** Economists at the Energy Information Administration predict on average, US residential electricity prices in the US will decline by 1%.
** Nuclear power plants using low-cost electricity to make hydrogen from water, an emerging fuel, could play a role in the energy transition, the head of a U.S. office that distributes billions of dollars in loans for new energy technologies said.
** Summer is over but gasoline prices are heating up in California, prompting Governor to lift an anti-smog rule for relief at the pump. Regular gasoline cost an average of $6.03 in California Wednesday, the highest since October and almost $2.20 a gallon above the national average, up from $1.20 in early August.
** Rapid electrification poses risks to power grids across the United States that are straddling the twin goals of decarbonizing the sector and maintaining reliable supply, grid operators told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday.
** President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday proposed up to three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico but none in Alaska as it tries to navigate between energy companies seeking greater oil and gas production and environmental activists who want Biden to shut down new offshore drilling in the fight against climate change.
** The U.S. Treasury on Thursday released new guidance on energy efficient home tax credits worth up to $5,000 per dwelling, showing that for builders to receive the full amount, the homes must be fully capable of supporting solar power, electric heat pumps, electric vehicles and other efficiency enhancements.
World
** A German climate envoy was given the cold shoulder during a trip to Beijing this week, in what sources believe was retaliation for Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock calling Chinese a dictator.
** Mexico will not be able under the law to cancel concessions for China’s Ganfeng Lithium in the government’s bid to tighten control over its potentially lucrative lithium reserves, the president of Mexico’s mining chamber said on Wednesday.
** Europe must invest more quickly and massively in its energy transition if it wants to remain a global industrial power, top policymakers warned on Friday. The plea was made at a conference on the clean energy transition hosted by the International Energy Agency, the European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank in Paris.
** Vietnam’s economy accelerated for a second straight quarter on the back of stronger performances by its key growth drivers — manufacturing and exports.
** Applause rings out as Daimler Truck’s hydrogen-powered, zero-emission lorry crosses the finish line in Berlin after completing a record-breaking 1,047-kilometre (650 mile) journey on a single tank. But in the race to decarbonise long-haul trucking, the niche technology is still stuck in the slow lane.
** Eco “zealots” are the biggest threat to tackling climate change, the British Energy Secretary has said. In her first interview since taking the role last month, Claire Coutinho said voters in many European countries were “revolting” against net-zero policies because their leaders had pushed the issue too hard.
** The development of Britain’s largest untapped oil field in the North Sea will generate billions of pounds in tax and boost the UK’s energy security for decades, ministers have said.
