Morning Consult Energy: What's Ahead & Week in Review

Morning Consult Energy: What’s Ahead & Week in Review

Energy

Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.

April 16, 2023

By Julia Martinez

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Howdy and happy Sunday, Morning Consult Energy readers!

Electric vehicles were top of mind for most of us last week as the Biden administration proposed the strictest tailpipe emissions limits to date.

The Environmental Protection Agency projected that the new regulations could lead to EVs accounting for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales in the 2032 model year. That’s a lot of EVs, and there is plenty of speculation as to whether that target is even achievable.

Let me know what y’all think: Is it possible to hit that goal?

Meanwhile, in another boost for EVs, the Energy Department proposed reducing the mileage ratings of electric and plug-in electric hybrids, which could spur more low-emission vehicle sales for automakers, or lead to improvements for conventional models, as the system has not received an update in more than two decades.

Our latest update to the Taking the Temperature tracker showed consumer interest in purchasing an EV over the next decade rose slightly to 49% as of April 9, an increase of 3 percentage points from the previous month.

What’s Ahead

Tomorrow I’ll be dropping a story about how voters feel about the House GOP’s energy package, so stay tuned!

Tesla Inc. is slated to release its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after market close.

The company grabbed headlines last week when Chief Executive Elon Musk announced the opening of a Megafactory in Shanghai, China. The factory will have a production capacity of 10,000 Megapacks a year. Construction is expected to begin during the third quarter of 2023 with production anticipated by mid-2024. The announcement, however, also grabbed the attention of Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who leads a congressional committee on China, saying the recent deals between Tesla and China “seem very concerning.”

It’ll be interesting to hear more about what company execs think of what Gallagher said — if they say anything at all — along with any commentary on the EPA’s recent tailpipe emissions announcement.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute will host a discussion on Wednesday about the state of play for nuclear energy with speakers like Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Kathryn Huff, the assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Department of Energy. California’s only nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, will probably get a mention, considering that environmental group Friends of the Earth last week filed a lawsuit to prohibit PG&E Corp. from seeking an operating license extension to keep the facility open.

Axios Pro on Friday will host Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) for a conversation about the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. After the House passed the GOP’s energy package at the end of March, Democrats have been busy crafting their own version of permitting reform. Expect Axios reporters to ask Hoyer and Huffman about the plan and whether they have any recommendations for the best way to move forward on any kind of permitting reform.

Week in Review

Flash droughts: Farmers are facing more extreme crop-killing “flash droughts” as rising temperatures from climate change trigger the events more quickly, causing the water to evaporate from plants and soil during the growing seasons, according to research published in the journal Science.
LNG: The DOE approved liquefied natural gas exports from the $39 billion Alaska LNG project owned by Alaska Gasline Development Corp., which is expected to come online by 2030 pending additional required permits.
Inflation: Surprise crude production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies could slow down economic recovery and growth, fueling more inflation and hurting consumers, according to a monthly oil market report from the International Energy Agency.
Environmental justice: The EPA is disbursing $177 million to fund 17 technical assistance centers around the country in an effort to assist environmental justice organizations applying for federal funding, along with offering advocates help to guide community engagement.
WOTUS: A federal judge in North Dakota temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” rule, known as WOTUS, in 24 states, pending the outcome of a lawsuit that claims the regulations constitute federal overreach and unfairly burden farmers and ranchers.
Chemicals: The EPA proposed reducing ethylene oxide emissions by 80% in 86 facilities across the nation after finding the chemical, which is classified as a pesticide, led to higher-than-expected cancer risk at facilities that used it for medical device sterilization.
SPR: The United States could begin purchasing oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve later this year “if it is advantageous to taxpayers,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at an energy conference.
Colorado River: The Bureau of Reclamation proposed solutions in a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for addressing water shortages in seven Colorado River basin states, including favoring priority water users like California or distributing the cuts evenly across the states.
G7: The United States, European Union and Japan pushed back on the United Kingdom’s proposal to phase out unabated domestic coal power generation by 2030, according to draft communique documents seen by Bloomberg, setting up a fight between the Group of Seven nations at a summit held over the weekend in Japan.
Sea levels: Multiple studies show that seas along the Gulf of Mexico and the southern coast are rising at levels “unprecedented in at least 120 years,” with abnormal surges recorded since 2010.

Stat of the Week

540 proposals

The estimated number of proposals that have been filed by shareholders at publicly traded companies so far this year asking companies to address environmental, social and corporate governance issues, according to Proxy Preview. Resolutions about climate change have increased by 12% compared with last year and make up a quarter of resolutions filed since mid-February.