WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Thursday, readers! In a surprising turn of events, President Donald Trump’s pick to head up the Bureau of Land Management abruptly removed herself from consideration ahead of her scheduled testimony before Congress today.
Not so unexpectedly, the Senate voted to undo regulations for gas-powered water heaters implemented under former President Joe Biden.
Plus, a small group of Republicans in the chamber are also moving to protect various clean and climate related tax credits created under the Inflation Reduction Act. Keep reading to find out which members are appealing to Senate leadership to avoid an overhaul of the law.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
SENATE ENDS DOE STANDARDS FOR GAS WATER HEATERS: Senate lawmakers today voted to undo standards for gas-powered water heaters implemented during the Biden administration.
Senators voted 53-44 to approve a bill that reverses an Energy Department regulation that mandates a minimum efficiency level for gas powered water heaters. The House in February passed the measure. The bill will now be sent to the Oval Office for President Donald Trump to sign into law.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz introduced the bill in the Senate through the Congressional Review Act, allowing lawmakers to take a simple majority vote in both chambers to undo a regulation. House Republicans have been using the CRA in recent weeks to undo Biden-era energy and climate regulations.
As of late, Republicans have focused on undoing standards on home appliances which they have long argued raises prices for consumers. The Energy Department last month paused the effective dates of a number of efficiency standards for home appliances, including those for the gas water heaters.
Read more from Maydeen here.
ELECTRICITY PRICES STILL UP IN MARCH CPI REPORT: While the rate of overall inflation has continued to fall in the first months of the Trump administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest report has found that electricity price growth is accelerating.
The details: In the most recent Consumer Price Index, the bureau revealed that the rate of price growth for electricity rose to 2.8% for the year ending in March, up from around 2.5% in February. Month-over-month, electricity prices jumped by roughly 0.9%, slightly less than the month before. Energy services, including utility gas, were also up overall by 4.2% for the year ending in March.
Other areas of the energy sector did see some relief last month as gasoline prices had dropped by 9.8% for the year ending in March, dropping roughly 6.3% month-over-month. Similarly, fuel oil prices decreased by roughly 7.6% for the year, after dropping 4.2% month-over-month.
SGAMMA ABRUPTLY WITHDRAWS BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NOMINATION: Longtime oil and gas advocate Kathleen Sgamma unexpectedly withdrew her nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management just days after dozens of environmentalist organizations called on the Senate to oppose her appointment.
The details: Sgamma was scheduled to appear before the Senate committee this morning for a confirmation hearing, but the testimony was canceled at the last minute. Chairman Mike Lee revealed at the top of the hearing that Sgamma had withdrawn her nomination.
It remains unclear why Sgamma withdrew. Her decision, though, comes the same week that investigative group Documented unveiled a letter in which Sgamma lambasted Trump over the events that took place on Jan. 6 2021. In the letter sent to oil executives one day after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Sgamma said she was “disgusted” by the violence as well as “President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it.”
David Bernhardt, who served as Secretary of the Interior in the first Trump administration, pointed to the letter Thursday morning after news broke that Sgamma had withdrawn her nomination.
“2 years ago, in my book, I explained that individuals who know their views don’t align with the president, and yet seek political appointments hoping such divergence will not be noticed cause needless harm and conflict, hindering the president’s agenda,” Bernhardt wrote in a post to X. “Sad. Self-inflicted.”
Some background: Since 2006, Sgamma has served as president of the Denver-based oil and gas trade group Western Energy Alliance. For over 50 years, the group has represented independent oil and gas producers, advocating increased access to public lands for drilling as well as mining operations. The group also has a history of challenging the Bureau of Land Management in court.
Read more from Callie here.
MARKET UNCERTAINTY HITTING OIL DEMAND AND LOWERING PRICES: The Energy Information Administration released its short-term energy outlook (STEO) report today, predicting that growing supply and lower demand will continue to drop oil prices in the coming months.
The details: The most recent STEO came after EIA said it would be re-running its models after oil prices plummeted in the fallout of Trump’s sweeping tariffs and OPEC+’s decision to accelerate its planned output hike next month. The agency pointed to these announcements in its report, saying they drove benchmark prices down dramatically over the course of just two days. Between April 2 and April 4, EIA said, Brent Crude prices fell by 12%.
Given the amount of uncertainty in the market, EIA estimated that there will likely be less oil demand growth this year than previously projected. As of this week, EIA has estimated that global oil consumption will only increase by 0.9 million barrels per day in 2025 and by 1.0 million barrels per day in 2026.
With lower demand and increased production from OPEC+, EIA also noted that prices will continue to drop. The agency now estimates that Brent Crude will average out at around $68 per barrel for 2025 and $61 per barrel next year – roughly 10% lower than what they projected in March. It’s important to note that all of the projections are still subject to change.
“We expect that prices for crude oil and other commodities will continue to experience significant volatility as market participants assess the effects of trade policies,” the STEO report reads.
Where prices stand now: While prices began to recover yesterday afternoon on the news of a 90 day pause on most of Trump’s tariffs, international and domestic benchmarks were down again today. As of around 1:30 p.m. EST, Brent Crude had dropped by roughly 4.40% and was trading at $62.60 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate was also down by 4.84% and was priced below the $60 line at roughly $59.33 per barrel.
REPUBLICAN SENATORS LOOK TO DEFEND CLIMATE TAX CREDITS: A group of Republican senators is asking congressional leadership not to repeal the entire Democratic-passed Inflation Reduction Act, in an effort to save several climate and clean-energy tax credits in budget reconciliation.
The details: In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune yesterday, the four Republican senators said a wholesale repeal of the law would only create more uncertainty and threaten job creation, project planning, and capital allocation across the energy industry and overall economy.
“While we support fiscal responsibility and prudent efforts to streamline the tax code, we caution against the full-scale repeal of current credits, which could lead to significant disruptions for the American people and weaken our position as a global leader,” the lawmakers wrote.
They did not list any specific credits, but urged Thune to consider a number of factors before choosing to scrap a tax credit. This includes whether the credit can spur new domestic manufacturing, reduce utility bills, and ensure certainty for businesses that have already made investments based on existing credits.
The letter was signed by Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Curtis of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Jerry Moran of Kansas. It builds upon similar calls made among House Republicans also seeking to keep a number of clean energy tax credits that have spurred development within their states.
Why this matters: For months, Congressional leadership have weighed including sweeping cuts to the IRA as part of budget reconciliation, a legislative process that allows for bills to bypass the filibuster and pass with only a simple majority in the Senate. Republicans already have a slim 53-47 majority in the Senate and four defections would sink the vote.
Republicans are scouring the tax code for ways to offset revenues that will be lost by extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts and including new tax breaks sought by Trump, such as ending taxes on tips.
IEA DOWNPLAYS CLIMATE IMPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The International Energy Agency looked to assuage concerns that artificial intelligence advancements and the emissions associated with new data centers could be making climate change worse, calling concerns “overstated.”
The details: IEA released a lengthy report today on AI’s potential to transform the energy sector over the next 10 years, particularly as the technology and the data centers supporting it will be a primary driver behind a surge in electricity demand. The report found that these data centers are one of the fastest growing sources of emissions, with emissions expected to grow from 180 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes by 2035.
While rapidly increased emissions are a major concern for those looking to decarbonize the industry, IEA insisted the benefits outweigh the cons. The agency noted that AI can be used as a tool in reducing emissions, boosting efficiency, supporting integration of renewable sources of energy, and more.
“The widespread adoption of existing AI applications could lead to emissions reductions that are far larger than emissions from data centres – but also far smaller than what is needed to address climate change,” the report reads.
EUROPE MAY BE READY TO BUY MORE U.S. GAS: The European Union may be willing to increase the amount of liquefied natural gas it buys from the United States, in a move seemingly geared toward appeasing Trump in order to hold off more tariffs.
The details: Energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen confirmed to the Financial Times that the bloc plans to move forward in purchasing more LNG, as long as it aligns with the region’s transition to cleaner sources of energy.
“There is potential for us to buy more LNG from the US but of course it needs to be on conditions that are also in line with our [green] transition,” Jørgensen told the outlet.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, has reportedly signaled the interest to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
It remains unclear how much more gas the EU plans to purchase, though Trump floated a number earlier this week. On Monday evening, Trump told reporters that one of the ways to offset Europe’s trade deficit of around $350 billion is to essentially buy that same amount in energy.
TORNADO ACTIVITY ABOVE NORMAL THIS YEAR: Tornado activity this year has been higher than normal, with more than 470 tornadoes reported earlier this month, doubling the average for this time of the year, AccuWeather said.
AccuWeather said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has received 473 preliminary tornado reports as of April 7. The same date last year had a total of 264 reports.
Most of the tornado activity has taken place in the Southwest and Mississippi Valley. At the end of March, Mississippi reported 92 twisters. Last year, the state reported only seven tornadoes.
AccuWeather said the high tornado activity has been driven by an unusual number of storms across the Midwest, with Missouri reporting 57 and Illinois with 55 this year.
ICYMI – TRUMP ORDERS AGENCIES TO IMPLEMENT AN EXPIRATION FOR OUTDATED ENERGY RULES: Trump signed an executive order yesterday mandating federal agencies to implement an expiration date for a number of energy and climate related regulations, which the president argues hinder energy production.
The order called on federal agencies including the Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and others to issue a “sunset rule” for a number of regulations to expire by September 2026. Federal agencies must implement an expiration date on the rules by September of this year.
The administration listed a number of regulations to place expiration dates on, including rules issued under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Natural Gas Act of 1938, Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and many more.
The order also requires a five-year expiration date for future energy regulations, unless they are deregulatory. The order noted that if a federal agency does not extend the expiration date on any regulation, the rule would automatically expire after five years.
“If I’m reading this correctly – since it requires seeking comments on all existing regulations and then issuing orders extending them based on that record – @FERC is going to need a lot more staff,” former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Neil Chatterjee said on X in regards to the order.
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