Ukraine says 500 settlements without power as energy consumption hits record

Energy News Beat

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Ukrainian energy consumption hovered near record highs on Friday, increasing strains on the fragile power sector as nearly 500 settlements faced blackouts due to Russian shelling, air strikes and bad weather, officials said.

Source: Reuters

Ukraine, an exporter of electricity before Russia’s invasion in February 2022, has been forced to turn to emergency power imports from neighbouring Romania and Poland this week to meet demand, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

“The power system remains in a difficult situation. At the moment, there is no free capacity at power plants.”

The energy system is entering a second winter at war in a much shakier condition after months of Russian missile and drone attacks pounded critical infrastructure last winter.

Those strikes plunged cities into darkness and forced people to go for long periods without water or heating in the bitter cold. Though the power system is now weakened, Ukrainians hope better air defences provided by the West will help them prevail.

Ukrenergo urged residents to economise on the use of electricity in the face of continued Russian attacks almost two years into Moscow’s invasion in which it has occupied swathes of the east and south, about a fifth of the country.

“This morning Ukrenergo again recorded a high level of consumption, which is almost equal to yesterday’s record,” the grid operator said in a statement, adding that consumption was at its highest levels so far this heating season.

Consumption had risen 4% on Thursday compared with the day before, it said.

The Kyiv government said in a statement that 492 settlements across Ukraine were without electricity due to bad weather, shelling, strikes and combat actions.

Russia has so far kept up its strikes on the energy system this winter, sending dozens of drones on an almost nightly basis to hit power-generating facilities and distribution networks across the country.

Ukrenergo said a thermal power plant in the east had again and again been damaged by systematic and prolonged shelling.

Later on Friday, the energy ministry said a total of three power units did not work at the plant in a frontline region, which affected the power system.

It added that during the day the facility came under shelling once again, with new damage to equipment registered.

Also, a power facility in another region had been shut down for emergency repairs, it said. Dense cloud cover over the country means that solar power plants cannot work.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; editing by Tom Balmforth and Mark Heinrich)

 

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Yemen’s Houthis warn they will target all Israel-bound ships in Red Sea

Energy News Beat

Yemen’s Houthi movement says it will target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

“If Gaza does not receive the food and medicines it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our armed forces,” the group’s spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

The threat has an immediate effect, the statement added.

The Iran-aligned group is escalating the risks of a regional conflict as Israel continues to bombard Gaza for a third month, killing more than 17,700 people so far and wounding nearly 49,000 others.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have attacked and seized several Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and its Bab al-Mandab Strait, a sea lane through which much of the world’s oil is shipped, and fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel.

In one of the latest incidents, three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters last week, prompting a US Navy destroyer to intervene.

Last week, the Houthis attacked two ships off the Yemeni coast, including a Bahamas-flagged vessel, claiming they were Israeli owned.

And last month, the rebel forces seized Galaxy Leader, an Israeli-linked cargo vessel as they warned they would target all ships with links to Israel and called on different countries not to allow their nationals to serve as crew on these vessels.

Houthi officials say their actions are a show of support for the Palestinians. Israel says the attacks on ships was an “Iranian act of terrorism” with consequences for international maritime security.

The US and UK have condemned the attacks, blaming Iran for its role in supporting the Houthis. Tehran says its allies make their decisions independently.

 Rebels warn to block passage of Israel-bound ships of any nationality unless Gaza gets the food and medicines it needs. 

     

​  

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Daily Energy Standup Episode #266 – Weekly Recap: Unpacking EPA Regulations, COP28 Hypocrisy, and Texas Commissioner’s Stand Against Onerous Rules

Energy News Beat

Daily Standup Weekly Top Stories

EPA’s Final Rule for Oil and Natural Gas Operations Will Sharply Reduce Methane and Other Harmful Pollution.

ENB Pub Note: We will review these regulations and report on the first-, second-, and third-order magnitude impacts.  EPA has issued a final rule that will sharply reduce emissions of methane and other harmful air […]

US commits to shutting down its coal plants during COP28 – US Consumers Thrown Out With The Bath Water

ENB Pub Note: Make no mistakes; The Biden Administration has absolutely committed to blackouts and not taking care of the U.S. Citizens. China has increased it’s carbon footprint 220% while the US lowered theirs 20% […]

COP28 president claims there is ‘no science’ behind calls to phase out fossil fuels – Guardian

The UAE’s Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber reportedly says gradual cuts in oil, gas and coal use would ‘take the world back into caves’ The president of the COP28 climate conference, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, has […]

Chevron, Exxon opt out of funding COP28 methane-reduction fund

(Bloomberg) — Six major oil companies each contributed tens of millions of dollars to a grant fund meant to help state-owned rivals cull the release of super-warming methane emissions, but Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil […]

Oil CEO says blaming the energy industry for the climate crisis ‘like blaming farmers for obesity’

The chief executive of UAE-based energy firm Crescent Petroleum said Tuesday that blaming the oil and gas industry for the climate crisis “is like blaming farmers for obesity.” The burning of coal, oil and gas […]

Loud fart sound erupts during John Kerry’s speech at climate panel

The Biden administration’s climate envoy was discussing US policy on coal power plants at the Climate Change Conference in Dubai on Sunday when Kerry may have unleashed a burst of wind energy. The former secretary […]

Texas commissioner slams Biden’s “onerous” methane rules that increase oil, gas prices

AUSTIN – Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian issued a statement regarding new onerous methane rules proposed by the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “While costs for hard-working Americans are up nearly $11,000 this year everywhere from the […]

Highlights of the Podcast

00:00 – Intro
01:35 – EPA’s Final Rule for Oil and Natural Gas Operations Will Sharply Reduce Methane and Other Harmful Pollution.
06:45 – US commits to shutting down its coal plants during COP28 – US Consumers Thrown Out With The Bath Water
09:15 – COP28 president claims there is ‘no science’ behind calls to phase out fossil fuels – Guardian
10:57 – Chevron, Exxon opt out of funding COP28 methane-reduction fund
13:35 – Oil CEO says blaming the energy industry for the climate crisis ‘like blaming farmers for obesity’
15:18 – Loud fart sound erupts during John Kerry’s speech at climate panel
16:46 – Texas commissioner slams Biden’s “onerous” methane rules that increase oil, gas prices
18:58 – Outro

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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Michael Tanner: [00:00:07] What is going on, everybody? Welcome into a special edition of the Daily Energy News Beat Stand up here on this gorgeous Saturday, December 9th, 2023. As always, I’m your humble correspondent, Michael Tanner, coming to you from an undisclosed location here in Dallas, Texas, joined by the executive producer of the show, the purveyor of the show, and the director and publisher of the world’s greatest website, EnergyNewsBeat.com, Stuart Turley. My man, how are we doing today? [00:00:28][21.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:00:29] It’s a beautiful day in bear country. How are you? [00:00:31][1.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:00:31] It’s been a long week, Stu. We’ve got a great weekly recap lined up. A lot of good stories. Cop 28 kind of drove the news. [00:00:37][6.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:00:37] Oh, from. [00:00:39][1.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:00:39] A bunch of us. We got John Kerry relieving himself on stage, so. Absolutely Wild week, guys. We won’t take up too much of your time. But before we do that, as always, guys, remember, news and analysis you’re about to hear is brought to you by the world’s greatest Web site. Energy News Beat the best place for all your energy news. Doing the team do a tremendous job of keeping that website up to speed on everything you need to know to stay at the tip of the spear when it comes to the energy in the oil and gas business. You can follow the show, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts at Energy News beat on YouTube. Great way to go ahead and support the show. Hit the description below on podcast or YouTube. You can check out links and timestamps to all the articles. Jump ahead here. What you mean? Dashboard.EnergyNewsBeat.com kind of our data news combo. You can email the show [email protected] But Stu, I’m out of breath. I’m kicking it over to the team. Here’s a little weekly recap. We’ll see you on Monday, folks. [00:01:30][51.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:01:31] EPA’s final rule for oil and natural gas operations will sharply reduce methane and other harmful pollution from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA. What a bunch of chatter heads. This was released at 3 a.m. Friday night or Saturday morning. It is absolutely abysmal. I have I spent hours going through this thing and it is disgusting. From the ESG university on Substack, one of our favorite substack guys that I like. Random dude on Substack. They went into it a little bit more in the 3 a.m. rollout was timed to coincide with the ongoing Cop 28. This is absolutely despicable. Here’s a quote in here The Biden administration war on oil and gas has created another round of regulations that directs the marketplace to shut down American energy protection. The crude line founder, Jason’s Buy said it is very unfortunate that political and energy leadership do not take Biden’s war on oil and gas more seriously. It is it is overstepping their bounds. Michael, down here further on, you can see that the the are the the whole thing is based off of the Clean Air Act and they have just blown it up. It’s going to go even further. Will sharply they they say it will sharply reduce methane. But what they’re going to do is any oil and gas firm and anybody. Here’s where it is. The final rule, rule leverage is the latest cost effective, innovative technologies and proven solutions on an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions from 2024 to 2038, 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Okay. They’re going to have to spend gigantic bucks. Okay. I’m all about fixing a lot of this stuff. But they’re imposing regulations that the market would do anyway. When you take a look at layering the great oil and gas empire, operators in Texas got rid of flaring. And you know, if you let the market do it, these companies are interested in doing this. ESG investing is failing. Why? Because BlackRock says they’re going to start investing in oil and gas. And then also, Bill Gates came out and said, oh, climate change is a joke. So now you have these the U.S. is doubling down and tripling down on stupid in order to increase the price of natural gas. Unbelievable. [00:04:37][186.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:04:39] Yeah. I mean, here’s the thing. What they do is they just say we’re going to do stuff to reduce climate and reduce these volatile. Well, what I find is it’s really hard to actually figure out exactly what they’re doing. I mean, have you been in you know, and this is what I think every listener would want to know, what exactly did the EPA, they’re going to reduce methane emissions. How what are they actually going to do. [00:05:03][23.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:05:03] In an after? I spent 2 or 3 hours going through it. It is a mind numbing experience. And I’m I’ve got in here that I’m going to be writing some updates to it. What the problem Michael is going to be is that they are requiring carbon capture. They’re requiring detection systems. They’re requiring enhancements to the Clean Air Act, which have already been proven that it’s beyond the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency. All right. They’ve already crossed the line. [00:05:44][40.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:45] So here’s the first one. So here we go. One, This rule provides a two year phase in period for eliminating routine flaring of natural gas that is emitted from new oil wells. I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what, who loves this new. Every Bitcoin mining company loves this rule. [00:06:01][16.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:02] Absolutely. [00:06:02][0.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:06:02] Every Bitcoin mining company loves. And you know what? I’m not necessarily against that. You know how much energy we’ve wasted in flaring because we’re too lazy to build pipelines. We don’t have infrastructure set up. We can. [00:06:15][12.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:16] Imagine. Which came first, the permit or the getting. Because once you drill a well and you have no takeaway, you either store it, which is expensive or you flare it or you tie it to a pipeline and we can’t get pipelines done. So the Mickey Mouse bullcrap that this administration is doing is absolutely going, you’re going to do this. You know what their number one goal is, Michael, Remember, don’t raise the price of energy across the board. [00:06:51][35.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:06:52] Absolutely. They want to make it extremely expensive to operate oil and gas. That’s exactly what these rules will do. We will be diving into it. No wonder they dropped this at 3 a.m.. [00:07:01][8.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:02] Yeah, it was so that our large could go up there and say some things like okay, let’s go to us. Commits to shutting down its coal plants during Cop 28. Wait a minute. Did you hear that thump? Somebody just thumped a quarter on lurches face since he’s had the last facelift. This man makes me airsick. Okay. The Biden administration at 28 China. Michael. Can you guess how much China’s carbon footprint has increased this past year? [00:07:42][39.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:07:43] I’m sure it’s twofold. [00:07:44][1.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:46] 220%. They have over 400 coal plants approved. Their regulatory agency is very simple. Yes. Yes. See? Yes, that’s their approved. Approved. You get coal plant for you. Boom. Okay. Guess how much they lowered ours. Last year, the U.S. lowered it 20%. You know how. [00:08:19][33.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:20] Never go to natural gas. [00:08:23][2.2]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:24] Exactly. But an orderly fashion. We will do it now. Who’s the number one polluter in the world, Michael? [00:08:32][8.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:33] China. [00:08:33][0.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:34] China. Guess who keeps getting uglier? [00:08:35][1.6]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:36] China. [00:08:36][0.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:37] And guess who keeps getting fatter? It’s in the food, dammit. They all the Chinese people are eating American food and getting fatter. This is ridiculous. I’m sorry for getting worked up, dude. I just. I’m going to go put my head in the toilet just so I can calm down. [00:08:52][15.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:53] Well, yeah. Well, your favorite politician. U.S. special envoy for Climate, John Kerry. What did he actually do? He announced that at the U.N. Annual Climate summit, a.k.a. Cop 28, that we are not building new coal plants and will be phasing out existing bugs. And we were probably already doing. That’s what’s funny. We got to send John Kerry Heinz, 57, on his private jet, over to cop 28 to attempt to tell us we’re shutting down the coal plant. It’s not his plane, though, Stu, so we can’t get mad and remember. [00:09:25][32.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:25] Oh, no, It’s. [00:09:26][0.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:26] It’s his wife. Plane. His plane. His plane. [00:09:29][3.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:30] Video net zero. He went on an Air Force jet. Don’t kid yourself. Look, Lurch with a face lift that would dodged a bullet. I mean, he’s got a bulletproof face, and you can thump a quarter on it. I guarantee you a drill sergeant, when they come up and they thump a quarter on the bed and it bounces, they’re good. A drill sergeant could thump a quarter of his face. Okay, let’s go to Cop 28 here. The thread, the ENB thread on these stories got me so worked up. I’ve got to go Get on the bike and ride for five hours. Cop 28 President Ride Claims There is no science behind Calls to phase out fossil fuels. The Guardian Michael. Here’s where it’s a lot of fun being a fly or a booger on the wall, whichever one you want to call it. It’s got to be pretty funny because you have the head of Exxon, you have the head of Saudi Arabia there. And then you have the head of Saudi Aramco there. And then there were 100 and 110 oil companies there. Okay. Wow. There’s 70,000 of your closest friends there. I have an appointment with. Grace Stankey again. She is live in Dubai. And we’re going to talk. It’s going to be 11:00 my time. And we’re going to do a podcast to get an update on what’s going on with the nuclear. We have committed to doing more nuclear. I’m thrilled about that. So this listen to this. We are an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone else because we have not yet committing out fossil fuels. Robinson, who chairs The Elders, a London based human rights environmental NGO, was quoted as the Garden. One said, decision at Cop 28 can take in many ways because you’re the head of eggnog. You could actually take it with more credibility. That guy needs to put his head in the toilet. [00:11:40][130.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:11:42] Is wherever wherever John Kerry’s going. This is where we need this guy. [00:11:46][4.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:11:47] Oh, absolutely. Just flap his ears, you know? Hey, let’s get rolling over there. Buddies over there. Chevron and Exxon opt out of funding at Cop 28 Methane Reduction Fund. Michael, this is an absolute who? Ursula, our good buddy over there who’s in charge of the EU, made a comment that there this fund is going to be into the billions there that the commitments have been about $100 billion over cop is their target. She says that’s not enough. We need trillions. I think that might have been the trigger for Exxon and Chevron to go, No, our checkbook is not that big. Let’s go through this here. A global flaring and methane reduction partnership that will run by the World Bank with initially 255 million earmarked to help developing countries and their oil companies stifle leaks on that potent greenhouse gas. Okay. I can understand why Exxon and Chevron later. Now, in the article they say, we’re not sure we want to donate to a fund that’s going to be controlled by our competitors. I applaud them for that decision. That’s pretty crazy. And so when you sit back and think you have BP in I Equinor, Occidental, Shell, Total and UAE, all of that was 100 million u.s. put in 2 million. Germany put in 1.5 and Norway was one. Wow. [00:13:31][104.5]

In climate finance, we have to move from billions to trillions.

To get there, we need new sources of revenues.

New levies, green bonds and of course – carbon pricing.

And we need, more than ever, strong partnerships, like with Global Gateway.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 2, 2023

 

Michael Tanner: [00:13:33] Yeah. I mean, if you’re Exxon or Chevron, I think the you know, from their perspective, they’re doing all they I mean, if you don’t think Exxon and Chevron are not trying to on their own reduce emissions because they understand that if they make it that if they reduce emissions and produce sustainable oil and gas, it’s the best of both worlds. They’re probably spending more than 25 million to lower their emissions. So the fact that they have to now put it up is probably where they’re like, well, we don’t need you know, we don’t just need to just lose 25 million when we’re already doing it. [00:14:09][35.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:14:09] I applaud them for that. Absolutely. And where I they were in there and Exxon said they join the pledge, but we’re going to give our expertise and what we’re already doing, Michael. I applaud them for standing up. We‘ve got to have more of that kind of thing in our great. Chevron and Exxon are doing better than my buddy Putin, you know, and you sit back and kind of go, eh, you know, Gazprom is leaking like a sieve. I mean, that’s like me in a Speedo. I’m leaking everywhere. [00:14:42][32.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:14:44] Okay, That’s on that lovely note. [00:14:45][2.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:14:46] That oil CEO’s blaming the energy industry for climate crisis is like blaming farmers for obesity. I love it. The oil companies are fighting back. I think this is great. The chief executive of the UAE based energy firm Crescent Petroleum said Tuesday that blaming the oil and gas industry for the climate crisis is like blaming farmers for obesity. I got really to go through. It is when you sit back and take a look at Dubai. He goes, here’s a quote out of it. Now, we need we still need oil and gas throughout the transition. And there’s no scenario or even the most ambitious scenario that that does not include that. They are right. The secretary general, Antonio Guterres, announcement that it was a step in the right direction. Again, you’ve heard me say this a lot. Saudi Arabia is investing billions in hydrogen. They’re you know, they’re trying to go green, but they’re funding it with oil and gas. What happened about Texas? We got more solar and wind than anybody else. We’re half the price. If you want to do it, you got to have oil and gas. [00:16:10][84.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:16:11] Yeah, absolutely. But but remember, our friends over at the International Energy Agency, the IEA, remember they said last month that the fossil fuel industry faces a, quote, moment of truth about their role in the global energy system and climate crisis. So I don’t know what this moment of truth is doing. Maybe we might have we might have a moment of silence for this moment of truth. Well, that’s okay. That’s that’s about as seriously as they took it with everything. You copy? Oh, yeah. I hate to say it. We got to do this next article, Stu. [00:16:40][28.8]

Stuart Turley: [00:16:41] Oh, I know. This is absolutely a hoot when. When you play this, we’re going to have our Ms.. Producer pull this in. And I had it here just a second in the world. [00:16:54][13.0]

Video Clip: [00:16:54] I find myself getting more and more militant because I do not understand how adults who are in position of responsibility can be avoiding responsibility for taking away those that are killing people on a daily basis. [00:17:07][12.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:08] And and the reality is here. [00:17:10][1.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:17:11] How do we claim. [00:17:12][1.4]

Video Clip: [00:17:12] A crisis and health crisis. [00:17:14][1.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:15] And we. [00:17:16][0.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:17:16] Don’t know who it is? Well, we can only imagine. You probably had a little bit of mayo, and it’s not gonna leave me, are you? Be the judge. [00:17:22][5.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:22] Listen, o adults who are in. [00:17:24][1.6]

Video Clip: [00:17:24] Positions of responsibility going to be avoiding responsibility for taking away those things that are killing people on a daily basis. And the reality is. [00:17:33][9.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:17:34] You heard it right. That’s 34 seconds and the funniest thing I have heard it. Yeah, that’s 34 seconds, Michael. The funniest thing I’ve heard a long time and then you see it. I swear it looked like Ursula, but it was not. It was somebody that just they cut to a girl and she goes, Yeah. It’s Texas Commissioner slams Biden’s onerous methane rules that Increase Oil and gas. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian I’m going to reach out to him and get him on here. Issued a statement regarding the methane rules, those methane rules we covered in this week already, and that was based off of the Clean Air Act. And they are onerous in on the presently horrible you know, the listen to this. While the cost for a hardworking Americans are up $11,000 this year from the gas pump to the grocery store. His Biden’s solution to inflation is increased regulations that will make it even more expensive, says Christian Petroleum, helps make more than 96% of everyday consumer items are. [00:19:00][86.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:02] I again with every rule. Chevron and Exxon would never admit this, but they love when the EPA does stuff like this because it makes it drives all of their competitors out of business because they are one of the few companies that have the scale to be able to handle owners regulations. Big business loves regulation. Don’t remember that when they do this, they’re only hurting the small producers. [00:19:28][25.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:29] That’s 50% of the oil produced in the U.S. is with the small producers, though. [00:19:35][5.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:36] Hey, that’s my point. So they’re there. They’re going they’re doing the kill shot. Exxon’s going to be fine. We’ll cover them later. They’re going to be fine. But you got to spend a little bit more on mathematics. They’ll be fine. You know who won’t be fine? Like you said, the other 50%. So it’s clear this the second order effects as we talk about. They’re not thinking about. [00:19:55][19.1]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:56] No. So anyway, that one kind of got me a little worked up to I’m with Christianson. [00:20:02][6.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:20:03] Good for Wayne Christianson. I, you know, am I, you know, do I think he’s the you know, I I’ve heard some stuff on him specifically that he he too may be in bed to close with big business. So, you know, I’ll ask he will ask him will ask him. I’ve you know, we got to get him on the podcast here. But at least he’s attempting here to stand up. Good for Wayne Christian for. [00:20:03][0.0][1155.2]

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The post Daily Energy Standup Episode #266 – Weekly Recap: Unpacking EPA Regulations, COP28 Hypocrisy, and Texas Commissioner’s Stand Against Onerous Rules appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Is Xcel Energy holding back substation capacity from solar developers? It’s complicated.

Energy News Beat

​Clean energy advocates believe technical restrictions imposed by Xcel Energy are curtailing the expansion of solar energy in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association and a group of more than 20 developers, clean energy organizations and individuals filed a complaint in September (E-999/CI-16-521) with the Public Utilities Commission arguing Xcel’s “technical planning limit” violates state law and reduces the ability of Xcel customers to benefit from solar.

Last March, Xcel began limiting use of its substations to 80% of the equipment’s rated capacity. The company has argued in filings to regulators that it needs a 20% reserve margin for safety and reliability as it manages fluctuations from the increasing number of solar installations on its system.

The solar advocates argue the margin is too high. They say Xcel has not presented evidence that occasionally operating substations at full capacity poses a challenge.

The debate comes down to substation technology, grid reliability and whether Xcel has the authority to impose a capacity limit without regulatory approval.

Substations serve an essential role on the grid, receiving electricity generated from different sources and standardizing it to distribute to customers on the grid. They do the equivalent of keeping the trains — in this case electricity — running on time and without failure.

Before instituting the new margin rule, Xcel ran substations at full capacity whenever needed, Xcel spokesperson Theo Keith said. But with the rise of variable generation, “that century-old practice has become much more complex,” he said.

“Now, we need to manage the distribution system for both variable generation and load while introducing significant two-way power flows. As we’ve come to appreciate these complexities, we implemented the 20% operational and reliability margin to ensure safety and reliability based on system modeling results and best practices.”

Critics say the limit is hurting clean energy production. Research by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council concludes that it will reduce Minnesota’s solar energy capacity by 2.5 to 3 gigawatts, or the equivalent of several power plants. Logan O’Grady, executive director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association, said his members believe the rule is bad for business.

“They’re telling us this is severely restricting the deployment of solar in Minnesota,” he said.

O’Grady said that the rule dampens the spread of clean energy as the state prepares to achieve 100% carbon-free energy by 2040. Minnesota saw 78 megawatts of solar installed last year, a number expected to drop this year, due to a long queue of projects waiting on approvals and a congested grid. A good portion of the state’s 1.9 gigawatts of solar were built from 2016 to  2019, with numbers declining since.

The buffer comes at a time when Xcel continues to struggle with a congested grid. In October, Xcel reported to regulators that 22% of substations are “capacity constrained,” along with 4% of its “feeder,” or  distribution lines. Those lines connect substations to customers they serve. The lack of capacity at substations has put on hold nearly 200 rooftop and 57 community solar projects.

How substations work

University of Minnesota Duluth electrical engineering instructor Scott Norr explained that transmission lines carry hundreds of thousands of volts of direct current electricity to substations. The substations step it down to alternate current to transmit it via distribution lines to customers.

The system works well even when a significant generator like a power plant goes offline, but intermittent electricity sources such as solar can cause stress, he said.

Norr said that bigger solar producers push hundreds of kilowatts onto distribution lines connected to substations that can be managed by electrical technology equipment.

But when solar output suddenly drops due to clouds, so does the line voltage, requiring the substation to make adjustments to balance loads in a process that takes several minutes. That can cause voltage drops for customers along the distribution lines. Cloudy days could mean constantly shifting those settings, he said, or “tap ratios” as the industry calls them.

“Low voltage means your lights get dim, your clothes take longer to dry and your refrigerator works way too hard to maintain a cool temperature,” he added. “Low voltage is especially hard on motors such as pumps, fans, and compressors.”

Norr likened the electrical system to the water system. The city’s water network is the equivalent of a transmission grid, and the pipes in the home serve as distribution lines.

Water enters the home at a high pressure, which a valve — the equivalent of a transformer — reduces pressure so water doesn’t spray at high volume. If a homeowner adds their own onsite well — equivalent to a solar array in the analogy — the same valve has to adapt to adjust water flowing unexpectedly from the customers, but at a much faster speed than a transformer does with electricity.

Norr said a solution for utilities someday will be the ability to draw electricity from electric cars and other grid-connected batteries to balance variations in  solar generation. Utilities such as Xcel also have demand response programs that allow them to drop power to customers who agree to participate and in return for less expensive electricity. That might help restore some of the reserve margin, he said.

Is regulatory oversight required?

The solar advocates have asked the Public Utilities Commission to rule whether Xcel can impose the measure without regulatory oversight. The attorney general’s office and Commerce Department agree the imposition of the technical planning limit warrants an investigation, and that the Public Utilities Commission, under Minnesota law, has the authority to review Xcel’s interconnection practices.

The attorney general pointed out that a March 2022 commission order was unclear whether Xcel could use the technical planning limit without its approval. “Resolving whether Xcel had — or whether any other similarly situated utility would have — the authority to implement such a broad limitation is of vital importance to the future of [distributed energy resources] in Minnesota,” the attorney general’s office wrote.

Other states are dealing with the issue. Virginia regulators recently denied interconnection parameters Dominion Energy had begun using without their approval. The utility argued the parameters provided reliable and safe operations, but the Virginia Distributed Solar Alliance contended the limitations created “substantial new costs” to projects. Xcel points out Duke Energy and a handful of states use the same technical limitations.

O’Grady said he hopes the Public Utilities Commission agrees Xcel should not be able to “unilaterally impose something so restrictive on the system,” a move he claims is less about safety and more about slowing “the deployment of clean energy not owned by the utility.”

He said Xcel has not provided data illustrating why and how a substation would function less efficiently by operating beyond 80% capacity. “I’ve asked the utility for data on why it thinks it needs to reserve,” he said. “I don’t think it’s 20%. I haven’t seen anything that shows me that that is what we need for safety, reliability, or whatever. It differs probably throughout the grid, but 5% might be more reasonable.”

Curtis Zaun, the solar association’s policy and regulatory affairs director, said Xcel is operating equipment at 80% of its capacity even though its manufacturers has established a limitation that it believes does not impair safety or reliability.

“Running something at 100% of its equipment rating is totally fine — that’s why it has that equipment rating because you can run it at 100%,” Zaun said.

“This is probably one of the biggest energy issues that Minnesota has been facing from the context of whether it can forge a clean energy future but also the PUC’s role in regulating utilities,” Zaun said.

In response to the petition by solar advocates, Xcel said in a statement that the Public Utilities Commission decided in January 2022 it had “the authority to use planning standards to ensure the safety and reliability of the system.”

Xcel also argued that its 20% reserve margin fell with industry norms and offered more flexibility than other utilities. When delivering electricity to customers, Xcel does not use the full capacity of lines, holding back 25% of their rated capacity. It considered the same percentage for substations but dropped it to 20% so “more distributed solar can connect to the grid,” Keith said.

Xcel suggested wiggle room for modifying the reserve margin to add small solar systems. Earlier this year, the Legislature requested that the utilities commission begin a proceeding requiring the interconnection process to move systems under 40 kilowatts ahead of larger ones in the queue.

Interstate Renewable Energy Council attorney Sky Stanfield said the interconnection process Xcel had used for years allowed for greater capacity than the 20% reserve margin. She said that Xcel did not present much evidence to the Public Utilities Commission in a January 2022 meeting that higher capacity at substations had caused outages or other issues.

Stanfield said IREC understands Xcel’s goal of safety and reliability but believes such a blanket restriction does not consider the difference in substations and circuits. The interconnection process often involves studies of how solar generators will impact areas of the grid, she said, and that should inform planning limitations rather than a blanket restriction.

“Our preferred approach is that they do it on a more case-by-case basis,” she said. “Even if they want to adopt a broader standard, something that’s more transparent and which we typically support, something this broad and this conservative is overdone.”

The Public Utilities Commission will hear arguments Dec. 14 on whether to investigate the solar advocates’ complaint.

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Americans making billions at the cost of Ukrainian lives – Kremlin

Energy News Beat

The US Secretary of State has boasted that 90% of Ukrainian military aid is spent within the US economy

Kiev needs to understand that Washington earns billions on the war in Ukraine while ordinary Ukrainians die, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference on Friday.

He spoke a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that the overwhelming majority of Kiev’s monetary aid had been spent in the US. “90% of the security assistance we’ve provided has actually been spent here in the United States with our manufacturers,” he said at a briefing alongside UK Foreign Minister David Cameron. “So this has also been a win-win that we need to continue.”

Asked to comment on the statement, Peskov said that the US earns billions from the conflict, and that Ukraine needs to understand it. “They aren’t the main concern for the US,” the spokesman remarked, “the main concern for the US was always themselves, even at the cost of a large number of Ukrainian lives.”

The US has pledged more than $100 billion in aid, including military equipment, since the start of Moscow’s military operation in February 2022 – more than any of Ukraine’s other sponsors.

Blinken’s statement on the benefits to the US military-industrial complex echo Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin’s remarks at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California last week. “$50 billion of our supplemental budget request would flow through our defense industrial base,” to replenish the arms stocks depleted from being used to supply Ukraine, the US defense secretary declared.

He summed it up as “the most ambitious modernization effort in nearly 40 years.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested on X (formerly Twitter) that the US is not motivated by a desire to help Ukraine, but rather by “the enormous profit that the companies close to the Biden administration get from it.” 

Meanwhile, a lack of success at the front has only increased Kiev’s pleas for more funding. At the US Institute of Peace on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, warned that delaying US military aid exposes Kiev to a “big risk to lose this war.”

The administration of US President Joe Biden has been wrestling with Republican lawmakers in the past few weeks to push through another supplemental budget request of $111 billion, of which more than half is intended for Ukraine.

After the budget request was blocked in the Senate, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had to admit in a press conference that the White House could not offer any assurances to Kiev. “We’re not in a position to make that promise to Ukraine, given where things are on the Hill,” he said.

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Russian Arctic Center strikes unlikely partnership

Energy News Beat

An agreement has been reached to exchange employees and graduates, offer joint training, and build expedition teams

The Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Studies (FECIAR), the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Geography (IGRAS), will cooperate on polar research with the University of Toamasina in Madagascar, the center’s director, Ivan Bolotov, told TASS on Thursday.

According to Bolotov, an agreement has been signed with the university – the first partner of FECIAR in Africa. The collaboration will involve discussing water bodies for research on continental drift, the effects of climate change, and training in genetic research techniques.

“The Center has concluded a cooperation agreement with the University of Toamasina, Madagascar. For FECIAR, this is the first partner university in Africa, the first agreement we have concluded with an African university. The agreement was signed on the exchange of employees, graduate students, on joint training, expeditions. We have several directions of joint work,” Bolotov said.

Freshwater invertebrates, specifically Naiad mollusks, will be the focus of the collaboration. The research goal is an understanding of the role divergent continental plates played in the formation of flora and fauna in different parts of the world.

“It is interesting to see how the freshwater mollusks that live in Madagascar correlate evolutionarily with those that live in Africa and those that live in India nowadays,” Ivan Bolotov explained.

The most up-to-date information about the Naiad in these reservoirs goes back over a century.

The Arctic Center is in the process of collaborating with other partners in Africa, Bolotov added. In Morocco, Russian scientists are already working with colleagues to improve clam systematics. Moreover, Russian experts are keen on studying the significant rivers of the continent.

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AfD designated ‘extremist’ in third region

Energy News Beat

Security services in Saxony claim the party is “undoubtedly” pursuing an anti-constitutional agenda

Authorities in the German region of Saxony have designated the local branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extremist group.e The move follows similar decisions in Thuringia and Sachsen-Anhalt, while the party is accused of being a “suspected case” of right-wing extremism at the federal level.

The AfD registered 18.4% of the vote in the Hesse regional election in October, its best ever performance in a western German state, and far ahead of its rivals in the country’s ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition. It has also enjoyed growing support in its traditional eastern strongholds, with a recent Spiegel poll putting it in first place with 32% of the vote in the former German Democratic Republic.

Critics have accused the AfD of pursuing xenophobic and anti-Muslim policies, accusations that the party denies.

On Friday, the president of the Saxon branch of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Dirk-Martin Christian, stated that “there are no more doubts as to the right-wing extremist orientation of AfD Saxony.” The authorities reached their conclusion after monitoring the party’s local section closely for the past four years.

The legal status means that the BfV can now deploy surveillance and intelligence means to gather information about the AfD’s activities without restriction.

The security service further claimed that the organization “pursues an anti-constitutional agenda,” citing statements by senior members of the Saxony AfD branch. Christian in particular referenced the AfD branch’s stance on immigration, which he characterized as “so-called ethno-pluralism.

According to [the AfD’s position], the acquisition of German citizenship would be determined exclusively by ethnic-biological as well as cultural criteria,” the official claimed.

Christian also accused Saxon AfD leaders of publicly defaming migrants, especially Muslims.

In addition, the AfD branch was accused of using veiled anti-Semitic cliches and engaging in the “general vilification of our democracy” by “publicly defam[ing] state institutions as well as their representatives.

The AfD garnered 27.5% of the vote during the last regional election in Saxony in 2019.

Following an unprecedentedly strong showing in regional elections in the state of Hesse and Bavaria in October, the AFD’s co-leader Alice Weidel proclaimed that the political force was “no longer an eastern phenomenon, but has become a major all-German party.

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EU may allow member states to ban Russian gas – FT

Energy News Beat

The EU may allow member states to unilaterally end gas imports from Russia, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing draft legislation.

According to the document, the measure would give any member state the power to “partially or, where justified, completely limit” or block Russian and Belarusian companies from buying capacity in European pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

The legislation is expected to be approved by representatives of member states and the European Parliament later on Friday. According to a senior EU official, the measure would allow the bloc’s energy companies to terminate contracts with Russian gas suppliers without paying compensation.

EU sanctions imposed on Russia by Brussels over the Ukraine conflict do not target Russian gas supplies directly. However, due to various other restrictions and the general drive within the bloc to cut dependence on Russian energy, Russian gas flows to the region have dropped significantly over the past 22 months. While the sanctioned country covered around 40% of the bloc’s gas needs prior to February 2022, in the third quarter of 2023, it supplied only around 12% of the EU’s total gas imports, according to statistics agency Eurostat.


READ MORE:
EU countries buying record volumes of Russian LNG

The EU plans to completely phase out energy imports from Russia by 2027. However, many member states still greatly rely on gas flows from the sanctioned country – particularly Austria and Hungary. Last month, Russian LNG exports to the bloc hit the highest level in history – 1.75 million tons, with Spain and Belgium among the largest importers.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

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What’s really behind Biden’s threat to send Americans to fight Russia

Energy News Beat

The US president’s tough talk is laying the ground to blame Republicans for “losing Ukraine”

The president of the United States has caused a stir. Speaking to Congress, Joe Biden brought up the possibility of “American troops fighting Russian troops.

Biden, of course, has repeatedly had problems staying on script or keeping his thoughts straight, resulting in embarrassing gaffes, such as calling his Vice President Kamala Harris a “great president” or mixing up Ukraine and Iran.

However, in this case, his delivery was reasonably coherent. His statement was deliberate, and he even repeated it to make sure his audience fully appreciated its gravity.

No wonder it raised eyebrows. A war between America and Russia, would feature the two largest – by far – of the world’s nine nuclear powers. And others, such as Great Britain or China, for instance, could be drawn in as well because such a conflict would easily turn into a world war. Even the conventional arsenals of Washington and Moscow would guarantee devastation, at least in Europe and probably elsewhere, too.

Yet it is important to understand the context of Biden’s remarks and to be precise about what he said – and what he did not say.

Regarding the context, the American president is on the defensive, not so much against Russia as against the Republicans. They are steadfastly refusing to pass a spending bill that is mostly a vehicle to transfer yet another whopping $61 billion of aid to Ukraine. That would come on top of a current – as of October – total of $116 billion already approved by the American Congress in response to the war in Ukraine.

The opposition to releasing more funding has more than one reason. Republicans are explicit about the fact that they are using the administration’s request as leverage. They want concessions to their ideas about hardening America’s borders against immigration. Since the White House will not play ball, Republicans will no longer cooperate on money for Ukraine. In that sense, this is just everyday politics: tough horse-trading cloaked in overblown rhetoric.

But that marks a momentous shift. The West’s proxy war in Ukraine used to be exempt from politics as usual, ideologically elevated to a plane of almost religious significance. Those days are well and truly over. Republicans clearly fear no electoral repercussions for treating this issue as just another bargaining chip. And they are right. Polls show declining support for the war among American voters. Even in August, a majority were already against spending more money on it. Among Republican voters, this position is preponderant.

No wonder Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has canceled his already scheduled remote appearance before Congress. He is no longer treated as special, and his pleas would have made no difference, leaving him with nothing but additional public humiliation.

At the same time, the demotion of the proxy war from a sort of holy war for Western “values” (whatever those may be) to a tradeable item could not have happened without the failure of Ukraine and its sponsors on the battlefield. The Republicans’ intransigence and Biden’s escalating rhetoric are the result of a real, realistic, and by now openly admitted sense that this is likely to be a lost cause.

This brings us back to the question of what exactly the American president has actually said. In essence, he has delivered two key points. One was his unfounded, if popular, guess – presented with the usual aplomb as certainty – that if Russia wins the war in Ukraine, it will inevitably go on to attack other countries. And since Biden also assumes that Moscow’s future targets would include NATO member states – clearly in Eastern Europe, in particular – he concluded that such a Russian attack would trigger America’s treaty obligation to fight Russia directly.

Of course, experts at least know that even NATO’s famed Article Five is not the hair trigger many believe it to be. In reality, according to the letter of the NATO treaty, member states do not automatically have to go to war when another member state is attacked. But it is a political fact that NATO’s real-world credibility rests on the idea that its members will defend each other militarily and without hesitation.

Hence, Biden’s warning that if Ukraine loses, America and Russia could end up at war both is and is not about Ukraine. It is, because Ukraine’s looming defeat is its trigger. It is not, because Biden has not threatened such a fight in or over Ukraine. Instead, he has not only made clear who Washington claims to be ready to defend by going to war with Moscow but also who it will not defend in that manner, namely Ukraine. For Kiev, this must be bitter. But it was predictable. The Zelensky regime allowed the West, led by the US, to use its country as a pawn – good enough to bleed profusely but not good enough for membership of the club. What Biden has said is simply a summary of that sad, cruel, and humiliating fact. In other times, Zelensky would have had only one honorable thing left to do. He’ll probably go for a golden exile instead.

On the surface, the American president seems to still try to avert Ukraine’s defeat. But that is deceptive, for two reasons. Biden’s talk may sound like an attempt to pressure the obstinate Republicans into finally coughing up the money to save the day. But, in reality, it is more likely that the president or those around him know that the day cannot be saved anymore. Hence, in reality, this warning is an early move in the blame game. Once Ukraine is defeated, the question “who lost Ukraine” will poison American politics, perhaps, depending on the precise timing of that defeat, even during a presidential election.

Biden is merely preparing the ground for blaming the Republicans for what will be the result of his administration’s arrogant high-risk policy. Will that work? Probably not outside Democratic true-believer circles.

And then, last and perhaps really least, there is a message to Washington’s NATO “partners” in Europe. “Yes,” it runs, “we are about to lose our signature proxy war against Russia; yes, everything went wrong, from economic sanctions (which made Russia stronger instead of weaker) to military support (which showed Moscow that Western tanks also “burn,” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s laconic terms); and yes, we have over-extended ourselves and revealed how weak we really are in every way possible. But please don’t worry. If push comes to shove, you – unlike Ukraine – are still safe because you – unlike Ukraine – are inside the club. For you, we would really, really fight. Honest.”

What a message, once unpacked. Even on its own terms, it reeks of despair and bluffing. And if it’s not a bluff, then what a promise: Don’t worry. If you are attacked, there will be World War Three.

The reality is that the Western gamble in Ukraine has done irreversible damage – to the West (apart from Ukraine, of course). NATO has dealt a crushing and probably lasting blow to its own credibility. The West’s – and really Europe’s and the world’s – real hope does not lie in American words about resolve. Ask in Kiev: they were fed the same “with-you-to-the-end” shlock. And Article Five cannot be relied on to make the difference, because the US will only ever consult its own – usually misguided – self-interest, and its NATO “allies” (vassals, really) would be naive to rely on it. Berlin even might; Paris, for instance, not so much. No, the world’s real hope lies in how silly Biden’s premise is. Moscow would be foolish to attack one European NATO member state after the other. And unlike the West, Russia recently has given very few signs of being foolish. It is, in other words, Russia’s rationality that a proxy-defeated NATO-Europe will have to rely on. How ironic.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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Orban explains why EU can’t accept Ukraine

Energy News Beat

The Hungarian leader warned that the bloc’s agricultural system would be destroyed if Kiev were allowed to join

Bringing Ukraine into the European Union would be a “bad decision,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban asserted in an interview with the news outlet Le Point published on Friday. The Hungarian government has opposed Kiev’s potential accession to the bloc.

Orban told Le Point that he was in favor of boosting cooperation with Ukraine but believes that support for the country should not extend to EU membership.

The Hungarian leader said that Ukraine is ”not ready” for accession talks, nor is the EU itself prepared to accept Kiev as a full-fledged member.

Orban said that despite the opinion of Brussels and The Hague, Hungary, as a country bordering Ukraine, “knows exactly what is happening” there and does not believe that Kiev has met four out of seven requirements to join the bloc, as was stated in a European Commission report.

“It is simply false. Ukraine is known to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It’s a joke,” said Orban.

The prime minister suggested that the EU wasn’t ready to have Ukraine join the bloc because France, for example, would have to pay an additional €3.5 billion to the common Union Budget – something he doubted the French people were willing to accept.

Orban also cautioned that Ukraine is a large country with a significant agriculture sector and that if it were to suddenly enter the EU agricultural system, “it would destroy it the next day.”

“Without transforming our agricultural subsidy system, we cannot let them in. The consequences will be terrible,” he said.

The Hungarian leader stressed that he would not be willing to budge on the question of Ukraine’s accession even if the European Commission offered to unblock the €10 billion in funds earmarked for Hungary that have been held frozen since December 2022.

Orban’s comments come as Brussels has been trying to initiate the process of adding Ukraine and Moldova as member states. The issue is expected to be brought up at a summit of EU leaders next week.

Hungary, however, has been calling for this to be scrapped from the agenda of the meeting. “The obvious lack of consensus would inevitably lead to failure,” Orban wrote in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel in which he vowed to block any negotiations on the matter of Kiev’s accession.

Slovakia has also objected to fast-tracking Ukraine’s membership, with Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar stating that Kiev could not hope to join the block while it was embroiled in a bloody conflict with Russia and has also yet to meet a list of preconditions.

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