** Three power substation facilities were vandalized in Pierce County, Washington, on Christmas morning, knocking out power to more than 14,000 customers, authorities said.
** The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended last week’s rally up by 5.46%. Saudi Arabian stocks climbed on Sunday, the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), inching 0.2% higher. The global supply of these commodities is expected to remain tight.
** Oil took over from natural gas as the leading fuel for power plants in New England, a significant switch that signals how the grid is desperately trying to keep the lights on in the face of a winter massive storm.
** The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality approved a rule that will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. A statement about the new rule explained that all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in Oregon must be battery electric or plug-in hybrid electric cars.
** The Tennessee Valley Authority called for temporary energy load reductions, or rolling blackouts as some call them, to stabilize the regional power grid for the first time in its 89-year history amid subzero temperatures Friday morning.
** For 12 hours on the coldest night of the year, We Energies customers in Wisconsin and Michigan were asked to lower their thermostats to 60 or 62 degrees as the state’s largest utility grappled with an unexpected shortage of natural gas because of a pipeline equipment failure.
World
** Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state TASS news agency.
** Toyota is dropping the Avalon, a large sedan that Toyota has had around since 1994. Jeep first brought consumers the Grand Cherokee in 1983. Stellantis’ brand Jeep has discontinued the option for only a two row Grand Cherokee with a 5.7-liter V8 engine with 357 hp.
** The UK will be scrambling for highly expensive gas imports to meet its energy needs this winter to stave off blackouts whenever the wind doesn’t blow, warned a leading energy expert. le Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told City A.M. that the intermittent performance of domestic renewable power is proving costly for the West.
** Mexican state oil company Pemex’s newest refinery will reach half of its crude processing capacity in July, the national president said on Friday, marking the latest shift in timing for the project’s operations.
** Saudi Arabia and Japan signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on Sunday in the fields of the circular carbon economy, carbon recycling, clean hydrogen and fuel ammonia, the Saudi Energy Ministry said on Twitter.