Energy News Beat

A key provision in the EU’s AI rulebook to assess the risks of foundation models such as ChatGPT may become obsolete within a year due to the pace of developing technologies, experts told Euractiv.

The EU’s AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive rulebook to regulate artificial intelligence. It does so based on its capacity to cause harm. After years of intense negotiations, it got the final stamp of approval by the European Parliament with an overwhelming majority on Wednesday (13 March).

The AI Act distinguishes the risks posed by foundation models based on the computing power used to train them. Foundation models, also called general-purpose AI, are particularly powerful due to their myriad uses.

The law defines a threshold of 10^25 floating point operations per second (FLOPs), a measurement of the performance of a computer. AI products that exceed this threshold are deemed to bring “systemic risk” and are regulated more stringently.

Technology outpaces regulation

However, Dragoş Tudorache, an MEP who acted as co-rapporteur on the file, said that the rules may soon become obsolete.

“By the time the rules for foundation models become applicable [12 months from now] either there will be four or five big models that will pass this threshold […] or a new leap in technology [will bring down the computational requirements for powerful foundation models],” he told Euractiv.

Right now, likely only Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT models pass that threshold, Tudorache said.

In a separate interview with Euractiv, Oxford Internet Institute Professor of Technology and Regulation Sandra Wachter agreed with this assessment.

Recognizing the dizzying speed at which AI technology is developing, the AI Act comes with a certain amount of flexibility including when it comes to foundation models, said Tudorache.

The flops threshold “confuses compute with risk”, which are separate things, Wachter told Euractiv. Regardless of their size, these models have all sorts of risks around bias, misinformation, data protection and hallucinations, she said.

In the meantime, engineers in Silicon Valley and beyond are working to reduce the heavy computational lift, incentivised chiefly not by the AI Act, but by cost control.

Influential US venture capital firm a16z called the training of these models “one of the more computationally intensive tasks mankind has undertaken so far”. As such, companies are trying to bring down the massive costs associated with channelling that type of computing power.

The future of the threshold

The flops classification is considered only an initial step and can be reviewed by the Commission along with other definitions and categorisations of the AI Act. There is no pre-determined timeline for reviewing the flops criterion, it’s up to the Commission to do so through a delegated act.

However, the path to review will not be easy.

The inclusion of foundation models into the legislation was not initially envisioned, but became imperative with the explosion of ChatGPT in 2022. How to regulate them was a matter of tough contention, so much so that negotiations almost hit the brakes in November 2023 over this issue.

The part of the AI Act on foundation models “was a result of lobbying” and its impact is still unknown, Merve Hickok, president and research director of the Center for AI and Digital Policy, told Euractiv.

Source: Euractiv.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Hard-fought provision on the AI Act could become obsolete, experts say appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

While his father was still vice president, Hunter Biden and his business partners tried unsuccessfully to help a Chinese energy firm acquire one of the United States’ premier nuclear technology companies in a secret attempt to “control” the global market, according to new evidence turned over to Congress in President Joe Biden’s impeachment inquiry.

The evidence, which includes a detailed strategy memo, shows Hunter Biden was directly involved in emails and correspondence on the project in 2016 and that the goal was to exploit the future first son’s access to power and his family reputation to make Washington and Beijing comfortable with a potentially controversial deal and then to shield the acquisition of Westinghouse by China CEFC Energy behind intermediaries.

“In summary, utilising (sic) the U.S. face of Westinghouse, combined with the economic power of CEFC (China) is the perfect solution to control this global sector,” Hunter Biden partner James Gilliar wrote to CEFC in a strategy memo.

At the time, Westinghouse was U.S.-based but owned by Japan’s Toshiba and one of the darlings of the nuclear industry with its new AP1000 reactor, a smaller and more advanced power generator. But it privately was suffering financial strife due to cost delays and overruns at a planned nuclear power plant in Georgia that would eventually force the company to file for temporary bankruptcy protection.

Congressional investigators recently obtained new memos and testimony about the nature of the plan to help CEFC gain a larger foothold in the global nuclear energy market by acquiring Westinghouse. One of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, Rob Walker, told Congress the future first son was involved, providing a letter to make the Chinese comfortable with the plan.

Hunter Biden “had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” Walker explained to lawmakers.

Hunter Biden’s association with CEFC dating to late 2015 has been well-known for years, including emails suggesting his father might get a 10% stake in the firm and testimony that Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese company in early 2017 before nearly $8 million in money flowed from CEFC to companies tied to the Biden family.

But most of the evidence in public to date has focused on efforts by Hunter Biden and partners to help CEFC gain access to oil and gas assets and technology in the United States, including a liquid natural gas project in Louisiana known as Monkey Island.

The fact that Hunter Biden and his team were also working to affect a transfer of one of America’s premier nuclear energy tech companies to China has only recently come into clearer focus for investigators.

Lawmakers told Just the News that the story of CEFC fits a pattern that Hunter Biden was willing to take money from countries or companies adversarial to the United States, including helping them try to acquire prize assets like the Michigan-based Heninges firm that Just the News reported Hunter Biden helped sell to a Chinese firm tied to the People’s Liberation Army.

That transaction was deemed so sensitive – because Heninges produced windshield technology for U.S. fighter jets – it had to get special approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States during the Obama-Biden years.

“The Biden family was all about money,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “There was no sense of of honor or no sense of protection to the country. It was protect the brand, which was the Biden name. Joe Biden.

He added: “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen grifters more than the Biden family.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is leading the impeachment inquiry with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, said Wednesday that the Biden family’s close and lucrative relationship with China leaves Americans wondering whether foreign policy decisions today are being influenced today by business ties from the past.

“We’re very concerned. And when you look at the Biden administration, there’s no question in my mind that they’ve had a soft on China policy,” Comer said on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show. “And there are certain policy decisions that this administration has made that are counter to what any American would want with respect to foreign policy relating to China.”

Some of the evidence about CEFC’s pursuit of Westinghouse was secured from the laptop that Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop and was later seized by the FBI in December 2019. The FBI shortly thereafter authenticated the laptop.

Gilliar and his partners, Hunter Biden and Walker, discussed in one email a “CEFC / [Westinghouse]” deal, though the contours of the proposed agreement were unclear in that correspondence.

“Good to see a couple of weeks ago, further to our discussions we have prepared a deck for my visit to CEFC board on Monday in Beijing, It has been made clear to me that CEFC wish to engage in further business relations with our group and we will present a few projects to them,” Gilliar wrote to Jim Bernhard of Bernhard Capital in February 2016.

“I attach [sic] the decks and a covering [sic] letter that lay out the principals as I see of a Westinghouse play, we have been a little presumptuous that you wish to be included, but we hope so ?” he added.

Gilliar also made clear that Hunter Biden was intimately familiar with the proposed deal. “P.S Im  [sic] sure H can give you the heads up on the play if you need more details,” Gilliar wrote.

Attached to the email were two documents. One was a signed cover letter marked to be sent to CEFC China Energy, the energy conglomerate that began courting Hunter Biden while his father was finishing his last term as vice president. Some of the earliest communications with CEFC uncovered by the House Oversight Committee date to late 2015.

The cover letter mentioned by Gilliar, obtained by Just the News, sheds light on the extent of the planned deal, clearly detailing the scope of the team’s plan for helping CEFC acquire Westinghouse. This included facilitating CEFC’s dominance of the Chinese and global nuclear energy market and masking the acquisition behind firms that wouldn’t raise alarms in western capitals.

The letter shows Gilliar and team believed CEFC was uniquely positioned to acquire from Toshiba an ownership stake in the American nuclear company due to the Japanese conglomerate’s “market weakness” and the “indecision of the Japanese Nuclear industry.”

Gilliar highlighted how the Chinese market was highly dependent on international support by companies that use Westinghouse technologies. Additionally, China still had restrictions on the technologies that it could export. “The original license agreement with Westinghouse was only domestic,” Gilliar pointed out.

Yet, Gilliar and his team saw an opportunity for CEFC to fill an important role in the Chinese domestic nuclear market and around the world through the acquisition, and in the process, liberate China from its dependence on foreign nuclear technology.

“[If] CEFC owned Westinghouse, it would mean that every export of product in the future from Chinese EPC companies or manufacturers would have to go through CEFC,” Gilliar concluded.

Gilliar also prepared a report – marked “highly confidential” – that detailed the significance of a CEFC acquisition of Westinghouse. Just the News obtained a copy of that report.

“Westinghouse retains all the intellectual property (IP) rights and licenses for the AP1000 and CAP1000”—two nuclear reactor designs. “The design and/or licensing of the AP1000 is the most widely used in the world. Nearly all Asian designs borrow from Westinghouse IP and licensing,” Gilliar explained.

The group also saw this as an opportunity to bring together U.S. and Chinese interests by maintaining Westinghouse as a U.S.-based corporation, despite their plans to acquire an ownership stake by CEFC.

“Secondly, the international Nuclear markets are still massively influenced by the U.S. administration through licensing, oversight and operational prospective, they have nearly total dominance. By owning Westinghouse and retaining its U.S. status, CEFC would be the commanding influence on all international programmes and would align the U.S., Chinese and target country interests,” Gilliar explained in the cover letter.

This sentiment was echoed by Gilliar in his nearly 60-page confidential report obtained by Just the News which he prepared to sell the Chinese on the acquisition play.

“Furthermore, because the AP1000 is a U.S. design, Westinghouse has significant lobbying power in Congress,” he said. The group could exploit this lobbying power to support China as a “new entrant to the nuclear power market,” according to the report.

The documents make clear the team’s ambitions were nothing short of achieving a commanding influence for CEFC over the global nuclear power plant sector. “In summary, utilising the U.S. face of Westinghouse, combined with the economic power of CEFC (China) is the perfect solution to control this global sector,” Gilliar wrote CEFC.

There was just one problem: “It would be highly unlikely that Toshiba would sell Westinghouse to Chinese or Korean interests, certainly not for an attractive price,” one memo stated.

But Gilliar proposed a solution for CEFC: his company—the European Energy and Infrastructure Group—and Bernhard Capital Partners would “implement an acquisition structure” that would “create the correct support in Washington that guarantees CEFC to receive the right support and U.S. promotes for its operations.”

This plan would place the appearance of a layer between CEFC—a China-based company with close connections to the ruling Chinese Communist Party and component of its national energy strategy—and the iconic U.S.-based energy company.

Neither Walker nor Hunter Biden’s lawyers responded to a request for comment from Just the News. James Gilliar was unable to be reached for comment.

Westinghouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Just the News on Wednesday afternoon.

About one month after the letter and report, the group around Hunter Biden planned to signal to CEFC its ability to “create the correct support in Washington” by touting the Biden name, which came with its own deep political connections.

In March 2016, the group drafted a letter to be sent to CEFC’s director, Zang Jianjun, on behalf of Hunter Biden, whose name was prominently displayed on the letterhead “R. Hunter Biden” along with a Washington, D.C. address which is situated nearly equidistant from his father’s then vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory and his official offices in the White House complex.

This draft letter was previously released by the Oversight Committee, however, the new context of the proposed Westinghouse deal adds greater significance to the communication.

“I hope this letter finds you well. We anticipate working together on a number of opportunities in the US and abroad,” Hunter Biden wrote. “I believe we have presented a collection of projects that parallel the interests of you and your team and we look forward to discussing them in detail,” he continued.

To show how closely Hunter Biden and James Gilliar were aligned on the matters he had discussed with the company, he added: “As we await your next visit to the United States, please continue to coordinate all matters with my confidant and trusted advisor, James Gilliar.”

The other partner in the Biden group, Walker, told congressional investigators in his sworn testimony last month that the group used Hunter Biden’s letterhead as a “calling card” to signify who they represented.

“I think what is common with U.S. companies working with individuals abroad, those individuals tend to — they don’t — they aren’t taken seriously unless they have a calling card like this,” Walker said. “[This] is just normal, customary business practice.”

“But why use Hunter Biden to send the letter instead of Rob Walker or James Gilliar, especially if James Gilliar had the original relationship?” congressional investigators asked. “Hunter in our relationship was — everybody had different roles. He was the one that I imagine Zang would expect it to come from,” Walker answered.

Walker also told investigators the CEFC representative viewed the vice president’s son as the “principal” of the organization.

“I can’t answer for Zang, but sure, he had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” Walker said of Hunter Biden.

In 2015, Hunter Biden’s company Bohai Harvest RST (BHR) was involved in facilitating the sale of a Michigan-based auto parts manufacturer—Henniges Automotive—to one of the primary military aircraft producers in China, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China or AVIC.

The 2015 acquisition and approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—which reviews national security impacts of foreign investment—came a little more than a year after the the Obama Administration added AVIC to the Commerce Department blacklist because of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, in part using AVIC-built military aircraft, Just the News previously reported.

The timing of the transaction raised conflict of interest concerns in Congress, considering AVIC’s smooth acquisition of the parts manufacturer whose technologies had military applications. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter in 2019 to then-Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin seeking records related to the CFIUS approval of the deal in light of his concerns.

Hunter Biden would also later work closely with a company which entertained purchasing fuel through Rosneft—the Russian state-owned oil company—at a time when CEFC China Energy was also exploring purchasing a stake in the Russian company.

According to emails obtained from Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hudson West III (HWIII), a joint venture established between Hunter Biden and CEFC, explored an agreement with Trade Group to import fuel to the United States purchased from Rosneft.

However, Hunter Biden expressed concerns about this plan, worried the transaction would be ensnared by U.S. sanctions on Russia. “I would like for us all to take a step back and get answers to questions that are bothering me. First and foremost is Roland’s seemingly unilateral and last-minute decision to purchase the fuel offshore through Roseneft. How did Roland acquire that relationship?” Biden asked his HWIII associates.

“As far as I know it’s not through us and until I see the necessary documentation from the US Department of Energy that states resellers can and do circumvent the sanctions on Russian oil and gas I want nothing to do with it,” he added.

Yet, at the same time that Biden expressed concerns about running afoul of Russian sanctions, his Chinese partner was exploring a purchase of a $9.1 billion stake in Rosneft. In fact, Hudson West III was formed on the same day CEFC announced its intent to buy the approximately 14% stake in the Russian-owned enterprise.

According to a Senate report, “On the same day that the impending Rosneft deal was announced, Hunter Biden and Gongwen Dong, a Chinese national who has reportedly executed transactions for limited liability companies controlled by Ye Jianming, applied to a bank and opened a line of credit under the business name Hudson West III LLC.”

Hudson West III LLC would be the primary vehicle that CEFC and its chairman, Ye Jianming, would use to transfer funds to the younger Biden, totaling at least $5 million from 2017-2019, according to the first son’s now-defunct plea agreement with the Justice Department for a failure to pay at least $1.4 million in income taxes.

Source: Justthenews.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Hunter Biden, partners aided Chinese bid to corner nuclear energy market with U.S. tech, memos show appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

​[[{“value”:”

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK), The University of British Columbia (UBC) and Queen’s University announced Wednesday the Don Lindsay Teck Award in Mining Engineering, comprised of two C$1 million endowments that will generate annual scholarships for students in mining engineering at both universities.

The Don Lindsay Teck Award contributes C$1 million to each of Canada’s two largest mining schools: the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at UBC and the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining at Smith Engineering at Queen’s. The endowments will generate annual renewable scholarships at each university, providing financial support for students pursuing mining studies.

The award, funded by Teck, was established in recognition of former CEO Don Lindsay’s contributions to the mining sector in Canada and internationally. During his 17-year tenure, Lindsay’s commitment to philanthropy and supporting the next generation of mining talent has left a mark on the mining sector.

The Mining Engineering award builds on the longstanding partnerships with the mining schools at UBC and Queen’s University, spanning decades and aligns with Teck’s commitment to increasing the pipeline of mining industry talent to strengthen the industry’s future.

“The Don Lindsay Teck Award in Mining Engineering will shape the next generation of mining engineers,” James Olson, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC, said in a media statement. “UBC is building the mining industry of tomorrow, which will leverage critical minerals to solve climate change. We extend our deepest gratitude to Teck for this endowment, and its immeasurable impact on education and research at UBC Engineering.”

“The C$1 million endowment will have a profound impact on the heart of Queen’s University: its students,” added Kevin Deluzio, Dean, Smith Engineering at Queen’s University. “Our partnership with Teck over the years has enriched programs, provided employment opportunities, and supported research, contributing significantly to the educational experiences for our students.”

“}]] 

The post Queen’s University, UBC, unveil C$2 million Don Lindsay Teck Award in mining engineering appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

​[[{“value”:”

Being put down or condescended to based on gender, and receiving offensive sexist remarks, remain common themes in Western Australia’s mining sector, the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Program Landmark Study shows.

The report was produced by the Centre for Transformative Work at Curtin University, whose researchers surveyed more than 2,500 workers and conducted in-depth interviews with 60 individuals to gain insights into their experiences with a focus on three critical areas – creating mentally healthy workplaces, building a culture of safety and respect, and preparing for workplace safety in future mining.

In detail, 41% of female mining workers reported they had experienced being put down or condescended to, while 34% reported receiving offensive sexist remarks such as suggesting that people of their sex are not suited for the kind of work they do.

Even though the study found that covert forms of sexual harassment such as sexism and misogyny are high, it also noted that sexual attention and sexual coercion are decreasing.

In addition to the prior, only four in 10 WA mining workers reported feeling satisfied with their jobs and nearly one in three said they were likely to try to find a new job with another employer in the next 12 months.

“Our research found one in three mining workers experiences emotional exhaustion regularly, indicating high levels of burnout. Disturbingly, covert forms of sexual harassment, including sexism and misogyny, persist,” MARS Program Landmark Study chief investigator, Sharon Parker, said in a media statement. “The negative impact of these experiences on mental health and well-being is evident, emphasizing the urgent need for change through improved work design, leadership and organizational culture.”

In Parker’s view, given that the mining sector constitutes 10% of the Western Australia workforce and plays a pivotal role in the state’s economy, this type of study is crucial.

Lead author Cheryl Yam said that while the findings acknowledge workplace culture was improving as companies pay more attention to reducing discrimination and harassment, a collective commitment is needed to achieve meaningful and lasting change in building a respectful workplace culture.

“The mining industry is a leader in physical safety. With the support and resources from the MARS Program, we are confident that the mining industry is well positioned to also be a leader in mental health and well-being,” Yam said. “Our research findings provide a roadmap for meaningful action to address and reduce covert forms of sexual harassment and create respectful workplaces to attract, retain and prevent harm to women and people in other minority groups.”

The study also highlighted that 30% of mine workers reported high or very high levels of psychological distress and 38% reported feeling burnt out at work.

Also, 16% of workers reported having experienced bullying (22% reported witnessing bullying) at least 2-3 times per month in the past six months.

On the positive side, most WA mine workers reported high levels of physical safety behaviours such as safety compliance and safety participation. Yet, underreporting of notifiable safety incidents and near misses continues to exist in the industry.

Finally, 60% of fly-in-fly-out mine workers reported being satisfied with their accommodation while 73% of male FIFO workers reported feeling physically very safe in their work-provided accommodation compared to 53% of female FIFO workers.

“}]] 

The post Covert forms of sexual harassment remain an issue in Western Australia’s mining industry – study appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

The post Copper price soars to 7-month high on China’s plans to cut output appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

(WO) – Axis Energy Services successfully deployed the oil and gas industry’s first fully electric well service rig on wells operated by Occidental. Axis’ EPIC RIG provides improvements in safety and efficiency, as well as the ability to run on grid power for reduced emissions and increased fuel flexibility. Axis’ EPIC RIG is currently reworking production wells for Occidental under a long-term contract in the Permian basin.

“The EPIC RIG is easily the biggest leap forward for well-service technology in decades,” said Axis CEO Ryan Phillips. “It’s deployment by Occidental signals the arrival of a new generation of well service rigs built for tomorrow’s oilfield.”

The EPIC RIG (Electric-Powered Intervention & Completion Rig) offers a broad array of advantages over traditional service rigs.

“Expanding electrification is integral to Oxy’s strategy because it contributes to emissions reductions, improves efficiency, creates cost-savings and leverages technology to accelerate our net zero goals,” said Bob Barnes, Senior Vice President of Operations at Oxy. “Of all the advantages of the EPIC RIG, we’re particularly excited about the different ways it can help us achieve our decarbonization goals.”

As the first service rig engineered around electric-powered drawworks, the EPIC RIG represents a major differentiation from traditional rigs with diesel-powered drawworks. The EPIC RIG VFD (variable frequency drive) electric motor not only delivers instant torque and smooth, consistent performance – it’s also more durable and requires less maintenance than a diesel engine, reducing downtime.

The switch to electric power has enabled Axis to reimagine the way a service rig operates. The dynamic braking system on the EPIC RIG replaces the traditional mechanical brake, the most common area for equipment-related NPT on a service rig. The EPIC RIG features a built-in PLC (programmable logic controller) system that works in conjunction with the Axis CORE data acquisition and analysis platform to give the rig operator precision control and enable automated safeguards that reduce manual actions and the potential for human error. The simplified design of the EPIC RIG minimizes mechanical processes and eliminates common failure points for increased reliability.

Additionally, the EPIC RIG VFD house can connect to the public power grid through a transformer, enabling operators to leverage renewable energy sources, eliminate emissions at the well site and save significantly on fuel costs. The EPIC RIG also has the flexibility to use a range of diesel alternatives, including field gas and natural gas, making it adaptable to remote locations and various conditions in the field.

In addition to the rig currently under contract with Occidental, Axis is developing two more EPIC RIGS for launch later this year. One will be a completion rig for frac plug drill outs.

“We are very excited to have teamed with Occidental to launch the first rig in our EPIC RIG buildout program,” said Phillips. “This is a milestone in our mission to move the well service industry forward by driving technological innovation.”

Source: Worldoil.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Oxy deploys “industry first” fully electric well service rig from Axis on Permian production wells appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Electricity in Taft, California costs 275% more than what electricity costs in Bullhead City, Arizona. While residents of Los Angeles and San Francisco may feel comfortably smug hundreds of miles away from the Kern County city, it is rare to get a side-by-side comparison of energy bills in neighboring states.

How could this be?

In March, 2023 the California Assembly jammed SBX1-2, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Gas Tax, through an expedited hearing, pretending that was enough exposure to the public, and debated the bill and voted on it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill.

Newsom’s Gas Tax also created a new panel of unelected bureaucrats with subpoena power, to investigate oil and gas companies, impose penalties, new costs and regulations, which would inevitably lead to gas shortages, rationing and price spikes. The bill created a new government agency to arbitrarily decide how much profit oil and gas businesses are allowed to make, disrupting California’s energy market and threatening the reliability of the state’s fuel supply,

Dave Noerr is the Mayor of Taft, and also has a home in Bullhead City, AZ. The electricity bills mentioned above are his. The Globe talked once again with Mayor Noerr about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s draconian SBX1-2, and the new agency it created to decide on oil/gas industry profits.

The Green Agenda

In addition to Gov. Newsom’s $310+ billion dollar budget and $75 million budget deficit, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal warned us last summer that the legislature is also advancing a $15 billion ‘Climate Bond’ to appear on the ballot sometime in 2024” – a Green Agenda climate tax.

The Green Agenda pushed by radical environmentalists in California is on steroids and is making food, cars, energy and homes unaffordable. The radical greenies are responsible for the no-forest management policies which ignite into California’s annual “wildfire season.” The radical greenies are responsible for the government created water shortage. The green agenda is planning to completely shut down the extraction of California’s wealth of natural resources – oil and natural gas.

And Governor Newsom is the Big Chief Greenie.

Mayor Noerr reported that in a meeting in McKittrick, CA in Kern County in 2019 after an oil seepage, Gov. Newsom said, “My bias is consistent” about the oil and gas industry. When they spoke after the meeting, Noerr asked the governor what he saw on his tour around McKittrick. Noerr said the governor answered by offering disclaimers: “I did not know that water comes out with oil extraction; I did not know there was heavy oil and light oil; I did not know heavy oil can be bagged and used…”

Noerr said Newsom is a slave to his bias, in spite of emerging facts. And “he’s a slave to his ego,” Noerr said. “He went in to the issue with his bias fully in tact.”

While Gov. Newsom was fairly conciliatory at the time, he did comment that oil and gas is our past, and renewables are the future.

Evidence of his bias is very clear when you observe Newsom’s appointees to the California Public Utilities Commission – all like-minded rabid environmentalists who equally share his bias and tow his party line. The CPUC commissioners set and accept electricity rates, and Newsom has appointed all five.

The CPUC says, “Our five Governor-appointed Commissioners, as well as our staff, are dedicated to ensuring that consumers have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates, protecting against fraud, and promoting the health of California’s economy.”

Noerr also addressed that Gov. Newsom bases the need for SBX1-2 on the high cost of oil and gas. But the high cost is because of Gavin Newsom and his policies, and are not in response to market drivers.

Mayor Noerr directed the Globe to the Energy Information Agency (eia.gov) and said going back to 2018, California paid 124% more for electricity than other states. In 2019, it grew to 139%; 2020 it was 131%; and in 2024 it is 140% – the cost of Californias energy and energy poverty. He said this rules out refiner margins.

Noerr showed me PG&E’s January 1, 2024 Annual Electric True-Up and said PG&E has raised energy prices 60% in the course of the last two years – and 23.8% in a single year. “That’s 10 times the CPI target for the feds to lower interest rates!” Noerr said.

As for electricity across the California/Arzona border differing by 275%, Noerr notes that Arizona isn’t exactly the lowest priced state for electricity in the U.S. He said Arizona ranks 25th – right in the middle of the pack.

The whole point of this conversation besides identifying the real culprits behind highest-in-the-nation oil and gas prices, and electricity prices, is this is where the poor, and in particular the working poor, are hit the hardest. As a percentage of their take-home income, they spend more on electricity and energy than anything else. And unaffordable energy bills can make a family homeless the moment they can’t pay the bill.

So after spending billions on housing for the 180,000 homeless drug addicted, mentally ill in the state – who still live on the streets – Noerr said the United Way identified 3 million families who can’t pay their utility bills – families driven to the edge of homelessness.

These high electricity and energy costs also drive up the costs of everything else, Noerr says – the cost to run a school, a grocery store, every mall, car dealer, doctor’s office – every business in the state is paying more for electricity, and passing the cost on to the consumers.

Gavin Newsom says oil and gas companies are “gouging” people. Yet Noerr says the governor is absolutely indifferent to the real hardships, as well as the real root causes.

Source: Californiaglobe.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Californians Paying 140% More For Electricity than Other States appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

State lawmakers voted for major cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions and massive buildouts of wind turbines, solar panels, power lines and batteries by 2030 without knowing how it would work, let alone what it would cost.

The 2019 bill, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, essentially wrote Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive branch a blank check, allowing every state agency to weigh climate concerns in every major decision and giving regulators the power to effectively eliminate emissions in nearly every corner of the economy.

With New York halfway to that 2030 deadline, the true cost of the program is coming into view — and it’s not pretty.

A state commission two years ago laid out a robust plan for banning gas appliances, heating nearly every home with electricity and mandating other major changes over the next three decades.

It made a surprising claim: This “deep decarbonization” of the economy wouldn’t just cover its own costs; it would produce $115 billion to $130 billion in “net benefit.”

It was too good to be true.

Peeling back officials’ creative accounting revealed, for one thing, they assumed and counted financial benefits for humanity (not just New Yorkers) of lowered emissions.

Key parts were made on overly optimistic if not flat-out-bad assumptions.

Drilling deeper revealed officials expect New Yorkers to incur $4.9 trillion in new expenses between 2020 and 2050 because of the act, offset by $4.3 trillion in “avoided” spending on things like heating oil and furnaces.

The difference — around $600 billion — represents the added cost for families and businesses to comply with the law.

Those costs will come in the form of higher fuel prices (a new tax is planned for fuel purchases next year), higher electricity rates (through which residents are already paying for new wind and solar projects upstate) and higher property taxes (as local governments and schools have to comply), to name a few.

The $600 billion figure also assumes the state can hit its targets, both for costs and savings.

But state government has a terrible track record on predicting the future and keeping things on budget.

Officials failed, among other things, to predict the recent popularity of natural gas, which reduced both emissions and energy prices.

If new climate-law costs run 5% higher and offset costs run 5% lower, the price tag surges to more than $1 trillion over the 30-year period.

These figures seem farcically large, but imagine replacing most downstate power plants with enough batteries to power the city and suburbs for four days at a time — as the climate act requires.

What data the state have published put that cost alone north of $100 billion, even with battery prices dropping by half between now and 2040.

Adding the costs of replacing the heating systems of nearly every New York home and building (and upgrading the insulation) pushes things further into the billions.

What’s worse, state agencies are putting New York on the hook for tens of billions of dollars over the next quarter-century through subsidy agreements with offshore-wind and power-line developers.

The law requires utilities to pass those costs to electricity customers (and regulators have said they can’t be shown on electric bills).

And the state still hasn’t said how high electric bills will climb when they’re done cutting these deals.

New York could still reduce emissions through a less expensive and more predictable process if state lawmakers get back behind the wheel.

Legislators, not bureaucrats, can and should be making decisions about what taxes and policies Albany uses to tackle emissions.

As the Empire Center explains in a new report, there are many ways senators and assemblymembers can put guardrails around the climate law to prevent what are becoming clear threats to electricity’s affordability and reliability — and to New York’s economic health — without giving up on the state’s climate goals.

The law’s proponents embraced its self-executing nature because it would force unpopular, disruptive and even dangerous policies to deliver lower emissions no matter what.

They think the best thing would be for lawmakers to do nothing and allow the process to run its course.

Source: Nypost.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post The costs to New Yorkers of Cuomo’s crazy climate law keep rising appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Leaked documents from the emails of Russian politicians show that the Kremlin, through Russian and Belarusian companies, had full control over the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline through Bulgaria from 2019-2021, despite then-Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s claims that the project was under the Bulgarian government’s control, Capital reported.

Capital published leaked documents from the Russians’ emails about the road map for the construction of the Turkish Stream.

The gas pipeline, which runs through Bulgaria, transports Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary. As previously reported by Euractiv, the Turkish Stream will remain the only pipeline carrying Russian gas to the EU from the beginning of 2025.

Documents have been leaked from the hacked email of Russian politician Alexander Babakov, who has been sanctioned several times since 2014 for Russian aggression in Ukraine and has been named as one of the people who organised the secret funding of political formations in several countries. There are also leaked documents from the email of Yevgeny Zobnin, Babakov’s assistant.

The documents show that in the 2018-2020 period, during the last GERB government, Russia took full control of the entire project, Capital reported.

The Bulgarian authorities first held a tender for the gas pipeline construction, which was won by the Saudi consortium Arkad in early 2019. The deal will be finalised on 14 October 2019 during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia.

An agreement was reached to transfer control of the gas pipeline project through Bulgaria from the Saudi consortium Arkad to the Russian side by appointing subcontractors.

On 18 November 2019, a binding management agreement was signed between the Russians and the Saudi consortium. Russia paid the Saudis $50 million first and then another $35 million as compensation.

In 2020, Russian and Belarusian companies started building a pipeline in Bulgaria. They were approved by the Bulgarian state company Bulgartransgaz, which owns the gas infrastructure in the country, writes Capital.

In the tender documents, Arkad did not list any subcontractors, which means that the participation of the Russian and Belarusian companies was politically approved by the Bulgarian authorities, the media added.

The continuation of the gas pipeline was built extremely quickly during the third GERB government under Borisov. This route was implemented much faster than the inter-system gas connection between Bulgaria and Greece, contributing to the real diversification of gas sources for the Bulgarian economy.

Euractiv asked the Commission whether the leak confirms the suspicion that the rules for concluding contracts were grossly violated and everything was rigged for Gazprom and Russia’s geopolitical plans. It was also asked whether EU rules had been broken and, if so, what the consequences would be.

The Commission said it had not received any complaints and was not currently investigating them.

“In accordance with EU rules and the principle of transparency, the public procurement notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26.12.2018 under number 2018/S 248-574577 and published in TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)”, the response of the Commission says adding that the Bulgarian Bulgartransgaz has also published other tender documents on its website.

Source: Euractiv.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Leaked documents reveal Kremlin control over Turkish Stream pipeline construction through Bulgaria appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

The post Oil prices up 3% to 4-month high on US crude stock drop, Russian refinery attacks appeared first on Energy News Beat.