** Enbridge Inc on Friday forecast higher costs for its long-contested Line 3 pipeline replacement project, citing regulatory and permitting delays, winter construction and COVID-19 protocols, among other reasons. Enbridge now estimates capital costs for the Line 3 replacement project, including the Canadian segment already in service, at $8.18 billion up from $7.08 billion. The increased costs are on the U.S. portion of the pipeline.
** Toyota Motor Corp announced it will unveil two new electric vehicles that will go on sale next year in the United States amid a growing push by the Biden administration to cut vehicle emissions, sending the Japanese automaker’s shares soaring.
** President Joe Biden courts Republican backing for a transportation infrastructure package that includes not just road and bridge maintenance but also measures to boost electric cars.
** A new report by think-tank Carbon tracker says that oil and gas producing countries face a multi-trillion-dollar hole in their government revenue as the world cuts back on fossil fuels. It says some countries could lose at least 40% of total government revenue and the world-wide loss will be $13 trillion by 2040.
** North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to argue for keeping the Dakota Access pipeline operating while the agency conducts an environmental review.
** The U.S. International Trade Commission has banned one of the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery manufacturers from selling its cells in the United States, striking a blow to the Biden administration’s ambitious plan to electrify the nation’s auto fleet. The decision bars South Korean giant SK Innovation from importing its batteries or the components to make them for 10 years, ruling that the company stole trade secrets from its cross-town rival, LG Energy Solution.
** Volkswagen says a trade panel’s ruling against a Korean battery supplier won’t affect its Tennessee production of electric vehicles, set to launch in 2022.
** Tribes and faith leaders call on the Biden administration to intervene in the ongoing construction of the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota.
** Iran’s oil reserves risk becoming stranded assets unless the new U.S. administration eases sanctions that have left the country lagging rivals in output capacity and losing a race against time as the transition to low carbon energy gathers pace.
** ExxonMobil has decided to close its 80,000 bpd refinery in Melbourne, leaving Australia’s fuel security an increasingly imminent challenge. It also leaves only two refineries in Australia. Other needs will have to be imported.
** American Electric Power, parent company of Public Service Company of Oklahoma sold a 48 MW hydroelectric plant in southeastern Ohio to a renewable energy developer.
** New York City Council passes a law to conduct a feasibility study to convert the Rikers Island prison complex into a renewable energy hub.
** The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) warned of record electricity use over the long “weather weekend,” where temperatures are expected to drop below freezing by Monday morning.
** Texas generated 75% more solar power in January than it did in all of 2015, as the industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds reported the San Antonio Express-News.