** Western Midstream Partners LP subsidiary will acquire Meritage Midstream Services II LLC for $885 million cash as the infrastructure company expands its Powder River footprint. Under the terms of Western Midstream’s agreement, the company will acquire Denver’s privately held Meritage’s large-scale natural gas gathering and processing business in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.
** Studies suggest the United States is undercounting deaths related to hurricanes, heat waves, and other climate-fueled disasters.
** Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer doesn’t mention energy permitting reforms among his legislative priorities as Congress returns to session.
** All nine members of the Rhode Island Fisherman’s Advisory Board resigned in protest on Friday, saying a state coastal resources council “has made deference to offshore wind developers its top priority.”
** Plans to run bullet trains on Amtrack’s Northeast Corridor are stymied by old tracks that can’t handle high speeds.
** A fleet of U.S. offshore wind projects central to President ‘s climate change agenda may not move forward unless his administration eases requirements for subsidies in the year-old Inflation Reduction Act, according to project developers.
** Congress is poised to sell off a 1 million barrel emergency cache of gasoline created in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy amid questions about the reserve’s usefulness.
World
** Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, WMO and the European climate service Copernicus announced Wednesday.
** Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. agreed to buy three utilities from Dominion Energy Inc. in a $9.4 billion deal to create North America’s largest natural gas provider. The acquisition of the East Ohio Gas Co., Questar Gas Co. and Public Service Co. of North Carolina will double the Calgary-based company’s gas utility business, Enbridge said in a statement Tuesday.
** German automakers under heavy pressure from Chinese competition are speeding up their transition to electric vehicles, enabling partnerships with the likes of EV startup Xpeng, its president Brian Gu said in an interview on Wednesday.
** The first African Climate Summit ended with a call Wednesday for world leaders to rally behind a global carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation and maritime transport, and it seeks reform of the world financial system that forces African nations to pay more to borrow money.
** Indonesia doesn’t expect Tesla Inc. to invest in the country anytime soon, after coordinating minister Luhut Panjaitan met with last month. Speaking at the Bloomberg CEO Forum in Jakarta on Wednesday, Panjaitan said Musk was concerned about the global economic outlook and oversupply in the electric vehicle industry.