More energy stories in brief

** State and utility officials in Iowa and North Dakota tell customers to brace for soaring heating bills this winter due to global supply and demand issues.

** Exxon Mobil Corp said  that a vote to remove the United Steelworkers union from representing locked-out workers at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery would go forward no matter the outcome of a contract ratification vote next week by those same workers.

** Executives from BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will testify before a House committee investigating allegations that oil giants misled the public about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming.

** U.S. power plants are on track to burn 23% more coal this year, the first increase since 2013, despite Biden’s ambitious plan to eliminate carbon emissions from the power grid. The rebound comes after consumption by utilities plunged 36% under Trump, who slashed environmental regulations in an unsuccessful effort to boost the fuel.

**  The International Energy Agency is urging governments to make stronger commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions at an upcoming U.N. climate summit, warning the world is not on track to meet environmental goals and that new investment in clean energy was needed to “jolt the energy system onto a new set of rails.”

** France is looking to expand its nuclear energy portfolio with the construction of a new small reactor by 2030, President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday.

** Indigenous and environmental organizations deliver a letter to the White House urging President Biden to take action against the Line 3 pipeline.

** The Port of San Diego’s commissioners vote to convert thousands of diesel trucks, cranes and tugboats to battery-electric or other zero-emissions technology by 2030.