** The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects electric generation from solar to be the leading source of growth in the U.S. power sector through the end of 2025, with 79 GW of new solar capacity projected to come online over the next two years.
** Venture Global LNG has told a U.S. regulator that it cannot meet contracts to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to several major customers because its export plant is not yet ready to meet three criteria in the contracts, according to a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
** The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it is seeking meetings this month with AT&T and Verizon as it continues to closely review the potential impact of lead-containing telecommunications cables.
** Preliminary estimates for 2023 indicate that despite a 2.4 percent increase in United States gross domestic product, nationwide greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.9 percent.
** California analysts predict the condition of the state’s highways will decline as electric vehicles displace gasoline-powered cars and motor fuel tax revenues plunge.
World
** Alberta’s oil production rose above 4 million barrels a day for the first time in November as oil-sands companies ramped up output to prepare to fill the largest new export pipeline in more than a decade.
** Vietnam is preparing to widen a probe into alleged corruption among officials connected to the energy sector as the Southeast Asian country seeks to gain control over a worsening power crisis, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.
** Petrobras PBR, a Brazil-based oil and gas company has recently declared its decision to abstain from investing in wind and solar projects outside the borders of the country in a strategic move.
** The Italian government said bonuses paid to the nation’s electricity grid operator were justified despite rising costs to consumers, defending a practice raised in a Bloomberg News investigation.
** The Cuban government has announced that it will be raising the country’s fuel prices by over 500 percent in February. Pump prices will spike from 25 Cuban pesos to 132 pesos per liter, according to the BBC. To use figures more relatable for us Americans, the prices are jumping from $3.94 per gallon to $20.86.
