** The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made conditional commitments to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to five U.S. nuclear developers to meet their near-term fuel needs. This first round of HALEU allocations brings innovative American nuclear technologies one step closer to commercialization.
** The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) a $2.6 billion contract to operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over a 10-year period, BWXT said on April 9.
** The president signed an executive order Tuesday directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to stop the enforcement of state laws on climate change that conflict with the administration’s energy agenda. It singles out California’s 13-year-old cap-and-trade system, as well as laws in New York and Vermont that aim to make fossil fuel companies pay for the costs of climate impacts.
** Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has submitted PG&E’s 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP), which is built on risk-informed safety actions that prevented major wildfires in 2023 and 2024 to California’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety).
** According to a new study, data center energy consumption is expected to rise by 300%, while electricity demand for electric mobility, including vehicle charging infrastructure, could increase by up to 9,000% by 2050.
** Solar energy in New York got a big boost with the announcement of a $950 million contract to construct the state’s largest solar farm, and the program has now broken ground, according to PV Magazine. Greenbacker Renewable Energy secured the deal to build the 500-megawatt installation in Genesee County. Work has already begun, and the project is scheduled to come online in 2026.
** ProTec Dynatronix, a Wisconsin company focused on thermal and power supply products, will shut down its Amery headquarters, resulting in the loss of 53 jobs.
World
** Kia plans to eventually sell 90,000 all-electric pickups a year in North America, as the South Korean carmaker diversifies its product lineup as electric vehicle demand softens.
** Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Ukraine had carried out six attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day, in violation of a U.S.-brokered moratorium on hitting energy infrastructure targets.
** Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya and global energy giant RWE have finally begun a landmark legal case that can set a precedent on corporate climate accountability. He sued in 2015, accusing the company of contributing to global warming which has resulted in flooding around his farmland because of melting Andean glaciers.
** Military chiefs at Nato have been warned of global internet blackouts following a string of suspected Russian attacks on subsea cables.
** A sum total of 900 automotive engines have been stolen from a Kia Motors factory in India, authorities say. They were stolen over a 5-year period.