Energy Update: Week of January 4

Friends,

Merry New Year…  I hope you were able to enjoy some down time over the holidays, but we are back in force. It is a nutty week for the first full week of January, which started yesterday with the swearing-in of the new 117^th Congress and the vote for House Speaker where Nancy Pelosi (safely I’m sure since she really knows how to count votes) squeaked out a victory. Now, we move on to the Georgia Runoffs tomorrow (who knows what will happen there given the national attention, cash dump and crazy twists/turns w Trump), the more-crazy-than-normal Electoral College Vote on Wednesday (with many new political twists and objections) and ANWR lease bids being opened also on Wednesday.  That ought to be enough, but it is not.

Of course, the President gave everyone a scare after Christmas as to whether he was going to sign the $900B+ COVID package along with the budget and energy bills.  Cooler heads prevailed and now we have one of the most significant climate bills ever.  It is centered around the HFC phasedown, which will lead to a significant reduction in climate emissions and half-a-degree reduction in temperature, and a bunch of important energy provisions.  I know we talked about this previously but I wanted to just mention it again because it is a major, bipartisan climate victory.

There are some good events on Wednesday and Thursday. The best event of the week will be a Wednesday forum by ConservAmerica that will look at EV Policy and pitfalls with former White House/current House Climate Committee staffer David Banks, SAFE’s Robby Diamond and Advanced Biofuels’ Michael McAdams, while WCEE holds its annual planning/ideas forum at Noon.  On Thursday,  the Bipartisan Policy Center holds a forum on ARPA-E featuring current head Lane Genatowski and former EERE head David Danielson, while DOE Labs’ National Reactor Innovation Center hosts an advanced reactor demonstration with our friend Clay Sell of X-energy and Chris Levesque of TerraPower who will talk about their advanced reactor designs.  Finally on Friday, the Atlantic Council holds a virtual discussion on reaching Net-Zero by 2050 with NET Power CEO Bill Brown.

And mark your calendar for two major events next week.  On Tuesday January 12^th the Chamber of Commerce hosts the annual State of American Business and on Wednesday January 13^th, API holds its 12^th annual State of American Energy forum featuring Mike Sommers. Both are always major events that will unfortunately be on-line this year.  Also next week, keep an eye out for WRI’s 18^th annual Stories to Watch event also Wednesday.

Since this is the first Update of 2021 (by the way my 20^th year of doing this Energy Update), I am outlining a few energy/enviro/climate items to keep your eyes on this year.  Let me know if I am missing something you are watching and finally, don’t hesitate to follow me for daily action and sparring with my enviro friends on Twitter at @fvmaisano.

NHL Hockey starts on next Wednesday January 13^th – Woo-hooo!!!! Stay safe & healthy.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932

 

10 KEYS ISSUES IN 2021

As we kick off 2021, there will be a ton of issues to follow with the new Administration.  Here are a few that will start front and center:

1) Climate, Climate, Climate – We know that every part of the new Biden Administration will focus on climate issues.  The key will be to see how much action they can take with the early focus most certainly dedicated to COVID issues and then economic recovery.  As I have mentioned before, Biden has been down this road in 2009-10, so look for that experience to play a role in how they build climate into early discussions on infrastructure and stimulus before going all out on straight climate policy.  PREDICTION: No serious WH/Leadership moves or direct action on climate until late 2021 with mid-2022 as Dems prime target to rally troops for mid-terms. (it is a double-edged political sword though)

2) Progressives vs. Middle – As I have mentioned many times, the most interesting fight in Washington and around the country on most issues (including energy/environment) will be the battle of progressives and moderates for Biden’s attention.  We have only started to see this rear its ugly head on the fringes with the Biden cabinet appointments.  While progressives were thrown a bone with Rep. Deb Haaland at Interior, they clearly aren’t very happy about most picks despite keeping a grumbling, low profile (unlike them).  And of course the news hole is still absorbed by Trump and his craziness for now.  But after Jan 20^th that will change and progressive will demand more real victories.  PREDICTION:  Progressives will make a bunch of crazy demands for the stimulus package and that will delay what could be a bipartisan victory to help Americans and get more successful moderate green programs enacted.

3) Electrification Fights – Buildings and EV will be the newest battle ground for activists pushing on climate issues.  While it sounds good on paper and they are getting “small mo” in liberal cities, especially in CA, where this idea in way ahead of its time for practical impact.  Appliances are an even tougher sell than all EVs.  While both will require consumer demand to change, the electrification battle is bizarrely even more difficult because of cost, economic disparity and consumer preferences.  On EVs, still major structural challenges persist and while you will see more models, they are really only targeting high-end elite purchasers.  EVs are nowhere near the middle class driver.  PREDICTION: You will continue to see “fo-mo” (fake momentum) on this issue because consumers aren’t ready or willing to give up natgas stoves, furnaces or hot-water heaters – and likely won’t be for a good, long time.  On EVs, you will see more vehicles available/sold, but it remains a high-end, limited purchase pool.

4) Wind, Solar, Offshore Wind: READY to Launch – With the new focus on clean energy, it will really be time for wind, solar and offshore wind to shine.  All three have to step up and succeed even more than they already have…and the Biden Administration is going to have to help with permitting and transmission issues which always have been and remain the major problem/wildcard.  Don’t look for continued steady success - we need bigger than normal moves if Biden wants to have any chance at reaching his 2035 goal.  PREDICTION: Utilities are really already all-in on land-based wind and solar, but don’t expected them to get outside their comfort zone in 2021.  This year has to be a table setter for the challenges the industry faces on transmission. And offshore wind?  We need construction in 2021 for at least 3-5 projects, likely in the NE.

5) CCS Projects Making Due – The CCS issues will continue to be an open battle ground, but serious projects are starting to prove that it can work.  Building on the energy law success that included the USE IT Act and as 45Q tax credit moves closer to public release, huge process and technical successes at Petro Nova and EPA permit efforts for Gulf Coast Sequestration proved that commercialization is closer than activists will admit.  PREDICTION:  The Force is strong with CCS because of its political pull for bipartisanship.  It will remain a major player and see more commercial successes in 2021.

6) Rolling Back the Rollbacks – The key question of this issue will be how fast the new Biden team can rollback many of the Trump efforts.  While my friends like John Walke at NRDC think things will fall back into place quickly, I wouldn’t be too sure as the later victories are going to be tougher to undo.  The early EPA missed a lot of administrative issues but after Andrew Wheeler took over, they were much more careful.  As with any regulation, they can be turned around, but the process will be longer and more difficult than the talking points and enviro Twitter screeds will admit. PREDICTION:  Biden and Regan will move fast/early on NAAQS and many other Trump rules, but don’t expect any real turnaround until later in 2022 – or even after mid-term elections because of process which cannot be short-circuited in most cases.

7) Nuclear Start – Finally, after all these years, the nuclear build at Plant Vogtle will see a start-up and will come online. In 2020, Georgia Power completed cold hydro testing for Vogtle Unit 3 with construction is now 94% complete. The total Vogtle 3 & 4 expansion project is approximately 88% complete. The completion of the cold hydro testing milestone prepares the site for the last major test remaining for Unit 3, hot functional testing, ahead of initial fuel load. This means that Unit 3 is expected to meet the November 2021 regulatory-approved in-service date, with Unit 4 going into service in 2022.  While the large-scale plant victory has been a long-time coming, there have been a number of small modular reactors (SMRs).  PREDICTION: Vogtle starts at the end of the year and SMRs continue to expand the role nuclear must play in net-zero strategies.

8) Bipartisan Chance of Success – As mentioned, the President signed into the law the most significant climate legislation ever passed by Congress.  With the bipartisan energy/climate legislative victory still fresh in the minds of Washington policymakers, there is more than can be done.  The next day after Trump signed, Reps. David McKinley and Kurt Schrader introduced their bipartisan energy legislation to provide a mark for potential next steps for a bipartisan approach to climate issues in the utility sector, which they outlined in an opinion piece in the USA Today’s Hidden Common Ground Section.  There are others as well like new programs to help farmers and forestry owners to earn income from carbon credits from Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); Rep. Bruce Westerman’s Trillion Trees Act which also has support in the Senate from Biden-ally Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and his colleagues Mike Braun (R-IN) and Angus King (I-ME) and a host of bipartisan bills to promote advanced nuclear, energy storage, hydrogen and more.  PREDICTION: Dems will pass on carbon taxes and market-based programs because of internal disagreements and huge political risks.  That means key bipartisan opportunities are the only way to make serious progress.

9) Paris Redux in Scotland – It is well known we will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement in January when Biden takes office.  But what does that really mean?  Look for John Kerry and Gina McCarthy to play an outsized role of positioning the US and Biden policy for the International community.  Unfortunately, the Biden Admin will have their hands full with a bunch of non-climate and domestic issues for the entire first year, so don’t look for early action on what international commitments.  PREDICTION: Look for the start of the US Climate push just before they approach the December UN Climate meetings in Glasgow, Scotland. This will give Kerry and McCarthy, et al good positioning and talking points without actually having had to put points on the board.  This timing also tees up outreach to activists to engage early in the political midterm year 2022. 

10) Energy Storage: A Missing Link – We all know that batteries and renewables won’t happen without storage technologies making jumps.  So while we expect the rapid growth of wind and solar power, we also know the problem: they don’t work all the time and energy storage is a solution we all need to watch in 2021. Currently, energy storage depends on batteries, but is expensive and may not be the long-term or practical solution. That’s why there’s a race to introduce new, more practical/durable solutions, including hydrogen and pump storage.  The future of clean energy will depend on scaling up technologies that can store massive amounts of baseload power and intermittent renewables.  PREDICTION: Grid-scale storage finally gets reliable federal investment to get into the race and start to commercialize processes that could radically transform the US energy grid.

BONUS ISSUE: Hydrogen Economy Moves Fast – While It is still a longer-term play than 2021, watch for continued interest in hydrogen to drive key polices on it forward. Hydrogen remains a strong driver of the energy transition and investments in hydrogen fueling infrastructure and supply on the West Coast will provide a reliable solution to fuel 40,000 vehicles on the road in California by 2022. Air Liquide is building a $200 million liquid hydrogen plant and infrastructure to serve California’s market. At the same time, Ballard Power Systems fuel cell products are powering 50 transit buses in several states and over 10,000 forklifts in distribution centers across the U.S.  And on the power generation side, the Intermountain Power Agency will retire its coal units in 2025 and replace them with combined cycle technology capable of utilizing 30% renewable hydrogen at the start, reaching 100% by 2045.  PREDICTION:  Hydrogen becomes the cool future talk because there are many advocates that see its promise.  

FRANKLY SPOKEN

“The McKinley-Schrader bill marks an important milestone along the road to enacting climate legislation. It is a bipartisan effort that wisely addresses roles for both forward-looking energy innovation policy and for regulatory authority as needed. EnergyForward is committed to clean-energy transition and the technological breakthroughs needed to make it a reality.”

Scott Segal, director, EnergyForward and partner at Bracewell LLP. EnergyForward is a coalition of utilities that includes Ameren, Duke, DTE Energy, Southern, Salt River Project and Vistra.

“Effectively combatting the climate crisis will require significant deployment of both clean energy technologies and natural climate solutions, as well as a solid regulatory structure to provide a predictable framework for power producers to achieve emission reductions. We appreciate the leadership of Reps. McKinley and Schrader to develop this bipartisan, innovative approach to cutting energy sector climate pollution, and we look forward to working with them and other climate and energy leaders to create durable, equitable policy solutions that meet the urgency of the climate crisis.”

Collin O’Mara, President/CEO, National Wildlife Federation

ON THE PODCAST

Christy Goldfuss Joins Energy Exchange to talk Biden – On a recent edition of Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, host Jason Bordoff is joined by Christy Goldfuss, co-chair of the Climate 21 Project along with Duke University’s Tim Profeta, to talk about the findings of the project as well as what Biden’s climate agenda will look like more broadly, what would be possible with a presumably divided congress, her career across public lands, the environmental movement, and climate change, and what she’s doing now at the Center for American Progress. Christy Goldfuss is the SVP for Energy and Environment Policy at CAP and was previously managing director of the White House CEQ during the Obama administration.

FUN OPINIONS

Press Pool on Biden Energy Noms – Late last week, I joined Sirius XM Press Pool’s Julie Mason for a discussion of Joe Biden's picks to lead the EPA, Interior and Department of Energy, and the president-elect's potential agenda in those sectors.  We also discussed the energy law signed by President Trump.  Check out the 15 minute segment here. 

Yergin: Shale, Oil Will Recover – In a column for the Wall Street Journal, IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin predicts oil prices will likely remain between $40 and $50 per barrel until oil demand recovers to pre-pandemic levels, which may happen by late 2021 or early 2022. Prices above $50 per barrel will drive production gains across US shale fields, although growth will be "much more modest" than the 1.5 million to 2 million-barrel-per-day growth rates seen in the past, Yergin writes.  Finally he adds, American shale “is one of the major foundations of world oil supply, with all the attendant energy-security, economic and political benefits.”

FROG BLOG

NYT Looks at Impacts of Renewable Diesel – Just in case you missed this, our friend Cliff Krauss had a great NYT story in December looking at how smelly restaurant grease and slaughterhouse waste can also help fight climate change. Companies that refine crude oil into fuel are increasingly using such putrid scraps to make a renewable version of diesel that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trucks, buses and industrial equipment without requiring families and businesses to invest in expensive new vehicles and factory gear. Valero, Phillips 66, HollyFrontier and several other refiners are spending roughly $2 billion to retool refineries to produce the fuel over the next four years. 

IN THE NEWS

Energy Bill passes, Signed into Law – Well it was nervous knee-knocking for a few days, but ultimately the President signed the COVID/Budget Legislation which included the most significant energy legislation since 2007 and perhaps the most directly relevant climate bill to date.  

Dallas Fed Oil, Gas Survey: Rebounding Sentiment – The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' survey of oil and gas companies in the region showed its business activity index jumped back into positive territory in the fourth quarter at 18.5 from a negative 6.6 in the third quarter. According to E&P executives, oil production stabilized after the third quarter’s decline. The natural gas index increased eight points, despite production being fairly flat.  The index also indicates an increase in capital spending from previous quarters.  The six-month outlook improved notably. Firms noted less uncertainty around their outlook this quarter than the last and the aggregate uncertainty level fell 31 points. This is the lowest reading for the uncertainty index since this inception in the first quarter of 2017. 

McKinley-Schrader Introduce Bipartisan Climate Legislation Aimed at Utilities – US Reps. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-W.Va.) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced the Clean Energy Future through Innovation Act of 2020 today, a bipartisan proposal to accelerate the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies and establish clear and durable standards for their use in the electric power sector. The legislation would make significant investments in clean energy innovation and infrastructure, including for carbon capture, advanced nuclear, renewables, efficiency, and storage, and establish a technology-neutral clean energy standard that would, beginning a decade after enactment, require utilities to purchase greater amounts of clean energy over time. In January 2020, Reps. McKinley and Schrader outlined their framework in an opinion piece in the USA Today’s Hidden Common Ground Section urging a new, more pragmatic legislative approach. They released a discussion draft of their proposal in September and invited comments from stakeholders and the public. This legislation reflects valuable input from many interested parties. The plan calls for a decade of public and private investments in clean energy innovation and infrastructure development in a wide range of technologies. A new federal clean energy standard would be established, with the first emissions limits taking effects a decade after enactment. This sequencing—innovation first, followed by reliable regulations—will ensure that costs are contained while environmental protection is assured. Public investments can lower the cost of technologies; utilities will have time to plan for efficient fleet modernization; and businesses will know what will—and won’t—be required of them in the coming decades.  Executive orders and administrative actions that prolong the political and legal battles won’t solve this problem — but bipartisan legislation can.

RFS Small Refining Case Headed to Feb Date – POLITICO and other media sources are reporting that a consent decree published today in the Federal Register gives EPA until February 19^th to decide whether to exempt a refinery owned by United Refining Co. in Pennsylvania from the 2019 RFS requirements. EPA hasn't made a decision on any of the 32 exemption requests for 2019 or 2020, and by this agreement Administrator Andrew Wheeler won't necessarily have to.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

MOST EVENTS SCHEDULED ARE NOW ONLINE WEBINARS

WCEE Looks for 2021 Ideas – The Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE) is kicking off 2021 with our annual Come Dream with Us event on Wednesday at Noon on Zoom. This meeting will be an opportunity for participants to brainstorm about potential event programming that you would like to see WCEE facilitate in the coming year. We will provide a brief overview of events WCEE held over the last year, discuss topics under development, and get your thoughts on topics you would like to hear more about from experts in the energy and environmental fields.  The event will look for topic ideas and specific suggestions for speakers as well as potential panelists.

ConservAmerica to Look at Transportation Emissions – On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., the ConservAmerica discussion rescheduled from before the holiday will be held and focus on the various technology and policy pathways available to curb carbon emissions from transportation and the role of competition in driving down costs and promoting innovation. As the largest direct source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the transportation sector faces increasing pressure to decarbonize. Federal policymakers are focused on fully electrifying the sector to help meet national climate goals.

BPC to Look at ARPA-E – The Bipartisan Policy Center holds a webinar Thursday at 12:00 p.m. on the APRA-E program in 2020 and beyond. ARPA-E holds an irreplaceable role in the US energy innovation ecosystem. Since its formation in 2009, ARPA-E has provided $2.4 billion in funding to more than 975 projects. Of those supported, 172 projects have attracted over $6.3 billion in private-sector follow-on funding.  BPC hosts a conversation with ARPA-E Director Lane Genatowski and David Danielson, Managing Director at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and former DOE Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Climate Officers Look to Build City Engagement Program – The Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) is convening willed and skilled practitioners on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. to establish a program that builds upon ACCO (and other) training/credentialing programs with investments in neighborhood scale projects in frontline communities.  The program hopes to builds a climate-smart workforce with project skills in frontline communities; and facilitate public-private partnerships that drive micro-development projects in clean energy, microgrids, urban farming, tree canopy and solar broadband.

Forum to Look at Reactor Innovations – The National Reactor Innovation Center is hosting the “Advanced Reactor Demonstration” webinar as part of the NRIC’s “What Inspires Us” webinar series on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. This session will feature executives from TerraPower and X-energy as they discuss their advanced reactor designs, Natrium and Xe-100. Speakers include our friend Clay Sell of X-energy and Chris Levesque of TerraPower who will talk about their advanced reactor designs, having been awarded the recent U.S. Department of Energy awards under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. NRIC is a national DOE program led by Idaho National Laboratory, allowing collaborators to harness the world-class capabilities of the U.S. National Laboratory System aimed at accelerating the demonstration and deployment of advanced nuclear energy.

Energy Economists Hold Happy Hour – On Thursday at 6:00 p.m., the Board of the National Capital Area Chapter of the United States Association for Energy Economics (NCAC-USAEE) holds its first-ever virtual happy hour. It will be professionally moderated, using Zoom breakout rooms.

Forum to Tackle Net-Zero Actions – The Atlantic Council holds a virtual discussion on Friday at 11:00 a.m. on reaching Net-Zero by 2050 and whether it is attainable.  The event will look at key actions necessary in the next decade. Bill Brown, chief executive officer of NET Power, will provide the keynote presentation on the importance of carbon capture solutions in meeting global climate targets.

IN THE FUTURE

Bracewell, Hogan to Host Biden Trade Forum – Next Monday January 11^th at 2:00 p.m., Bracewell and Hogan Lovells will host a webinar on trade in the Biden Administration.  My colleagues Paul Nathanson and Josh Zive will be among the experts on the panel.

Chamber Holds State of American Biz – On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 12:00 p.m., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds its annual State of American Business event.  Over the past year, our country has been challenged in ways few could have planned for, or even imagined. From our public health, to our economy, to our politics, the road to recovery starts with healing a divided America. The business community can and must rally our nation around a series of solutions to overcome the pandemic and drive a widespread economic recovery.

Forum to Look at National Security, Climate – The American Security Project hosts a forum next Tuesday on climate change and national security. In a panel moderated by ASP COO Andrew Holland, Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, USN (Ret.), ASP Director of Climate and Energy Security Alex Hackbarth, and more will discuss what the world expects of the U.S. climate diplomacy and what cooperation with China and Europe might look like.

WRI Looks at Climate 2021 – The World Resources Institute holds the 18^th annual Stories to Watch presentation on Wednesday January 13^th featuring WRI’s President & CEO Andrew Steer. At this flagship event, they will look at the big moments, trends, places, and people that will shape the world in the coming year.

Energy Economists Host Moody’s Analyst – On Wednesday, January 13^th at 11:00 a.m., the US Energy Economists host Peter Speer of Moody’s to Look at energy transition and new business risks for the oil and gas industry.  While these risks have not been the primary driver of specific rating actions to date, Moody’s expects the credit impact of energy transition to grow in importance in the medium term. This presentation will cover how energy transition informs Moody’s views on the industry, including National Oil companies, what it portends for oil prices, how it could affect access to and cost of capital, and how Moody’s assesses companies’ relative positioning for carbon transition risk.

API Hosts State of Energy Event – The American Petroleum Institute holds its 12^th annual State of American Energy Event on January 13^th 2021 , which will feature a panel of millennials employed by the oil and gas industry discussing the innovative careers they’ve found in the industry to be part of the climate solution. SOAE will examine energy’s role and actions to build a strong future – restoring our economy today, strengthening national security tomorrow and innovating to deliver continued environmental progress in the future. 2020 has been a year of defining moments that have tested our resilience as a nation. Join us as we examine the policies and innovators advancing American ingenuity, grit and technology that will power our nation’s comeback.

Forum to Look at Water Management, Decarb – The US Energy Assn hosts a forum on Wednesday January 13^th looking at sustainable water management for decarbonizing fossil power generation.  In this webinar, experts from DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Stanford University will share insights into how decarbonizing fossil power generation may impact water usage trends in the sector. Projected changes in water use intensity will be illustrated along with brief summaries of associated challenges and research opportunities identified through analysis and stakeholder engagement activities.

R St Look at FERC 2222 – On Wednesday January 13^th at 2:00 p.m., the R Street Institute hosts a forum on FERC’s Order 2222 and what it means for electricity markets. Speakers include R Street’s Chris Villarreal, Caitlyn Marquis of Advanced Energy Economy and energy analyst Lorenzo Kristov.

Forum to Look at Financial Institutions, Climate – WRI holds a forum on Thursday January 14^th at 9:00 a.m. looking at science-based targets for financial institutions. In October, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) released a new framework that, for the first time ever, allows financial institutions to set science-based targets that align lending and investment activities with the Paris Agreement. The webinar will provide an in-depth explanation of this new framework. In order to help financial institutions and other stakeholders better understand this framework and how to prepare science-based target submissions, we will discuss the target validation criteria for financial institutions and offer an overview of the SBTi's recommendations for financial institutions.

Forum to Look at 2021 Agenda for Buildings – The Department of Energy hosts a webinar Thursday, January 14^th at 1:00 p.m. from the Better Buildings Residential Network to look ahead at the coming year in energy efficiency.

WCEE Talks Broadband with NARUC, NASUCA – On Thursday January 14^th at 2:00 p.m. on Zoom, the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment hosts former Nat’l Assn of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) President and MS PSC Commissioner Brandon Presley and former Nat’l Assn of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) President Elin Katz for the next WCEE Virtual Executive Exchange event.  WCEE President Barbara Tyran will host a discussion on broadband access.

Cleantech Forum Set – The Cleantech Forum will be held in San Francisco on January 19 to 21^st.

SCOTUS to Hear Baltimore/Oil Climate Case – The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the BP v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore case on January 19^th.

NYT Climate Forum Set – The NY Times Climate team hosts another forum on January 19^th 2021 at 1:30 p.m. discussing whether it is possible to make 2021 the year we break fossil fuel addiction given the potential COVID recovery. 

USEA Holds State of Energy Industry – On January 28^th 2021, the US Energy Assn holds its annual State of the Energy Industry Forum. USEA begins each calendar year with its widely- recognized State of the Energy Industry Forum. The Forum brings together distinguished leaders from the most influential energy trade associations to share their outlook and to discuss dynamic issues facing the energy industry in the new year.

Oil, Gas Conference Set – Energy Stream is hosting the 3^rd Houston Oil & Gas Forum 2021 in person on February 17 & 18^th at the Petroleum Club of Houston, Texas. The Forum is an annual market intelligence platform that brings together powerful U.S. Congressmen, Senators, government leaders, C-level energy executives, and investors.  Speakers will include Sen Ted Cruz and TX Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Kevin Brady, Brian Babin and Lance Gooden, as well as Rep Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota. TX Railroad Commission Chair Wayne Christian and DOE officials are also expected to speak.