Energy news in brief

  • July 19, 2021

** No sooner had OPEC + announced output hikes on Sunday for August, crude prices saw their worst plunge since June, falling some 6% at the time of writing at New York’s midday trade Monday.
** Gas created during wastewater treatment is now making a regional utility in Des Moines an estimated $5 million a year, its director said in a public presentation last week.
** The lithium-ion batteries in electric cars have introduced a new potential danger that police and fire departments, as well as towing and wrecker services, are just now beginning to grapple with—The batteries, if damaged, can get wet and explode or catch fire, and if they do the vapors can be extremely hazardous.
** The United States and Germany are expected to announce a deal resolving their longstanding dispute over Russia’s $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in coming days, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
** The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has begun the first phase of a project to transform a segment of the state’s highway into wireless charging pavement for electric vehicles, according to local news WRTV.
** The Biden administration is poised to issue new cybersecurity regulations for pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities in the aftermath of the April hack that temporarily paralyzed the nation’s biggest liquid fuel conduit.
** Residents of an Oregon town torched by a wildfire last year sue Pacific Power, alleging the company’s equipment sparked the blaze.
** A California pilot sets a record for distance flown in a solar-powered electric airplane.
** Arizona regulators approve a utility’s plan to reduce electric vehicle charging rates for commercial customers during times of low electricity demand.
** Line 3 pipeline opponents ask a judge to issue a restraining order against a Minnesota sheriff and a county land commissioner after they blocked access to a camp on tribal land.
** A Nebraska board for the first time approves out-of-state grants to help fuel retailers in California install ethanol pumps.
** North Carolina beach towns that rely on tourism are passing resolutions opposing the installation of wind turbines that can be seen from shore, asking for them to instead be put at least 24 nautical miles away.

Jerry Bohnen