** A deep freeze is straining power supplies across the eastern US, sending demand on the country’s largest electric grid to an all-time winter high as the South digs out from one of the worst snow storms in 130 years.
** Extreme cold temperatures are disrupting oil and gas production in North Dakota, and it could take producers weeks or months to recover lost revenue.
** President Trump issues an executive order halting work on the recently approved Lava Ridge wind project in southern Idaho, saying it “is allegedly contrary to the public interest and suffers legal deficiencies.”
** President Trump’s early executive orders could eliminate federal funding for electric vehicle chargers, rural clean energy projects and environmental justice initiatives in Wisconsin, advocates say.
** Andrew N. Ferguson was officially designated as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission by President Trump on Monday, January 20, 2025.
** GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), a business of GE Vernova, has joined the coalition of utility companies that are working to accelerate the deployment of BWRX-300 small modular reactors in the United States. The coalition is led by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
** Urban Alaska utilities warn customers to prepare for rolling blackouts as a natural gas shortage intensifies.
World
** Electric car sales in Germany plummeted by 39pc last month as the withdrawal of government tax breaks triggered a collapse in demand. The number of battery-electric cars sold across Europe’s largest economy in December fell to 33,651, down from 54,654 over the same period last year.
** Britain is at risk of entering a bidding war with Europe for electricity, as countries race to lock in supplies after a sharp drop in wind power. Cold temperatures combined with calm weather have increased energy pressures across Europe, as dwindling domestic generation has led to traders competing to buy electricity.
** The British government’s net-zero plans are about to get a huge boost in the form of a massive increase in transmission capacity by National Grid, reported TechXplore. An investment of £35 billion ($45 billion) will be made by the company to upgrade the electricity grid in the United Kingdom.
** Germany may need to keep its fleet of mothballed coal-fired stations available for longer than expected as a drive to build new gas plants is severely behind schedule, grid operator Amprion GmbH warned.
** Russia’s seaborne crude exports saw their biggest drop since November last week after outgoing US President Joe Biden imposed sweeping sanctions on the country’s oil trade, with early signs that the measures are reshaping flows.
** China’s record coal purchases last year were driven by big increases in supplies from Australia and Mongolia, while Russian cargoes actually fell. Now that Chinese demand is flattening, Mongolia could be best placed to hold or even grow its market share in its southern neighbor at Russia’s expense.