December 13th, 2024

• Stay up to date on all things energy by visiting the TEA Newsroom.
• America needs Affordable, Reliable, Clean energy security.
• Rural Nevadans want Trump to stop the state’s solar energy boom.
• Trump’s Energy secretary pick preaches the benefits of climate change.
• Five takeaways from the Biden carbon rule’s big day in court.
• A $400 billion clean energy program is racing to spend money.
• Poll: Most Americans don’t understand the risks of renewable energy.
• Rep. Balderson: U.N.’s alarmist approach ignores harm to working families.
• In a shift, Biden will bar most fossil fuel financing overseas.
• Biden admin could slow Trump’s efforts to unleash natural gas.

The issue: The largest coal-fired plant in Pennsylvania is converting to natural gas. The Homer City Generating Station, which was decommissioned last year, is getting a new life as a natural gas plant. Demolition is expected to kick off in February or March, with an estimated project timeline of two years.

Why it matters: The change would allow the new plant to produce “at least double” its output as a former coal plant, officials there said. The company hopes new businesses would be attracted to the area by the increase in production, and it may consider adding hydrogen and solar generation to the site.

Consider:

• Coal to natural gas conversions are happening nationwide, including Wyoming. If approved by the public service commission, the conversion will begin next June.
• Kansas also recently made the decision to switch to natural gas, committing to building two new plants by 2030 and East Kentucky Power is following a similar path for its energy generation.
• Natural gas-fired power plants generated more than 7 million megawatt hours of electricity on August 2, 2024, making up almost half of all electricity generated in the contiguous United States that day.

A key component is the reliability of natural gas. It’s used increasingly to balance the intermittent nature of electricity produced from wind and solar.

It’s also much cleaner. Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation have declined 61% due to increased use of natural gas over other sources like coal, according to The American Gas Association.

Bottom line: Natural gas and coal are two of our most reliable forms of energy. Natural gas has a competitive edge due to a smaller carbon footprint and a more affordable price.

The issue: Elon Musk, the billionaire electric vehicle mogul whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to help lead a government efficiency task force, told Politico last week that he wants to eliminate tax breaks for EV buyers.

Why it matters: This elimination must include carbon credits. Companies, including the Musk-owned Tesla, earn “credits” from the government for building electric vehicles that they deem environmentally friendly. Ironically, many of the elements that go into building electric vehicles are anything but friendly to the environment.
Companies then sell those government-sponsored credits to other car companies that still build the traditional, gas-fueled cars that most Americans drive.

Consider: It’s fortuitous that Musk will be a key part of Trump’s proposed new Department of Government Efficiency aimed at reducing or eliminating these types of programs.

• This gives Musk a tremendous opportunity to be part of the solution.
• The blame actually rests with lobbyists and politicians, who created this albatross following the Kyoto Protocol in 2005. This includes President Biden, who strongly supported it.
• It’s time to end the subsidies that allowed companies to make millions from selling environmental carbon credits (or regulatory credits) to other automakers.
• This has created a challenge for automakers in reducing their carbon footprints, given the high emissions associated with key EV components like batteries, steel and aluminum.

Americans have always wanted fuel-efficient cars because that saves them money — and also benefits the environment. This government-mandated scheme of carbon credits simply replaces consumer-driven demand for better technology with a make-believe commodity.

It’s anything but efficient or entrepreneurial, and it needs to be abolished.

Bottom line: Elon Musk says he’s opposed to government subsidies for energy and we completely agree. He has a chance to change the way the federal government operates and eliminate all subsidies, including carbon credits.

Gas prices are stuck in neutral, with the national average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline holding steady at $3.02 over the last week. For the past several weeks, prices have been dropping due to lower demand and cheap oil, but experts are unsure if they will be able to fall lower than the $3 per gallon benchmark.

FERC Open Meeting: On Thursday, December 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold an Open Meeting of the Commission.

 “I’ve been saying for years that our reliance on China for critical minerals undermines our national security and defense. This ban is a wake-up call. I am confident that President Trump and his administration understand the imperative of developing our own resources so that we aren’t dependent on an adversary, like China, to keep us safe.” 

— Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) commenting on China’s ban on rare mineral exports to the United States.