jr. of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP, counsel for Chevron, said in a statement.
The district alleges that the companies’ deceptive practices are ongoing as they claim to invest in renewable energy sources.
One of the district’s lawyers, Stephanie Biehl, said the oil companies in the late 80s and 90s failed to disclose their products caused climate change. Now, to the present day, the companies are claiming to significantly invest in renewable energy technology, which Biehl said is not true.
Chevron has said “we are tackling the challenge of renewables, making them affordable and reliable on a large scale,” Biehl argued, adding “an unsophisticated consumer reads that and says, ‘cool Chevron, switching to renewable energy on a large scale,’ but they’re not.”
D.C. Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams said she would issue an order on whether to dismiss the lawsuit in four to six weeks.
MORE PARKING OR MORE ENERGY? A CLOSER LOOK AT D.C.’S 40 ACRE SOLAR FARM: Just over 3 miles northeast of the White House in the heart of Washington, one can find a massive 40-acre solar farm that nearly became a parking lot instead.
The details: Developed by the Catholic University of America and Rockville, Maryland-based Standard Solar, the West Campus Solar Array has been pumping thousands of kilowatts of energy into the university and local homes since it came online in July 2024. Forty-two rows of solar panels can be found on roughly 25 acres of the entire 40-acre parcel of land, enclosed by electrical wiring and a rusting iron fence located along the road. The entire 7.5-megawatt array is expected to save around 7.115 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and provide around 10,000 megawatt hours of power each year.
Why solar: The land, which Catholic University has only owned since 2004, had been unused for decades, home to roaming wildlife and dozens of trees. By 2012, university officials wanted to put it to use, proposing they turn part of the west campus lot into a parking lot that could accommodate roughly 275 vehicles. However, priorities shifted over time.
“I think they ultimately decided that they wanted to monetize the space to the extent that they could,” Catholic University Director of the Office of Campus Sustainability Gabrielle Choate told Callie, calling the array a “monetary asset for the university.”
Choate explained that while Catholic University owns the land the solar panels were installed on, the school does not own the array itself. Instead, they lease the land to Standard Solar, which installed, maintains, and operates the panels. The university is then able to purchase some of the electricity generated at a reduced rate, lowering its overall electricity costs.
Read more from Callie’s visit to the array and why they opted against installing more solar panels above a parking lot here.
LNG PRODUCERS TO KEEP CURBING EMISSIONS DESPITE TRUMP RULE ROLLBACKS: As the president has opened the door for increased exports of liquefied natural gas, leaders in the industry are vowing to maintain Biden administration policies regarding methane emissions to meet international standards.
Some context: Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled more than two dozen sweeping deregulatory actions reversing Biden administration rules and regulations focused on climate change. This included a measure to require companies to report annual emissions of methane. While this decision could result in some companies easing up on their emissions reductions plans, the LNG industry doesn’t appear to be backing down.
The details: LNG Allies President Fred Hutchison told Reuters this week that no matter what changes the administration makes to regulating methane emissions, their plans are unchanged.
Chris Treanor, a lawyer representing the LNG group Partnership to Address Global Emissions, agreed, telling the outlet, “Our members have invested tens of millions of dollars reducing their emissions all before any U.S. regulations were in place. They are committed to continuing to drive down their emissions.”
Similarly, natural gas producer EQT has said it will continue in its efforts to reduce methane emissions and meet international goals set at the United Nations climate change conference in 2023.
U.S. DELAYING BILLION DOLLAR CLIMATE PACKAGE TO SOUTH AFRICA: The U.S. delays a $2.6 billion climate finance package to South Africa, sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.
A representative for the U.S. earlier this month prevented the World Bank-linked Climate Investment Funds from approving a $500 million disbursement to South Africa, the outlet said. The funding would have unlocked $2.1 billion from multilateral development banks and other sources.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that there might be an attempt to approve the funds at the CIF meeting in June. The Climate Investment Funds provides finance for lower income countries through six multilateral development banks for investments in clean technology projects. It is unclear whether the U.S. will completely block its funding to South Africa.
Since entering office, Trump has pulled the U.S. out of international climate groups, meetings, and funding pacts. For instance, the U.S. was pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement on Trump’s first day in office and has canceled funds for the Green Climate fund.
SOUTH KOREA BRINGING SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION TO TEXAS: A South Korean green energy and chemical company is planting some roots in Texas as it looks to build a solar-cell production facility in the state.
The details: OCI Holdings Co. is reportedly looking to build a $265 million solar-cell plant in the Lone Star State, with a capacity of up to around 2 gigawatts of solar cells, according to Bloomberg. Construction is expected to start soon, as a statement from the company obtained by the outlet reveals OCI Holdings Co. is looking to begin commercial operations by 2026.
Amid growing tariffs on China from the U.S., the company is reportedly planning to use polysilicon from its Malaysian division OCI TerraSus. OCI Holdings Co. is expected to benefit from solar tax incentives created by the Democratic-passed Inflation Reduction Act, which Republicans have sought to reverse.
ICYMI – GREENPEACE TO PAY $660M OVER DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE: A jury found that Greenpeace must pay $660 million in damages for defamation and delaying the buildout of the Dakota Access pipeline.
Texas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access had accused Greenpeace of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy and other acts linked to their protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota. The plaintiffs argued that the protests were a scheme to delay the pipeline’s construction.
Greenpeace helped members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protest against the pipeline in 2016 to 2017, as they said the pipeline would pollute the reservation’s drinking water. The environmental group has warned that the multimillion-dollar verdict could send it into bankruptcy.
Greenpeace plans to appeal the jury’s decision. The group argues that the lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer is a Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), case, which is brought by individuals or entities to silence their critics by drawing out costly and timely legal battles. Over 30 states have anti-SLAPP laws, but not North Dakota.
RUNDOWN
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