Energy Update: Week of November 3rd

Friends,

After last weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon, we get part II of marathoning with yesterday’s 54^th running of the NY City Marathon. Benson Kipruto of Kenya won the men's race by edging Alexander Mutiso by less than a second. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, also of Kenya, set a women's course record to win the professional women's race. Our Bracewell colleague Meg Beasley (former DC, now NY) finished the race in 3:11, qualifying her for Boston. Congrats MEG!!!!

Despite the Shutdown, tomorrow is Election Day in VA, NJ and NYC. Thank goodness too if you have been watching any TV in the DMV or NJ-NY markets. The ads are brutal (and this is ONLY the mid-Mid-term election). With both sides starting to talk and election day here, many experts think election day’s arrival and the lack of SNAP funding will finally get an agreement from both sides to re-open the government. Happy to discuss or provide you with resources on the politics here.

COP 30 starts next Monday, but global leaders are heading to Brazil this week to set the tone for UN climate negotiations. Many expect pre-meetings in Rio and Brasilia to ultimately be underwhelming. Today to Wednesday, the Local Leaders Forum will host leaders including a couple of US State Democratic Governors. On Thursday and Friday, heads of state launch to Brasilia for the COP30 Leaders’ Summit. We expect major biofuels agreements to emerge as Brazil and President Lula have been charging forward hard on finding new markets for its biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel. Look for an agreement to set a 4x goal. I can send additional insights and contact details if you are interested. 

One great event to launch the COP: the US Chamber (and a few others) are hosting a forum on Friday at the Renaissance São Paulo Hotel featuring conversations on pragmatic business solutions for carbon accounting and emission reductions. The event’s objective is to chart a collaborative path forward on an approach that will drive emission reductions and economic development.

The Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) will be leading a delegation of 20+ U.S. businesses and energy trade organizations to Brazil to attend COP 30. In line with the COP 30 Presidency’s call for a global mutirão, BCSE is bringing forward credible solutions, partnerships, investments, and ideas to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonize the agriculture, buildings, industry, and transportation sectors. They will hold several events and we will keep you updated.

The Energy Secretary will be in Greece at the G7 Energy Ministerial on Thursday and Friday, where natural gas and nuclear will be a major focus on meeting demand. 

Early in the week, Americans for a Clean Energy Grid and the Conservative Energy Network are joining in the push to urge lawmakers and the Trump administration to pass permitting reform legislation including measures to ease the process of building large interstate transmission lines.

And on Thursday, Turn Forward will host a virtual briefing to discuss findings from a new independent analysis by Charles River Associates (CRA) on the growing strain on US power supplies and how offshore wind can help meet surging electricity demand while improving grid reliability.  Look out for details to come.

Call with questions.

Best,

Frank Maisano

(202) 828-5864

C. (202) 997-5932                                                                                     

FRANKLY SPOKEN

 “Pat is an extraordinary human being. His mind is an encyclopedia. He knows the work of this committee backwards, and forwards, and upside down. His deep knowledge of the laws touching on the subject matter of the committee have anchored this committee’s work for many of its most complex and consequential debates over the last decade.”

Senate Energy Chairman Mike Lee as he closed a recent Senate hearing praising the committee's longtime GOP chief counsel Pat McCormick, who will depart soon after 14 years.

ON THE PODCAST

Uranium Enrichment Exec Highlights Breakthrough that Will Provide Domestic Supply –  In this week’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Global Laser Enrichment executive James Dobchuk discusses the just announced break-through in producing low enriched uranium, which can replace supplies currently obtained from Russia and will be urgently needed for the planned nuclear energy industry scale-up.

Sommers Talks Politics, Energy on Brody Mullins Political Podcast– On this week’s episode of Inside Influence, hosts Brody Mullins and public affairs veteran David Castagnetti sit down with Mike Sommers, the president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. Topics include how rising demand, AI and global competition make US Energy leadership more important than ever. Sommers also shares how his experience on Capitol Hill during the financial crisis shaped his approach to leading successful public affairs campaigns, first for the private-equity industry and now for the energy sector.

FUN OPINIONS

AGA: NatGas is Most Affordable Way to Heat Home Winter – In an opinion on WTOP, the American Gas Assn writes natural gas remains the most affordable home heating option as cold winter approaches. Natural gas expenditures make up just 1.1% of all annual household expenses for the average American household, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Energy Information Administration. The average family will pay $867 a year for natural gas, three times less than what they’ll need to budget for gasoline ($2,449), half of expected electricity bills ($1,763), and less than cell phone service ($1,270).

API CEO: Improved Gas Access Key to Lower Energy Prices – In an interview with Fox Business, API CEO Mike Sommers said with electricity demand projected to rise by 40% by 2040, "the real baseload energy is going to continue to come from sources like natural gas." He noted that "bad governance" and inadequate pipeline infrastructure are restricting access to abundant gas resources in states such as New Jersey and New York, driving up energy prices for consumers. Sommers stressed the need for congressional action to build a durable permitting process that enables critical energy projects to move forward.

FROG BLOG

PERMIT Act Will Meet Growing Energy Needs – In a blog post on C3, expert Nick Loris writes when it comes to meeting America’s growing energy needs, the biggest obstacle is not the availability of fuels or the technology but the permitting bottleneck. The PERMIT Act maintains the core Clean Water Act framework, extends specific review periods (which give permit applicants more certainty), and requires that reforms only move forward if they are certified not to increase pollution risks. The key environmental protections remain in place—but policy updates reduce procedural hurdles and offer greater clarity for projects. In that way, it’s a win-win: a more efficient process, not weaker protection. For a nation facing urgent energy challenges, this kind of practical fix is what America needs to get back to building.

WaPo: Kennedy Offshore Wind Fishing Expedition – In an editorial, the Washington Post editorial board writes it’s no surprise then that HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy recently ordered his staff to go on a fishing expedition for health threats from offshore wind farms. What exactly the administration is looking to study remains unclear, though reports say that Kennedy’s team is reviewing the health impacts that electromagnetic frequencies generated by undersea cables might have on nearby fishermen. (Never mind that Americans are exposed to electrical cables all the time.) No country is better positioned to be energy dominant than the United States. The biggest risk is if politicians, rather than market forces, decide what powers American growth in the years to come.

FUN FACTS

Green Stocks: A dramatic rebound in clean-tech stocks has investors in the green economy hoping they can finally turn the page on years of punishing underperformance. Much of that development is pegged to a near-insatiable demand for energy to power the data centers feeding artificial intelligence. It also reflects China’s relentless drive to build out its low-carbon economy. For investors, those factors have outweighed Trump’s attacks.

IN THE NEWS

EPA Steps Back on Energy Star – Our friends at the NY Times are reporting that the EPA is quietly backtracking on its plan to eliminate the Energy Star program after Congress and industry pushed back aggressively in support of it. On Capitol Hill, Energy Star has attracted rare bipartisan support, especially now with electricity prices increasing.  Since its creation in 1992, Energy Star has helped households and businesses save more than $40 billion annually in energy bills.

“Energy Star is a hugely successful, voluntary program and the Energy Star logo is probably one of the most well-known logos in the country, if not the world,” said Francis Dietz, vice president of public affairs at the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute.

In June, AHRI led a coalition of industry groups writing in a letter to congressional leaders saying they “strongly support continuation” of the program. The groups represented a range of businesses, including appliance manufacturers, chemical companies, home builders, retail stores and even bakery owners and hot tub distributors.

Cameco Deal Highlights Full Supply Chain Coverage for Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Power – There was giant news last week for Brookfield, Cameco and Westinghouse, in partnership with the US Government.  Westinghouse, Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management announced that the U.S. Government has entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of nuclear power. The partnership will provide at least $80 billion of new reactors to be constructed across the US using Westinghouse nuclear reactor technology.  These new reactors will reinvigorate the nuclear power industrial base. When coupled with the President’s May 23, 2025 Executive Orders, the partners in the effort believe the US Government’s participation creates the right incentives to deploy its full suite of tools behind the construction of Westinghouse reactors, including financial, regulatory, policy and diplomatic support. They are also well-positioned to provide global solutions for the increasing need for secure, reliable and emissions-free baseload power to meeting increasing energy demand.

Cameco’s GLE Uranium Processing also Major Advantage -- But more interestingly, it underscores another Cameco advantage: the front end supply chain of this big deal, GLE (also a Cameco Company) achieved a major milestone it is uranium processing: the independent validation of achieving DOE’s Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL 6), which affirms the commercial viability of GLE’s next-generation uranium enrichment technologies. And the timing of all of these items is perfect given that DOE is about to announce major contracts to help address our enriched uranium shortage, which is essential to the supply chain if we are going to expand nuclear power. The GLE achievement marks a transition from technical demonstration to full-scale design and deployment readiness for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF). The PLEF will be developed using an entirely U.S.-based supply chain, ensuring domestic control of this strategic capability.

AGs Blast SRE Issue – Iowa AG Brenna Bird, Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers and South Dakota AG Marty Jackley sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, requesting they investigate small refineries who received SREs in August over their “seemingly irreconcilable statements.” The letter alleges small refineries manipulated their production to artificially satisfy the 75,000 barrel-per-day requirement of the SRE and pointed to SEC-filings and investor-relations materials that showed the small refineries were “economically thriving, outperforming and out positioning their peers” – far from experiencing the disproportionate economic hardship as required by statute. The letter alleges these public statements to financial regulators and investors “appear to be inconsistent with what must be contemporaneous statements of disproportionate hardship to environmental regulators. Both strong economic results and disproportionate economic hardship cannot coexist.” The letter requested the Trump administration ensure that this alleged “behavior is neither rewarded nor repeated” by understanding whether “false and misleading statements were made,” and if so, that they are investigated to restore integrity to the RFS and SRE programs.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

VA, NJ, NY City Election Day – TOMORROW Tuesday November 4^th.

Matheson, Graves Headline Punchbowl Event – Punchbowl holds a conversation tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) about the news of the day, FEMA reform efforts and the role that the federal government plays in disaster response and recovery. Afterward, Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, will join us for a fireside chat.

RFF Talks Transportation – Resources for the Future (RFF) holds a webinar with RFF’s scholars moderated by NPR's Camila Domonoske tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. to learn how recent policies and policy proposals may affect critical mineral development, electric vehicle sales and the domestic auto industry, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable aviation, and more in the latest event in our If/Then series.

Forum Looks at Smarter Transmission Spending – Advanced Energy United holds a webinar tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. to explore how the US can mend the current transmission regulatory gap and advance more beneficial, regionally planned transmission to create a more resilient, affordable, and sustainable energy future nationwide.

Forum Look sat Biofuels Viability – Resources for the Future (RFF) holds a webinar on Wednesday featuring a fireside chat between Billy Pizer and Stone Center for Environmental Stewardship expert Robert Bonnie as they discuss research needed into biofuels’ mitigation potential and long-term viability; sectoral roles and deployment barriers; and the design of biofuel policies, including their economic and distributional consequences. This webinar kicks off RFF’s “Future of Biofuels" webinar series, with several expert panels to follow in the coming weeks.

Forum Looks at Antarctica Energy Cooperation – On Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., the Henry L. Stimson Center holds a discussion on Antarctica environment, security and multilateral cooperation. The event will examine the most pressing environmental issues facing Antarctica and consider how national governments and the international community can work together to address them in the years ahead.

CSIS Forum Looks at Heat – The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security’s Working Group on Climate and Health holds a discussion on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. focused on protecting the US against extreme heat. The occasion will launch the Alliance Working Group’s report Three Steps to Protect the United States Against Extreme Heat. In its report, the Working Group lays out three recommendations: the launch of a high-level bipartisan panel, the establishment of a data consortium, and the strengthening of essential core federal functions. Speakers include Reps. Greg Stanton and Mike Lawler of the Congressional Extreme Heat Caucus.

Transatlantic Energy Forum Set for Greece – On Thursday and Friday, the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, DOE and the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Greece host the 6^th meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation (P-TEC) will be held in Athens, Greece. The ministerial will begin with a business forum on Thursday to provide an opportunity for high-level public and private industry leaders to discuss energy security and reliability as well as the link between energy affordability and economic competitiveness. The P-TEC Ministerial meeting will take place on Friday and will highlight the role of LNG in supporting European competitiveness and growth as well as strategies for improving grid connectivity and security. Energy Secretary Chris Wright will speak on both days.

Conservative Legal Groups Holds Forum – The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies holds its 2025 National Lawyers Convention on Thursday and Friday at the Washington Hilton focused on new legal frontiers. EPA’s David Fotouhi participates in a discussion on the future of climate litigation.

POLITICO Forum to Look at SCOTUS Tariff, Trade Case – On Thursday at 10:00 a.m.  POLITICO holds a comprehensive discussion on the Supreme Court tariff arguments.  The forum will break down how the arguments went, what we know about the how the justices are leaning and what might be coming next for countries, companies and consumers. Senior Trade Reporter Doug Palmer leads the panel. 

Program Focuses on Advancing Nuclear – On Friday morning at the District Architecture Center, the Center for National interest and Third Way hold a forum to explore how U.S. allies can advance nuclear deployment to meet the national interest. The program includes discussions of accelerating new builds and building secure fuel supply chains as well as a panel offering allied perspectives. Cameco’s Jarrett Blanc is among the list of speakers.

RFF Back to Biofuels -- On Friday at 1:00 p.m., Resources for the Future (RFF) holds a webinar featuring an experts to tackle questions of biofuels in the economy and decarbonization. The webinar, the second in RFF’s “Future of Biofuels” series, will complement the scene setting that occurred during the fireside chat on “Economic Research Priorities for a Low-Carbon Transition” from earlier in the week. Stay tuned for future installments and learn more on the event series webpage.

IN THE FUTURE

COP 30 Meeting – The 30^th UN climate conference will take place on November 10-21 in Belém, Brazil. The event will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

Bracewell Environmental Law Seminar Set to Talk Politics, Nuclear – Bracewell's Environment, Lands and Resources team on Wednesday November 12^th for our Fall 2025 Environmental Law Seminar with insights on crucial topics, including clean fuels, permitting reform, natural resources and OSHA. In addition to special guest speaker, Brooke Paup, the chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), this year’s seminar will feature Bracewell’s Andrew Shaw and Joe Brazauskas to talk politics and nuclear.

CEN Forum to Address Community  Engagement – On Monday November 17^th at Noon, the Conservative Energy Network holds an interactive webinar on community engagement for advancing clean energy initiatives. The event will explore how to effectively build trust, foster collaboration, and mobilize local voices in support of energy innovation. This session will highlight proven strategies for community outreach, storytelling, and coalition-building. Attendees will gain practical tools to: Engage key stakeholders and community members in meaningful ways, navigate local concerns and build public support for energy projects, strengthen partnerships with grassroots organizations and local leaders, and communicate clean energy benefits through values-based messaging.

NatGas Forum is Set – The North American Gas Forum will be held on December 1^st to 3^rd in Washington, D.C.. to look at issues driving strategy and investment across the U.S. energy landscape. As policy shifts and infrastructure demands intensify, these sessions will set the tone for pragmatic, solutions-driven dialogue. Speakers include Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, AGA CEO Karen Harbert, ACP head Jason Grumet, AXPC head Anne Bradbury and a bunch of industry experts (including our friend Khary Cauthen Of Cheniere).

Gevo CEO, Senators, Reps to Address Energy, AI Forum – U.S. Energy Stream holds the 6^th Energy Innovation & AI Forum 2025 on December 3^rd and 4^th at the Cosmos Club.  Forum has been established as the premier bipartisan, off-the-record platform in Washington, DC, convening U.S. Senators, Members of Congress, and top executives from the energy, finance, manufacturing, and technology. During the Forum, we dive deep into the strategies, policies, and breakthroughs that strengthen  the energy security and economic growth for the United States and our allies. Gevo CEO Pat Gruber, Sens. Pete Ricketts and Tim Sheehy  (R-NE) and a bunch of House members will speak.