** A Texas appeals court recently declared an 1872 jobs agreement between Palestine, Texas, and Union Pacific to be unenforceable. The ruling moves Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) a step closer to its goal of closing a rail car shop in the east Texas town of 18,000.
** Enbridge Inc. concluded its acquisition of The East Ohio Gas Company from Dominion Energy, Inc.D, solidifying its position in the U.S. utility sector. As part of the transaction, EOG will now operate under the name Enbridge Gas Ohio and will become a part of Enbridge’s Gas Distribution and Storage Business Unit.
** Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II, when hydropower was booming, that a renewable power source has comprised more than half of the nation’s energy additions.
** The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed that natural gas supplies decreased largely as expected. The neutral inventory numbers notwithstanding, futures settled with a loss week over week, overwhelmed by excessive supply and insipid weather-related demand.
** U.S. auto-safety regulators on Monday launched a preliminary probe into emergency braking issues in certain Honda vehicles following complaints of crashes and fires.
World
** Research by What Car magazine shows EVs have up to a third less range than advertised. Across the dozen EVs What Car tested, range was on average 29.9 per cent less than the official Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) figure which car makers are legally required to publish.
** Germany is set to hold the inaugural auction of a program to offer as much as €4 billion ($4.4 billion) in initial funding to help steel, cement and other heavy industrial producers transition to green technologies.
** A threat by the Netherlands’ largest company, semiconductor maker ASML to quit the country if it cannot grow there has laid bare wider corporate concerns that the nation’s business climate is deteriorating.
** Two Russian fuel depots caught fire leaving one badly damaged after they were targeted in separate Ukrainian drone attacks, regional governors said. Ukraine pounded targets across Russia on Tuesday, including the towns of Kstovo and Oryol located 100s of miles apart, with at least 25 drones and nine rockets.
** South African Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said an anticipated improvement in electricity supply should see him out of a job by the end of 2024.