Energy Update: Week of December 15

Energy Update - December 15, 2025

Friends,

Happy Hanukkah to all (which started last night).  Big News this morning from our friends at SAFE: Founder Robbie Diamond will assume the role of Executive Chairman, and Avery Ash, SAFE’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Special Initiatives, will become the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer.

One other big thing this morning: A coalition of 10 U.S. and EU industry organizations called on the European Union to include changes to its methane regulations (EUMR) in order simplify regulatory burdens to boost EU competitiveness. The current regs would prevent US LNG from being imported to Europe and risks a trade/tariff backlash. 

Permit reform week rolls on starting today with Chairman Westerman’s SPEED Act hitting the House Rule Committee today and a likely floor vote late this week. As I said last week, the aim is to deliver a strong bipartisan start that can create momentum for Senate action. The back and forth from both sides continues with a small band of anti-wind Conservatives making a lot of noise (But It seems it is only that). The House also is likely to vote on several other energy bills, including mining, grid reliability and FERC power plant issues. Happy to discuss those issue and find you sources.

Congressional attention is intensifying around the details of U.S. trade agreements, as the Supreme Court are gets closer to a decision on revenue and lawmakers are publicly urging the administration to include targeted tariff exemptions for specific products, including LNG, soybeans/agriculture and even tuna imports from Thailand. Reps. Joe Wilson, Rick Allen and Buddy Carter recently sent letters signaling a new phase, where members of Congress are not only supporting broader trade frameworks but are also advocating for precise changes that could directly impact American jobs, rural economies, and the competitiveness of U.S. industries. This development marks a shift from general trade policy support to active intervention on the specifics of tariff schedules, reflecting growing legislative engagement in shaping the outcomes of international trade deals. This is a clear sign that tariff exemption decisions are becoming a focal point for Congressional oversight and could impact current and future trade negotiations. Happy to send PDFs of the letters. 

I am headed over to the C3 American Energy Innovation Summit which launched at 11:00 am or so with Energy Secretary Chris Wright. A Lot of other great speakers throughout the day. Other events this week include today’s CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program’s flagship 2026 event, SAFE’s Center for Grid Security virtual discussion tomorrow on expanding transmission and ensuring reliable power supply across regions and Thursday, FERC holds its December Monthly Open meeting with the long-awaited discussion on co-location for data centers on the agenda, followed more importantly, by the annual FERC holiday party (always an awesome time).

Finally, on Friday afternoon, I chatted with Julie Mason on her Sirius XM P.O.T.U.S. 124 show on energy, oil/gas leasing, nuclear power and more. Tune in here to check it out. 

NCAA College FBS Football Playoffs start Friday with Alabama visiting Oklahoma. FCS has semifinals on Saturday with Villanova taking on Illinois St. and the Battle of Montana in the other (Montana/Montana St).  Go Grizz!!!!  Michigan’s Ferris State takes on Harding in the DII Final on Saturday and DIII hosts Semifinals on Saturday with John Carroll taking on North Central and UW-River Falls hosting Johns Hopkins.

Let’s talk permitting….Call with questions.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932                                                                                                              

FRANKLY SPOKEN

“Most organizations in Washington now are trying to figure out how they make a national security case or an energy security case or countering-China case for their issues. “We have the luxury of having been here since Day One.”

              New SAFE CEO Avery Ash in an interview with POLITICO’s James Bikales.

"Not everything in that speech is 100% accurate, but I'll just put it to you this way: Those windmills don't fly themselves over there."

Billy Bob Thornton to the WSJ on the viral (and questionable) anti-wind speech in "Landman"

ON THE PODCAST

California and a Western Energy Market – In this week’s Volts podcast, Dave Roberts discusses California warming up to a larger Western energy market in a conversation with Brian Turner of Advanced Energy United and Kathleen Staks of Western Freedom. The discussion unpacks the details of the newly authorized Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE), a unique “à la carte” RTO designed to unify the western US grid without trampling on state independence. They discuss the transition from the existing imbalance market to a full day-ahead market, the safeguards built into the bylaws to protect state clean-energy policies, and the politics of getting 38 separate balancing authorities to cooperate.

FUN OPINIONS

Reams: Rural America Benefits from Permitting Reforms – In an op-ed in the Washington Times, CRES President and CEO Heather Reams penned her newest op-ed with The Washington Times on how permitting reform can boost rural economies and support American energy. Permitting reform means that rural communities across the nation will reap the benefits of new investments and opportunities to expand existing projects. Regulatory certainty will encourage economic development and generate revenue for further improvements in local infrastructure and community services. Revitalizing the way the nation facilitates its permitting process will make building faster and more cost effective, all while promoting all forms of energy production. It’s a win for rural America, which is a win for us all.

FROG BLOG

Offshore Wind is Best Choice for NY – In an opinion piece in the Long Island Press, All Our Energy Director George Povall writes the answer to Increased energy prices is meeting supply and demand is in balance, including offshore wind. New York needs to stop looking to the failed energy of the past. With the upcoming cold season, AI and data center explosion, and ongoing rise in energy prices, now is the time for proven solutions like offshore wind.

FUN FACTS

New Study: Flexible Data Centers, NatGas Provide Affordable Path to Power: Significant new research from Camus Energy and Princeton University ZERO Lab shows how large load flexibility can improve affordability, accelerate speed to power, and preserve reliability. In the first publicly available study to combine real utility transmission system data, system-level capacity expansion modeling, and site-level capacity optimization to evaluate how flexibility can accelerate data center interconnections.

IN THE NEWS

SAFE Announces New Leadership – SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy) announced a significant milestone in its 21st year: Founder Robbie Diamond will assume the role of Executive Chairman, and Avery Ash, SAFE’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Special Initiatives, will become the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer. The transition comes as SAFE builds on two decades of impact and accelerates its work to strengthen America’s energy and national security in an increasingly complex strategic landscape. In his new role, Diamond will remain deeply engaged with SAFE’s mission. As Executive Chairman, he will serve as the primary liaison to the Board of Directors and the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), and will continue shaping SAFE’s long-term vision. Diamond founded SAFE in 2004 with a focus on reducing the national security and economic threats from oil dependence through both supply- and demand-side solutions. Under his leadership, the organization has grown to encompass critical minerals and autonomous vehicles

Chamber to Key Vote SPEED Act Legislation – A new letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will “Key Vote” H.R. 4776, the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act,” or “SPEED Act,” and strongly urges all Members to vote in favor when it comes to the House floor this week.  The SPEED Act delivers meaningful, bipartisan reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) permitting process that will accelerate investment and help communities realize the benefits of needed infrastructure quicker by:

  • Cutting Red Tape in NEPA Reviews: Clarifying what qualifies as a “major federal action” and allowing reuse of prior analyses to eliminate duplicative reviews and appropriately speed up approval-related decisions.
  • Focusing Reviews Where They Matter: Aligning environmental review requirements with the Supreme Court’s Seven County Infrastructure Coalition decision, reinforcing that NEPA is a procedural statute and limiting review of environmental impacts to those that have “a reasonably close causal relationship” to the project.
  • Reining in Litigation Delays: Establishing strict timelines for legal challenges and requiring courts to remedy legal deficiencies without vacating permits, ensuring projects can proceed without years of uncertainty.
  • Helping ensure Certainty for Projects: Furthering the goal of durability for completed environmental reviews except in narrow circumstances, fostering enduring investment certainty for all forms of projects.

Joint EU-US Industry Raise Concerns EU Methane Regs – The EU energy committee is scheduled to consider a measure this morning that purports to “fix” the problems EU importers have flagged on its Methane Regulation. Unfortunately, the changes actually DON’T FIX the problems, and they can’t fix it with implementing regulations.  They joint industry letter is a last-ditch effort to pressure the EU Energy Ministers to go back to the drawing board and re-open the underlying legislation to make the necessary corrections to the actual legislation. If they do not re-open the legislation, there is a good chance this will force the US to re-open the US-EU trade dialogue (including the massive LNG deal) with US threats of additional tariffs. Over the weekend, a coalition of 10 U.S. and EU industry organizations released the attached statement calling on the European Union to include changes to its methane regulations (EUMR) in a forthcoming Energy Omnibus legislative package aimed at simplifying regulatory burdens to boost EU competitiveness. U.S. signatories were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, Center for LNG, and LNG Allies, and European signatories include the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, EuroGas, BVEG, Energy Traders Europe, FuelsEurope, and GIIGNL.

EU Methane Background:

  • The statement details how the EUMR has created significant regulatory uncertainty for exporters and importers alike, imposes unworkable timelines, and sets penalties of up to 20% of annual turnover on importers for non-compliance. As a result, the rules are discouraging EU importers from signing long-term natural gas contracts for U.S. LNG, which is threatening Europe’s security of supply at the exact time it has successfully moved forward with sanctions regime that will phase out dependence on Russian gas (which currently represents almost 15% of EU imports). The statement also calls for a “stop-the-clock” mechanism that delays implementation and associated deadlines while revisions to the law are undertaken.
  • The joint statement comes ahead of a Monday, December 15th meeting of the EU Energy Council (TTEC), at which member state ministers will likely discuss a proposal by the European Commission involving implementation changes to the rules. The joints statement commends efforts to increase compliance flexibility, but notes “as important as these are, the solutions envisaged by the Commission, while welcomed by industry, still do not address the full range of concerns.”
  • This follows a growing list of increasingly urgent warnings from EU industry throughout 2025 (see below1), as well as a June 2025 Energy Council meeting that voiced support for inclusion of the EUMR in the regulatory simplification agenda.
    • [1] For example, see:

- April 2025 Eurogas letter: Urgent Need for Regulatory Clarity to Safeguard EU Supply Security

- June 2025 article: EU countries consider softening methane emissions law on gas imports

- June 2025 IOGP Europe statement: IOGP Europe welcomes EU Energy Ministers’ call for Inclusion of the EU Methane Regulation in upcoming Energy Omnibus  

- July 2025 joint paper: Action plan to address key challenges on importers’ requirements in the Methane Regulation

- August 2025 coalition letter: Integrating the EU Methane Regulation into the Simplification Agenda

- October 2025 coalition paper: Description of principles for solutions addressing the challenge for EU importers to identify the producer of natural gas or crude oil to achieve compliance with the EU Methane Regulation

- November 2025 Eurogas statement: Securing Affordable Gas for Europe: Why Importer Provisions in the Methane Regulation Must Be Fixed Now

  • Additionally, the EU methane regulations remain an important non-tariff trade barrier impacting the EU’s foundational commitment in the US-EU trade deal to purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. The August 21st joint statement between the US and EU committed to addressing non-tariff barriers such as the EUMR.
  • Finally, it should be noted that USLNG has a lower GHG footprint than most other imported gas into the EU, and is helping to reduce emissions around the world.
  • A comprehensive March 2025 study by S&P Global found that six “paused” USLNG projects alone would reduce 780 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2040. The reductions from those six projects alone is equivalent to 1/3 of the European Union’s cumulative energy-related emissions reductions over the last decade.
  • The average methane emissions intensity of Russian LNG and pipeline gas is 44% and 59% higher, respectively, than the comparable intensity of U.S. LNG export projects halted by the 2024 “Pause” on new licenses. The methane emissions of Algerian pipeline gas—a growing supply source for Europe—are 161% higher than U.S. LNG.

Lease Sale Nets Almost $300 Million – The Interior Department said winning bids to drill for oil and gas over millions of acres in the Gulf totaled more than $279 million. API VP of Upstream Policy Holly Hopkins applauded Secretary Burgum and Congress for restoring a clear path for long-term investment in the Gulf of America that strengthens U.S. energy leadership and security:

“After two years of unnecessary delay in federal offshore leasing, today’s sale marks the beginning of a new generation of opportunity for safe, responsible development in the Gulf."

Lease Sale BBG1 will be the first federal offshore oil and natural gas lease sale since 2023, and the first of 30 Gulf of America lease sales required by the 2025 reconciliation bill. The Gulf of America (Mexico) is the nation’s primary source of offshore oil and natural gas production, accounting for 97% of all oil and natural gas production in offshore waters. Today, 14% of total U.S. crude oil production and 2% of natural gas production comes from the Gulf of America. A report from the National Ocean Industries Association found that the Gulf of America also produces some of the lowest carbon intensity barrels in the world.

FT Honors Bracewell as Most Innovative Law Firm for Infrastructure – Bracewell was honored as the Most Innovative Law Firm in North America for Infrastructure at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards North America 2025 for its creativity and market leadership on two groundbreaking energy transition and affordable housing deals. The honor comes on the heels of the firm winning the same award at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards Europe 2025. Bracewell was the standout winner for infrastructure at the North America Awards for its role advising Tallgrass Energy on the conversion of its 400-mile Trailblazer natural gas pipeline to a CO2 transportation pipeline. The project strategically reuses existing infrastructure to reduce environmental impact and avoid new construction. Bracewell’s cross-practice approach included developing the first pollution liability insurance policy for carbon sequestration, navigating complex tax and CO2 offtake structures and obtaining FERC approval through a unique “pipe within a pipe” design that maintains natural gas delivery while enabling CO2 transport. The Trailblazer project represents a major step forward in commercial-scale carbon sequestration and establishes a precedent for sustainable carbon management infrastructure.

E2: Clean Economy Cancellations Continue to Outpace New Investment – In its monthly clean energy report, E2 reports that businesses cancelled the fewest investments in large-scale factories and clean energy projects in over a year last month, but losses continued to outpace new project announcements.  This is all in E2’s monthly analysis of clean energy projects. Companies announced $550 million in investments for five new manufacturing projects in November but cancelled another $575 million for a battery storage project in Missouri — the fewest private sector projects and investments abandoned in a month since last November. According to the analysis, cancellations, closures, and downsizes are outpacing new project investments and jobs nearly three to one in 2025. More than $32 billion in investments and nearly 40,000 jobs have been abandoned by 2025, compared to less than $12 billion and 19,000 new jobs announced. One key factor in the slowdown of new announcements is the Trump administration’s nearly year-long freeze of approvals for major onshore wind and solar projects.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

December 14-22  – Hanukkah

CSIS to Holds 2025 Critical Mineral Summit – The CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program today holds its flagship event, Critical Minerals: 2025 Year in Review & Looking Ahead to 2026. This full day gathering will bring together policymakers, industry executives, and thought leaders to reflect on key trends in critical mineral markets and policy over the past year and explore what lies ahead. The event will feature a series of fireside chats and keynotes from Jarrod Agen, Executive Director of the White House’s National Energy Dominance Council, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), alongside panel discussions with leaders from government and industry. Speakers will explore how the minerals landscape has shifted in defense, domestic processing, and diplomacy, as well as offer a forward-looking forecast as the U.S. strengthens its mineral production and processing capabilities to meet evolving demand.

EPA, Corps Hosts WOTUS Meeting in Pittsburgh – EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are hosting a Dec. 15 public hearing in Pittsburgh to solicit input on the agencies’ proposal to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that defines the scope of federal protections under the Clean Water Act. Scheduled speakers include Wes Brooks, deputy EPA water chief, and Region 3 Administrator Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey

Wright Headlines C3 Energy Leadership Forum – Today starting at 11:00 a.m. at the Spy Museum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright will headline the C3 American Leadership in Energy Innovation Summit where the event will explore the policies needed to ensure families and businesses have access to affordable, reliable power and how the United States can achieve energy dominance.  It is a great line up of speakers in addition to Wright, including NEDC Director Jarrod Agen, DOE Energy Dominance Financing Office head Greg Beard, ARPA-E’s Conner Prochaska, Reps. August Pfluger and Celeste Maloy and industry sector experts like CEBA head Rich Powell and ClearPath CEO Jeremy Harrell.

Forum Focuses on FEMA – The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace holds a virtual discussion today at 1:00 p.m. on the future of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), looking at lessons from 2025 and what comes next.

Forum Looks at EV Affordability – Advanced Energy United holds a webinar today at 2:00 p.m. looking at vehicle electrification and affordability. In this webinar, industry experts will discuss how states are using managed charging, flexible load, and proactive planning to turn EV adoption into a tool for affordability. Panelists will explore real-world examples of states that are aligning investment and policy strategies to harness the benefits of EV integration and actionable strategies to prepare the grid for large-scale EV adoption. EPRI’s Katherine Stainken leads the speakers.

Nuke Group Holds Annual Winter Meeting – The U.S. Nuclear Industry Council holds its annual Winter Members Meeting in Washington, DC tomorrow.

House Small Biz Looks at Disaster Assistance – The House Small Business Committee holds a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on American Resilience: Examining the SBA Disaster Assistance Program.

SAFE Forum Focuses on Expanding Transmission – SAFE’s Center for Grid Security holds a virtual discussion tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., on transmission and America's industrial Golden Age focusing on how expanding transmission and ensuring reliable power supply across regions will enable the United States to lead in AI innovation while strengthening the manufacturing base that underpins the defense industrial supply chain.

DOE Critical Minerals Forum Set – Tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., DOE’s Critical Materials Collaborative will convene stakeholders and address how to strengthen education and workforce development efforts to meet the urgent demand for a skilled and abundant domestic critical minerals and materials (CMM) supply chain workforce. The virtual event will spotlight DOE’s current and upcoming efforts to build a strong CMM workforce, share perspectives from educators and innovators driving progress in this field, and invite a broader community of workforce partners to join the conversation and help amplify these efforts nationwide, while also informing opportunities for potential collaboration with other federal agencies.

Forum to Discuss EPA Finding – Tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., the Environmental Protection Network, comprised of former EPA staff, is hosting a forum outlining competing House and Senate appropriations proposals for EPA. Speakers will discuss the stakes for communities.

USEA to Address Michigan Critical Mineral opportunities – The US Energy Association holds a virtual discussion tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on Michigan's critical mineral potential. This session will showcase the Michigan Geological Survey’s research and leadership in assessing and developing critical mineral resources across the state. Speakers will be from the Michigan Geological Survey.

CEI Discussion Looks at Appliance Rules – The Competitive Enterprise Institute holds a virtual briefing tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., on federal efficiency standards and a new CEI report, Free the Appliances! Turn out the lights on federal efficiency standards. To kick off the report’s release, the event features keynote remarks from Reps. Rick Allen and Gary Palmer. The discussion will include a panel with CEI’s author Ben Lieberman and CFACT’s Donna Jackson.

Forum Focuses Accelerating Electrification – Tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., the Electrification Coalition and Uber will host a webinar exploring the findings of Cadmus' recent report, Electrifying Ridehail in the U.S. and Canada. The event will look at the key challenges and opportunities identified in the report and how U.S. and Canadian governments and utilities can use the information to lower barriers to ridehail electrification.

House Transportation Looks at Water Resources – The House Transportation’s Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee holds a hearing on Wednesday at Noon looking at WRDA stakeholder priorities for 2026. Witnesses include National Waterways Conference CEO Julie Ufner, Midwest Flood Control Association Charles Camillo and Noel Hacegaba of the Port of Long Beach, CA.

Forum Addresses US-Saudi Visit – The Middle East Institute holds a discussion on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. looking at the U.S.-Saudi relationship in the wake of MBS's Visit. Ambassador Michael Ratney, and Dr. Karen Young—all of whom recently traveled to Riyadh— provide an assessment of Saudi policy and the US-Saudi relationship in the wake of the MBS visit.

Brooking Looks at Ukraine, Energy Issues – The Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe holds a virtual discussion on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. on pressure on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and prospects for peace. The event will feature a discussion on the diplomacy and domestic politics around the conflict as well as the prospects for peace.

FERC December Meeting to Look at Data Centers – FERC holds in December meeting on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. The long-awaited discussion Co-Location for data centers is on the agenda.

E&E Reporters Discuss Data Centers, AI – POLITICO's E&E News reporters hold a forum on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. for a review of the impact of data centers on the grid and the environment and how regulators and lawmakers are reacting to the challenges.

Discussion on Iran Elections, Energy – The Center for the National Interest is hosting an online panel discussion at 10:30 a.m. on Friday looking at of Iraq's recent parliamentary elections and their aftermath.  

IN THE FUTURE

December 25 – Christmas Day

January 1 – New Year's Day

API Holds State of Energy Event – The American Petroleum Institute holds its annual 2026 State of American Energy forum on Tuesday January 13, 2026 at The Anthem starting at 8:00 a.m.

RFF Hosts Former OMB Head – Resources for the Future (RFF) on Wednesday, January 14th for Big Decisions, its annual keystone event analyzing anticipated federal and state actions. The event will begin with a fireside chat between RFF President and CEO Billy Pizer and Lazard CEO and Chairman Peter Orszag, former director of the US Office of Management and Budget. The fireside chat will be followed by a panel of experts discussing key drivers of the policy conversation, such as energy affordability and demand growth, as well as looming decisions on regulations and the endangerment finding by the Trump administration, legislative discussions on permitting, and more. Questions from the audience for the panel may be submitted in advance

Chamber Sets State of American Business – The US Chamber holds Its annual State of American Business event on Thursday December 15th at the Chamber HQ.  Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark hosts key leaders from different sectors and certainly energy is likely to a major topic. 

AGA Talks 2026 NatGas Outlook –The American Gas Assn holds its 2026 State of American Natural Gas Policy Outlook at it DC office on Thursday January 15th at 11:00 a.m. In addition to the year outlook, AGA will introduce its new Chair.

USEA Hosts State of Energy Industry – The US Energy Assn hold its flagship forum State of the Energy Industry on Thursday January 15th at 1:00 p.m. in the Ronald Reagan Trade Center. The event brings together CEOs from Washington's leading energy trade associations to collaboratively outline their current policy objectives and priorities for the upcoming year.

Power Conference Set  for Texas – POWERGEN 2026 is set for Tuesday January 20th to Thursday the 22nd at the Henry Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, TX. The event will look at powering the data center boom. Load growth has become the defining challenge for the power generation industry. From utilities and IPPs to EPCs and OEMs, every stakeholder is racing to deliver new capacity and POWERGEN will be where all aspects are discussed.