Friends,
I am back from the Netherlands. What a trip! Despite a few internet hiccups, I was able to keep up with all the energy-related happenings in the U.S. from the potential Saudi nuclear deal and Pacific deep-sea minerals activity to energy markets and the latest from FERC. Fortunately, I also managed to step away from the news cycle for a day and visit Amsterdam. What a crazy, energetic place.
Starting today with critical minerals because there is a really important step forward regarding the serious effort underway to collect nodules in the CCZ and understand the science behind it. Glomar Minerals has launched the RV Tangaroa from Tahiti headed to the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) to survey its license area for polymetallic nodules rich in critical minerals. The 65-day campaign is being run with the government-owned science organization Earth Sciences New Zealand and will be the first comprehensive geological and biological survey of the UK2 license area in more than 40 years.
Congress is sliding toward an August close this week with some serious action on AI legislation and the Farm Bill in Committees and defense authorization on the floor. The Farm Bill mark up on Thursday includes a version of E15 (not the original agreement that garnered the support of API and other large refiners though) so controversy still remains on the package because it exempts a whole slice of refiners from RFS obligations while making the rest of the industry pay for them. We can help with more background here, so feel free to reach out.
We also heard through the grapevine that permitting is moving but may slide back to post-August recess. So maybe we don’t see a framework before the Senate heads for the exit and the Big Four (Capito, Whitehouse, Heinrich, Lee) and key others like Sens. Schatz (D-HI) and Cramer (R-ND) don’t seem too worried.
On Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., a must attend event is the Turn Forward – Grid Strategies webinar with former NY PSC chair and PJM exec Audrey Zibelman to discuss offshore wind project cancellations and loss of utility-scale capacity even as newly available offshore wind power demonstrates strong performance amid summer heat waves. Look for the sign-in info soon. I am requiring attendance class!!!!
And while we are thinking about renewables, tomorrow, a Federal Court in Portland, OR will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s Department of War freeze on wind energy project reviews. A coalition of 19 state attorneys general and clean-energy groups are pressing the Oregon federal court for an injunction to force the Pentagon to resume mandatory national security evaluations.
Also today to Wednesday, the Conservative Energy Network holds its third annual National Conservative Energy Summit in Boston, MA with former USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold speaking on a panel tomorrow.
Finally, the annual Texas Environmental Superconference starts on Thursday and includes remarks from EPA’s enforcement chief Jeff Hall. It is one of the biggest environmental and energy legal conferences of the year and Bracewell is always a major sponsor, hosting a reception. If you are headed to Austin, let me know.
For politics this week, tomorrow’s Michigan and Wisconsin primaries may be the two most important primaries of the year as tests for progressive activists, especially regarding control of the Senate. Stay tuned tomorrow night for implications.
We will be dark for the next couple weeks during the August recess but will keep you updated if there are significant actions or events that arise before we return in the last week of August.
Call with questions.
Best,
Frank Maisano
(202) 828-5864
C. (202) 997-5932
FRANKLY SPOKEN
“Thousands of additional jobs will be created in that area because we’ll have a surplus of energy, low prices, more jobs. This is President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge — to get investment and expand our energy production.”
Energy Sect. Chris Wright on Fox News discussing the recent $100B data center investment supported by the White House
ON THE PODCAST
Armstrong, Bordoff Discuss Urgency of Permitting Reform,– Last Week on the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, Jason Bordoff spoke with Senator Armstrong about his legislative focus: permitting reforms aimed at streamlining energy build-outs. They discussed a bill that the senator has sponsored, the American Energy and Mineral Infrastructure Act of 2026, as well as the broader wave of reform efforts drawing bipartisan attention. The senator reflected on his time at Williams and how that informed his view on permitting policy. They discussed the role of judicial review, the power dynamic between federal and state regulators, and how growing energy affordability concerns are adding new pressure to pass meaningful permitting reform.
Heinrich Storke Positive Tone on Permitting – The today’s POLITICO Energy podcast, top Dem on the Senate Energy Committee Martin Heinrich said that permitting reform would still be viable this Congress even if negotiators fail to strike a deal by their summer recess target. HE also highlighted to host Josh Siegel a number of new items in his Data center protection legislation that he is introducing (and is likely the expected agenda should Democrats retake the Senate.
FUN OPINIONS
API Discussed Oil, Gas Markets, Impacts on Industry – In Interviews with CNN, Fox, CNBC and Sirius XM, API’s Mike Sommers and Dustin Meyer discussing oil and gas development and production and the impacts of the conflict in Iran on second quarter earnings. Sommers said permitting reform is an important piece for providing key certainty for industry on CNN and Fox, while on CNBC, he directly address the market volatility caused by the Iran Conflict and its price and earnings impact. Finally, Meyers and ACP’s Frank Macchiarola join Sirius XM’s Steve Scully to discuss energy markets, renewable energy and permit reform.
Chamber Blog Highlights Keyt Industry Challenges, Volatility – The US Chamber’s Christopher Guith also weighed in on the topic with a primer on earnings and shareholder support. Financial strength enables companies to recover from losses, fund future production, improve operations, and support the workforce needed to deliver American energy. Financial strength in the oil and natural gas sector is not a problem; it is a necessary foundation for abundant, affordable and secure American energy. Guith and others are happy to discuss earnings as they continue over the next week or so.
FROG BLOG
Critical Minerals Primer Outlines Need – In her critical minerals Substack blog, Amanda Van Dyke provides a primer on Deep Sea Mining that examines what deep-sea mining actually is, how the industry developed, the scale of the resource potential, and why it has become strategically important. The 21st century economy is being rebuilt on minerals with every electric vehicle, battery, transmission line, data center, wind turbine, advanced semiconductor and weapons system ultimately depending on enormous quantities of copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium and rare earth elements.
FUN FACTS
API: New Resources have been key to Energy Success: Decades of investment and innovations in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked new resources, helping U.S. crude oil production reach a record 13.9 million barrels per day in 2026 and delivering the energy Americans rely on.
IN THE NEWS
Glomar Launches to Collect Minerals – Glomar Minerals, an American seabed minerals company, this morning said its wholly-owned subsidiary UK Seabed Resources Limited (UKSR) departed from Tahiti late last week for the Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) to survey its license area for polymetallic nodules rich in critical minerals. The campaign is the first comprehensive geological and biological survey of the UK2 license area in more than 40 years. UKSR’s two International Seabed Authority CCZ license areas cover approximately 133,000 km² of deep seafloor, an area comparable in size to Louisiana, covered in polymetallic nodules containing manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths in a single ore. The 65-day campaign is being run with Earth Sciences New Zealand (Earth Sciences NZ, formed from NIWA and GNS Science in 2025), a government-owned science organization, aboard the RV Tangaroa, one of the most capable deep ocean research vessels in the world. Earth Sciences NZ’s scientific team will join UKSR counterparts aboard the vessel, pairing institutional deep ocean environmental expertise with UKSR’s track record in CCZ exploration. This is UKSR’s fourth major research cruise to the CCZ. The campaign adds to an existing body of environmental and resource data, moving the company closer to the integrated dataset needed for commercial recovery. Environmental data and observations gathered during the mission will inform ongoing efforts to model and mitigate potential impacts of nodule recovery. Glomar CEO Chris Williams:
“We are delighted to work with Earth Sciences New Zealand as we continue our mission to explore the world’s most prospective seabed mineral deposits and shed new light on the deep ocean environment. UK2 is a particularly exciting area within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, and we look forward to sharing our findings, building on our commitment to transparency and already extensive contribution to marine science.”
Westinghouse to Offer IPO – Westinghouse Electric Company, a supplier of nuclear technology and services to utilities and customers, has submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined, and the proposed offering will be subject to market and other conditions. Westinghouse, which supplied the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor (PWR) in 1957 in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s largest nuclear services businesses. A strategic partnership of Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Renewable Partners acquired the company for a total enterprise value of approximately $8 billion in a transaction completed in 2023. Cameco owns a 49% interest and Brookfield owns the remaining 51%.
DOE Heads to Paducah for Nuclear Innovation Campus Concept – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said a landmark partnership with Brookfield, NextEra Energy, Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System will redevelop portions of DOE’s Paducah Site into a data center campus accompanied by new affordable energy infrastructure. The more than $100 billion privately funded investment, one of the largest in Kentucky’s history, is expected to create approximately 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. The project advances DOE’s American Energy Hubs initiative, which is transforming former DOE sites into engines of affordable energy production, advanced manufacturing, technological innovation, and economic growth. Building on the partnership model announced at the Portsmouth Site, the Paducah partnership demonstrates how federal, state, local, and private-sector collaboration can accelerate investment while delivering lasting benefits to surrounding communities. Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) is also working closely will DOE adjacent to the site supporting a secure, domestic nuclear fuel cycle and is actively pursuing next steps to advance the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) and commercial deployment of its laser enrichment technology.
SAFE Report Details Institutions Support Minerals – SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy recently released a new report, Critical Moves: Crowding in Capital to Finance Minerals Supply Chains, which identifies the challenges and opportunities faced by the G7, European Union, Australia, and South Korea as they deploy public financing institutions to support critical minerals investments. Earlier this July, International Energy Agency’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook found that public finance commitments in advanced economies rose to approximately $65 billion in 2025. This was an over four times increase compared to 2023. Despite this growth, “a considerable gap remains between commitments and actual disbursements,” the IEA found. The report focuses on export credit agencies, development finance institutions, national development banks, and government-backed funds in the U.S. and its partner countries have been tasked with mobilizing capital for critical projects, but many lack the appropriate authorities or experience to finalize necessary investments. It is a first-of-its-kind comparative analysis of all the public finance institutions, their tools, mandates, geographic footprints, financing tools, risk appetites, and structural constraints to examine how the United States and its partners can better leverage these institutions to move more commercially viable projects into production. The report recommends 3 broad action items:
Enabling international coordination
Improving whole-of-government approaches
Evolving mandates, conditions, and risk tolerances
“These public financing institutions exist, but the lack of alignment between what governments are asking them to do and what their mandates and risk tolerances actually allow is a far greater pain point than anyone anticipated.” – Abigail Hunter, Executive Director of SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy.
ACCF Forum Details Path for Permitting Reform – Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-OK) called on Congress and industry leaders last week at a forum hosted by the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), urging leaders to seize a narrow window for bipartisan permitting reform, warning that America will lose investment, jobs, and its global competitive edge unless it becomes easier to build critical infrastructure. Speaking before leaders from the energy, manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure sectors at the policy forum, Armstrong said the nation’s permitting system too often makes it easier to stop a project than to complete one. The forum demonstrated a growing consensus across party lines and economic sectors: America’s broken permitting system is no longer simply a regulatory problem. It is a threat to national security, energy reliability, industrial growth, technological leadership, and American jobs.
Senators Warn That America’s Inability to Build Has Become a Strategic Liability – At the same event, Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) also joined the forum, outlining the mounting costs of permitting delays. Rounds focused on the global artificial intelligence race, warning that “China is not sitting back” and does not face the same bureaucratic obstacles confronting American projects. He argued that the United States cannot lead in AI without rapidly expanding the reliable power generation and infrastructure needed to support data centers and advanced computing. Cramer connected permitting delays directly to the defense industrial base, citing local processes that have slowed space launches and missile testing. He warned that moving “slowly and deliberately” has become a strategic disadvantage when American adversaries can test, build, and deploy at scale. Meanwhile, Sen Hickenlooper (D-CO) stressed the need for certainty as electricity demand accelerates. He argued that any durable reform must be comprehensive and include the transmission infrastructure—the “wires”—needed to meet projected load growth of 3 to 5 percent, driven in significant part by data centers.
Energy, Manufacturing, and Technology Leaders Unite Behind Reform – The forum brought together an unusually broad coalition spanning renewable and traditional energy, advanced manufacturing, steel, critical minerals, utilities, technology, and infrastructure finance. Participants represented Google, First Solar, Ørsted, National Grid, The Williams Companies, PBF Energy, Glencore, Emirates Global Aluminum, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the National Petroleum Council, the American Clean Power Association, ClearPath, the Business Roundtable, the Center for Industrial Materials, and other organizations across the industrial economy. Their participation underscored a central message: permitting reform is not about choosing one industry, fuel, or technology over another. It is about enabling the United States to build the full range of infrastructure required for economic growth and national security—including power plants, transmission lines, pipelines, data centers, factories, mines, ports, and defense facilities.
ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
CEN Sets Energy Summit for Boston – Conservative Energy Network at the third annual National Conservative Energy Summit today to Wednesday in Boston, MA. This event gathers local, state, and federal policymakers, industry leaders, and grassroots advocates from across the country to explore the future of energy policy in America. Former USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold speaks on a panel tomorrow.
CSIS Looks at Strait of Hormuz Impacts – The Center for Strategic and International Studies holds a virtual discussion tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. on navigating the Strait of Hormuz Energy Crisis focused on the trends and global policy responses. Jérôme Bilodeau, Head of Analysis (Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions), International Energy Agency (IEA), will present key findings from IEA analysis of the crisis, highlighting its effects across major regions and the policy measures adopted to mitigate supply shortages and an overview of the policy tracker tool his team has developed, demonstrating how it captures and compares government responses to evolving energy market conditions.
DOW, Wind Delays Case Hit Courts – Tomorrow, a Federal Court in Portland will hearing oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s “Department of War” (Department of Defense) freeze on wind energy project reviews. A coalition of 19 state attorneys general and clean-energy groups are pressing the Oregon federal court for an injunction to force the Pentagon to resume mandatory national security evaluations.
RFF Looks at Fossil Communities’ Needs, Transition – Resources for the Future holds a virtual discussion tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., on how communities can better prepare for fossil power plant closures. The event features three researchers who’ve studied the closure of both coal- and natural gas-fired power plants across the United States to hear insights from their work. Presenters will discuss when to expect coal power plants to close, how communities and workers want to be engaged in planning for closures, and how state governments can support impacted localities.
Senate Commerce Holds Mark Up on AI Reform Bill – On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will mark up AI reform legislation.
Zibelman, Offshore Wind experts Discuss Grid Impacts in NE – In a forum on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., Turn Forward’s Hillary Bright and Grid Strategies’ Seth Kaplan join former NY PSC Chair and PJM executive Audrey Zibelman to discuss how federal actions targeting offshore wind have generated project cancellations and loss of utility-scale capacity even as newly available offshore wind power demonstrates strong performance amid summer heat waves. The panel will review offshore wind’s performance during periods of peak demand, including South Fork Wind’s generation during the July heat wave, and assess the long-term implications of removing offshore wind projects from future U.S. power supplies at a time of rising demand. Discussion will include offshore wind’s contribution to grid reliability and resource adequacy, including potential cost reduction for consumers during periods of extreme grid stress. Speakers will also examine the impact of recent offshore wind project buyouts and withdrawals, which have removed thousands of megawatts of planned generating capacity from interconnection queues—providing hard data on these withdrawals.
Farm Bill Slated for Thursday with E15 Fix – The Senate Ag Committee will take up the 2026 Farm Bill Reauthorization on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The new version of legislation includes year-round E15 sales, expanding investments in specialty crops and measures to reduce input price volatility in addition to the traditional farm bill program support. See the full legislative text here.
C2ES Tackles Batteries – The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) holds a virtual discussion on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on supercharging the US Battery Industry. The event explores why developing a secure, resilient, domestic battery supply chain is a boon for local economies. The event will include a panel conversation with industry leaders and experts, as well as a discussion on our recently released Southeast Regional Policy Roadmap, developed in collaboration with more than 250 stakeholders across the Southeast United States. Duke Power’s Gray Thompson is among the speakers.
EPA Official Headlines TX Enviro Superconference – The State Bar of Texas Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section is holding its 38th annual Texas Environmental Superconference on Thursday and Friday at the Four Seasons in Austin. The keynoter for the event is EPA’s enforcement chief Jeff Hall about federal enforcement actions, relations between the federal agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, updates on water and air quality issues
Forum Focuses on Climate Education – On Thursday at 9:00 a.m., the Center for Universal Education at Brookings will host a discussion on how teachers are delivering climate education in resource-constrained and climate-affected contexts. The webinar will convene researchers and education practitioners from Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe to explore what is actually working in classrooms today, what teachers still need, and what a regional community of practice among educators could look like.
Conservative Legal Groups Looks at Suncor Climate Case – The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies holds a virtual discussion on Friday at 12:00 p.m., on extraterritoriality and US Constitutional structure. The event will look at cases from Pork Producers to Suncor to determine what constitutional limits are on states’ regulations that impact activities outside their borders and what is the source for those limits.
IN THE FUTURE
CA Energy Conference Set – Advance Energy United holds a California-based Energy and Policy Summit on August 11th in Sacramento. In the summit’s opening fireside chat, the leaders of California’s energy agencies, California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild and California Public Utilities Commission President John Reynolds, will cover affordability, where the state needs to focus its attention, and what challenges and decisions will be front and center for the next Administration.
Air Quality Conference Set Amid Wildfire Issues – The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) and Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) will co-host the 2026 National Air Quality Conference (NAQC) August 10th to 13th at the Hilton Omaha in Nebraska. The event brings together state, local, tribal, and federal air agencies, the private sector, and researchers to learn from each other about the state of the art where air quality reporting and forecasting, public health, and innovative outreach programs intersect.
FERC Deadline for Comments Aug 21st – After its dynamic conference on the PJM Interconnect’s governance and stakeholder processes, FERC is encouraging stakeholders to provide substantive comments by August 21st on the topic. See a replay of the Conference HERE.
Forum Looks at NATO, Grid innovation – On September 1st, the Security and Sustainability Forum, George Washington University’s Environmental and Energy Management Institute and the Alliance for a Sustainable Future hold a discussion on where the financial and physical sides of the grid are out of alignment, what it means for the people and businesses on the other end of the meter, and practical paths to fixing it. Peter Fox-Penner and Scott Sklar are among the speakers.
Fall Air Meetings Set for Raleigh – Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) Fall Meeting is set for September 9th to 11th in Raleigh, NC. The meeting will feature presentations from state and local air quality agencies, U.S. EPA, and other air quality professionals. The agenda will cover Clean Air Act policy, legal, technical, and implementation updates, with a format similar to recent AAPCA meetings.
AGA Winter Heating Meeting Set – AGA will release its Winter Heating Outlook in the second week in September.
Clean Energy Week – Set for September 14th to 18th, National Clean Energy Week is an annual week-long celebration of clean energy innovation with conversations to help solve the world’s most pressing challenges in nuclear, solar, wind, wave, hydropower, geothermal, natural gas, biomass, carbon capture, storage and waste-to-energy technologies.
Climate NYC Week – Climate Week NYC 2026 is set for September 22nd to 24th. The event features a multitude of activities and forums address climate, decarb, innovation, clean energy and much more. ClearPath and API host their usual Monday event while Bracewell hosts two events jointly with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and another with Gevo.
ACP to Host Storage Event – ACP will hold a forum about the future of energy storage at RECHARGE26 on September 22nd to 24th in Aurora, CO, just outside Denver. The U.S. energy storage market is entering a period of significant opportunity—and uncertainty. This session will examine the policy, economic, technology, and demand-side factors that could shape market growth in the years ahead.
Bracewell Expert Speaks at Maritime Fuels Conference – The Argus Sustainable Marine Fuels Conference will be head in Houston, Texas on September 23rd to 25th bringing together stakeholders from across the marine fuels and bunkering value chain to address the practical realities of decarbonization in the North America market. The conference will examine viable near‑term fuel options alongside emerging supply chains, port and bunkering infrastructure readiness, the role of charterers and cargo owners, and the regulatory and policy developments shaping investment decisions. Bracewell’s Tim Urban speaks.
Critical Minerals Forum Set For CO – The 5th annual Payne Institute Critical Minerals Symposium will be held on September 24-25, 2026, at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. Critical minerals are now a top tier business, technological and political priority in the United States and globally. The event will focus on the complexities and opportunities related to the future of Critical Minerals than this one at Mines.