Pick a lane, Gavin

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 03/12/2024

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Governor Gavin needs to make up his mind. Is he trying to price people out of gas powered cars, or EVs? Or maybe it's both...

San Francisco Chronicle (3/11/24) reports: "California wants residents to buy electric vehicles to fight climate change, to the point of ending the sale of new gasoline-fueled cars in 2035. But after a 20% rate hike this year by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., charging a car — one of the single biggest items on electric bills — just got more expensive. And the trend is unlikely to let up anytime soon: State regulators are considering further rate increases for PG&E this year. 'It’s crazy,' said Austin Ball, a Walnut Creek engineer and Tesla Model 3 driver whose PG&E bill more than doubled this year. In Petaluma, Davinder Banger said he’s paying about $20 per charge at a Supercharger this year, compared to between $10 and $14 previously to charge his Tesla Model Y. Banger, 48, said he’s still saving money on his commute to Contra Costa County compared to what he’d be paying for gasoline. 'But I have noticed a change,' he said. Electrification proponents worry that rising rates will cause people to balk at giving up their gasoline cars for electric ones at a time when the state needs them to make the switch....California Assembly Member Phil Ting drives a Tesla Model Y, and the car company’s phone app estimated he saved about $1,772 last year by not buying gasoline. The San Francisco Democrat doesn’t expect to hit the same savings mark this year, but he’s a major proponent of electrification and loves his electric car. 'For me, it’s not game-changing at this point,' Ting said. 'But the overall price of electricity is a major issue this year.'"

"A coalition of ten states has already filed suit against the SEC, arguing, among other claims, that introducing these [ESG] regulations goes beyond the authority the agency has been granted by Congress. It is to be hoped that this suit succeeds. It would be even better, however, if a future administration or Congress sweeps these rules away."

– National Review Editorial Board

Team Biden doesn't see America as a country, just a tax farm for Big Green, Inc.

Politico (3/11/24) reports: "President Joe Biden is once again asking Congress to put money into the Green Climate Fund, as detailed in his fiscal 2025 budget blueprint. The request, to be fulfilled over four years, would go toward honoring a pledge the U.S. made at last year’s United Nations climate talks in the United Arab Emirates. It would also help fulfill Biden's promise to contribute $11 billion toward international climate finance annually by 2024. In all, the White House is seeking $500 million in fiscal 2025, $750 million each in the following two years and $1 billion in fiscal 2028. Beyond asking for the money, Biden wants to protect it from Congress' ever-changing power dynamics by making the spending mandatory. Biden is presenting the plan as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, which 'supports more than half a billion people in developing countries to adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change,' the White House Office of Management and Budget said...Biden last year committed $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund. That brings the total U.S. contribution to $2 billion — $1 billion short of the initial $3 billion the U.S. pledged under President Barack Obama’s administration.
U.S. payments have been controversial since the international community created the fund in 2010 to help low-income countries transition to clean energy and adapt to the changing climate."

It turns out reliable, affordable energy is a popular with most people.

DC Journal (3/11/24) reports: "Nearly 80 percent of Americans support an 'all of the above' energy strategy, and 65 percent believe shuttering existing coal, natural gas or nuclear plants before renewable-fuel replacements are fully operational is a bad idea. That’s the finding of a new Maru Public Opinion poll on behalf of the National Mining Association. It was released just weeks after the North American Energy Reliability Corp.’s December assessment finding most of the United States is now at risk of blackouts over the next decade...That 80 percent support for the “all of the above” energy policy is up from 56 percent in May 2023, a sign that concerns about the grid’s reliability are growing among the public. And with good reason...Energy affordability plays a big role in the fears surrounding economic uncertainty, said Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance. 'The policies being pursued by the Biden administration and in states like California, New Jersey and New York have exposed the real vulnerabilities of intermittent energy sources like wind and solar in terms of electricity reliability,' Pyle said. 'Higher energy prices and less reliable electricity erode our ability to maintain a dynamic economy as the increased costs are absorbed by nearly all products and services and as companies look elsewhere to set up shop, particularly in the manufacturing sector.'"

Maybe if China invested in Alaska or Minnesota copper mines Team Biden wouldn't oppose opening mines here.

Mining.com (3/11/24) reports: "China Copper, one of the country’s leading producers of the metal, wants to acquire overseas mineral resources amid tight mined copper supply and rising demand, the company’s chairman told Reuters on Monday. A lack of rich copper resources at home has driven Chinese companies to hunt elsewhere, with an unexpected supply deficit this year adding to the impetus. 'We hope to cooperate with countries and companies globally to acquire a number of near-production, at-production mineral resources with good quality, large reserves and potential,' Xu Bo wrote in response to Reuters‘ questions. The company will step up cooperation on risky projects with a low exploration rate and great potential, wrote Xu, a delegate of the National People’s Congress at the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing. China Copper holds the Toromocho Copper mine in central Peru, via its parent company Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco), the state-owned metal giant. Smelters in China, the world’s top refined copper producer, were hit by tightening raw material supplies after the closure of the big Cobre Panama mine late last year. Xu acknowledged the shortages, saying they were a reflection of the still strong demand for copper in China. There is fast growing demand from the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors for the metal, which is also widely used in power, transportation and construction."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $77.76
Natural Gas: ↑ $1.81
Gasoline: ↑ $3.39

Diesel: ↑ $4.03
Heating Oil: ↓ $261.22
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $82.11
US Rig Count: ↓ 630

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