Tag: energy prices

Commentary: Electrification Without the Infrastructure

RealClearWire
Electrical Grids

As state and federal policies mandate the electrification of virtually all end uses to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. For example, 18 states have adopted California’s Advanced Clear Car II rules requiring increasing percentages of new vehicle sales to be EVs, reaching 100% for the 2035 model year. In 2019, New York City enacted Local Law 97, which requires all residential buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to convert to electricity by 2035. Other states, such as New Jersey seek to convert all residential heating to electricity.

Together, mandates for electric vehicles (EVs) and electrification of space and water heat will likely double electricity consumption and peak demand. Coupled with policies that mandate supplying the nation’s electricity with zero-emissions resources, notably intermittent wind and solar power, not only will electricity prices continue to increase but the ability to meet consumers’ increased demand will become more problematic.

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Report: Biden has Taken over 200 Actions Against U.S. Oil

The Center Square
Oil Drilling

President Joe Biden and his administration have taken over 200 actions against the U.S. oil and natural gas industry as energy prices have gone up, according to a new report. 

“President Biden and Democrats have a plan for American energy: make it harder to produce and more expensive to purchase,” the Institute for Energy Research states in a new report. “Since Mr. Biden took office, his administration and its allies have taken over 200 actions deliberately designed to make it harder to produce energy here in America.”

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BlackRock CEO Hails High Energy Prices for ‘Accelerating’ Green Transition

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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during a forum at the Clinton Global Initiative that increased energy prices are “accelerating” the transition to “green” energy.

“Because of the rising energy prices, we are certainly seeing the green premium shrink quite considerably. And so, the amount of investment dollars that are going into new decarbonization technology is accelerating, and accelerating very rapidly,” Fink told former President Bill Clinton.

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Georgia Democrat Labor Groups Express Opposition to Biden Energy Policies

Aaron Gulbransen

Several Georgia-based labor groups, which are traditionally Democrat in both endorsements and membership, have sent letters to the Biden administration urging them to change course on policies that have resulted in rising inflation and higher gas prices.

The Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists – Atlanta Chamber, and UFCW-Retail Wholesale and Department Store Unions have all sent letters to the Biden administration expressing their displeasure with current energy policies, expressing the plight of their membership in relation to inflation and fuel prices, and demanding a change of course.

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Another Key Inflation Indicator Surged to Highest Level Since 1983

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woman in a grocery aisle with a mask and backpack on

A key inflation indicator increased to its highest level in 38 years while consumer demand remained strong despite soaring prices, the Commerce Department announced Friday.

The Commerce Department’s personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index grew 5.2% in January, exceeding the 5.1% Dow Jones estimate, the Commerce Department reported. The PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, and January’s figure marks monthly the largest year-over-year increase since April 1983.

The PCE increased 0.5% on a monthly basis in January, the same pace as the previous three months, according to the Commerce Department. Including food and energy prices, overall PCE surged 6.1% since January 2021, marking the most annual growth since February 1982.

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Dominion Energy Seeks to Halt Virginia Rate Increase, Citing Youngkin Energy Plan

The Center Square

Dominion Energy, which is the largest energy company in Virginia, is asking the state to halt the next scheduled rate increase because Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s energy plan would make the hike unnecessary.

On Jan. 1, Dominion began implementing the state-approved rate increase to recover costs associated with purchasing allowances through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a carbon-trading initiative designed to gradually reduce carbon emissions. The initial increase for 2022 cost a residential customer nearly $30 over the year, but those costs would continue to go up if Virginia stays in the compact. According to the State Corporations Commission (SCC), RGGI would cost about $5.9 billion between 2019 and 2043 and would lead to a rate increase between $84 and $144 annually.

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Inflation Hits Highest Level in 39 Years

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Large crowd of people shopping during the holidays

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.9% in November, bringing the key inflation indicator’s year-over-year increase to 6.8%, the highest figure in four decades.

The CPI’s increase is the largest increase in four decades, up from October’s 6.2% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released Friday morning. Experts surveyed by CNBC projected inflation would increase 0.7% in November, translating to a 6.7% gain on a year-over-year basis.

“These are frighteningly high inflation numbers, the likes of which we haven’t seen for decades,” Allen Sinai, chief global economist and strategist at Decision Economics, Inc., told The Wall Street Journal.

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Shawn Parker Commentary: Joe Biden’s Policies Are Making Energy Prices Spin Out of Control

Admin

Energy prices are spinning out of control and we are facing a crisis of the working people like we haven’t seen since 2009. Energy prices have risen 30 percent on average and the winter has not yet arrived. Families will be faced with the hard decision of choosing between gas to get to work or paying for rent, healthcare, food, or other basic necessities. The economists at Texas A&M University pointed to the tipping point of the “housing recession” of 2010 as being fully caused by gas prices at the pump reaching $3.30 a gallon for a sustained period of 60 days.

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Biden Administration Downplays Rising Energy Prices, Says ‘Climate Crisis’ Is More Important

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The White House downplayed surging energy prices in the U.S. and worldwide on Wednesday, arguing that the climate crisis was more important.

“Certainly, we all want to keep gasoline prices low, but the threat of the crisis — the climate crisis — certainly can’t wait any longer,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday.

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