Tag: infrastructure

Trump Broadens Interior’s Role In National Energy Emergencies

President Donald Trump expanded the number of Cabinet officials who can independently exercise emergency powers involving the nation’s energy supplies for the second time in six months.

An executive order issued Sept. 8 gives the interior secretary authority under the Defense Production Act that had previously rested largely with the energy secretary. Trump added the energy secretary alongside the commerce secretary under a similar provision in March.

Before March, the commerce secretary held authority under one provision intended to maximize energy supplies. Trump’s action Tuesday leaves the three officials independently authorized to act on energy-related matters under the Defense Production Act.

The Defense Production Act, created five years after the end of World War II, allows the president to tell private companies to give federal contracts priority over private-sector customers. It also allows the president to provide financial incentives to increase the supply of materials and technologies considered vital to national defense. Congress has reauthorized the law more than 50 times since its enactment in 1950.

The Interior Department oversees federal lands and waters containing significant energy and mineral resources. Its agencies administer onshore oil and gas leasing and production, while the interior secretary approves the five-year schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales. The department’s energy portfolio also includes coal, critical minerals, geothermal energy, and wind and solar development on public lands.

The new order gives the interior and energy secretaries independent authority to require that certain energy-related contracts receive priority and to allocate energy resources when necessary to support national defense.

The order also establishes a process for resolving disagreements between the two departments. Energy-related disputes between the interior and energy secretaries will be referred to the National Energy Dominance Council. Disputes involving national defense infrastructure or military operations will be referred to the National Energy Dominance Council and the National Security Council while coordinating with the Department of War.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a former North Dakota governor, also chairs the White House National Energy Dominance Council. In March, Burgum went to Venezuela to meet with leader Delcy Rodriguez to discuss investments and expansion of the country’s natural resources.

Nearly six months later, Trump announced a deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels from Venezuela’s oil reserves. Trump said the deal was a partnership of private businesses and was brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth while working with Rodriguez.

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D.C. Gas Ban Gets Favorable Hearing In Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals panel appeared inclined Tuesday to let Washington, D.C.’s restrictions on natural gas in certain new buildings stand.

The case turns on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, or EPCA, which gives the Department of Energy authority to set efficiency and energy-use standards for appliances including furnaces, water heaters, dryers and stoves. Industry groups argue that D.C. cannot accomplish through a building code what federal law prevents it from doing directly to an appliance.

The challengers include the National Association of Home Builders, Restaurant Law Center, National Apartment Association, Maryland Building Industry Association, Washington Gas and two labor unions.

D.C.’s Clean Buildings Act requires certain newly constructed or substantially improved buildings to operate at zero energy beginning in 2027. The building standards effectively prohibit natural-gas appliances in covered properties.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes upheld the law in March. Her ruling found that EPCA regulates how much energy covered appliances consume, not whether a local government permits those appliances to be installed in a particular building.

Bloomberg Law reported Tuesday that the D.C. Circuit panel appeared similarly unconvinced by the industry groups’ preemption argument during oral arguments.

Federal appeals courts are already split on essentially the same question.

The Ninth Circuit struck down Berkeley, California’s natural-gas piping ban in 2024, finding that a city could not evade EPCA by eliminating the fuel supply needed to operate federally regulated appliances. That ruling covers nine Western states.

The Second Circuit went the other direction in June. It upheld New York City and New York State restrictions on fossil-fuel appliances, finding that EPCA preempts appliance energy-conservation standards but does not prevent governments from prohibiting certain appliances altogether.

Washington’s case gives the D.C. Circuit the same statutory language and two competing appellate interpretations.

For builders, restaurants and gas utilities, the result determines whether D.C.’s 2027 requirements stand. For the natural gas industry, another ruling against preemption would leave Berkeley increasingly isolated – and gas appliance rules dependent on which federal circuit a building happens to sit in.

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Norway Rejects Climate Orthodoxy’s False Choice, Builds Wealth

Norway’s Minister of Energy Terje Aasland told Reuters that his country will keep developing oil and gas in the Barents Sea irrespective of a European Union (EU) ban on Arctic drilling.

“In today’s geopolitical and security environment… I believe continued activity in the Barents Sea serves both Norwegian and European interests,” said Aasland.

Although not an EU member, Norway is a close ally and Europe’s largest gas supplier, meeting about 30% of the demand across the European Union and Britain. Last year Norwegian gas output ran near record levels, and oil production hit its highest mark since 2009. 

Without new fields, however, official projections show output dropping sharply after 2030. But Aasland intends to hold production and exports near current levels until at least 2035, and he has said that the Arctic is important to Norway remaining a long-term supplier.

The EU currently backs a ban on new Arctic drilling on environmental grounds, while buying the gas that keeps its factories running. Anders Opedal, CEO of Norwegian multinational energy company Equinor, has said that producers of Barents oil and natural gas will find buyers somewhere else if Europe refuses to buy. 

Even Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a promoter of transitioning away from fossil fuels, has urged the EU to reconsider its opposition to Arctic development for the sake of energy security.

Europe has already suffered economic damage from its “green” pretense. The IEA reports that EU electricity prices for energy-intensive industry averaged more than double American levels in 2025 and were nearly 50% above China’s. A 2024 report on European competitiveness warned that such costs are hollowing out manufacturing.

Here is where the story stops being about the Arctic and becomes about everyone else.

Norway is not a struggling petro-state rationalizing a bad habit. It is among the richest societies ever built, with per capita gross domestic product above $105,000 and a sovereign wealth fund that crossed $2.39 trillion in June. Five and a half million people have converted seabed hydrocarbons into universal healthcare, free universities, and pensions for grandchildren not yet born.

If Norway considers oil and gas indispensable to its economic position, it is unreasonable to demand that poorer countries abandon their own resources. This matters enormously for Africa, South Asia, and other rapidly developing regions. For many African households, unreliable energy can be catastrophic.

Delay of fossil fuel projects costs in ways spreadsheets miss. A gas project blocked by climate posturing means that engineering teams disband, drilling rigs go elsewhere, borrowing costs rise, and the fertilizer plant that would have used the hydrocarbon feedstock never gets built. A decade of compounding benefits is lost to a national balance sheet.

Western proponents of climate orthodoxy declare immoral the ladder their societies climbed to unprecedented prosperity. Every advanced economy industrialized with coal, oil, and gas. Norway is still doing it with a $2 trillion cushion. Norwegian leaders recognize oil and gas are critical to their nation’s future, unlike their counterparts in the EU, Canada, and Australia.

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The Rising Cost Of Electricity In The United States

Across the U.S., Americans are paying roughly 30% more for electricity than in 2020.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Cody Good in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, uses data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to show the change in average retail electricity prices by state across all sectors from 2020 to 2025.

Where Electricity Prices Rose the Most

Washington, DC saw the largest increase in the country, with average retail electricity prices rising 72% between 2020 and 2025. Maine followed closely at 67%, while Maryland and California rose 52% and 50%, respectively.

State AbbreviationStateChange in Electricity Price, All Sectors 2020-2025 (%)
DCWashington, D.C.72
MEMaine67
MDMaryland52
CACalifornia50
RIRhode Island47
PAPennsylvania46
NYNew York45
MAMassachusetts44
ILIllinois43
CTConnecticut39
DEDelaware38
NJNew Jersey35
NHNew Hampshire31
FLFlorida30
HIHawaii28
LALouisiana27
ALAlabama26
MSMississippi26
NVNevada26
ARArkansas25
VAVirginia25
WVWest Virginia25
INIndiana24
MIMichigan24
AZArizona23
WAWashington23
OHOhio22
TNTennessee22
VTVermont22
COColorado21
UTUtah21
WIWisconsin21
IDIdaho19
MOMissouri19
MNMinnesota18
NCNorth Carolina18
OROregon17
OKOklahoma16
KSKentucky15
AKAlaska14
GAGeorgia14
TXTexas14
MTMontana13
SDSouth Dakota13
IAIowa11
KSKansas9
NMNew Mexico9
SCSouth Carolina7
NENebraska-1
WYWyoming-1
NDNorth Dakota-18

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Data shows percent growth in average retail electricity prices across all sectors from 2020 to 2025.

Many of the largest increases were concentrated in coastal and Northeastern markets, where retail electricity prices have climbed sharply since 2020.

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Second Largest US Grid Operator Proposes Reliability Rules For Data Centers

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator – the second largest US grid operator after PJM Interconnection – on Friday proposed a set of requirements large loads must meet before they can connect to the grid, including ramping and ride-through specifications.

The “interconnection reliability requirements” framework aims to improve MISO’s visibility into large load “characteristics and behavior, support reliable planning and operational decision-making, and establish scalable and technically justified expectations proportional to demonstrated reliability risk,” the grid operator said in its filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The proposal is a part of MISO’s response to FERC’s mid-June “show cause” orders requiring major grid operators to set rules that meet certain criteria for adding data centers and other large loads to the grid. MISO said it plans to make additional proposals by a Nov. 16 deadline.

MISO’s proposal follows similar actions at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the PJM Interconnection aimed at setting reliability standards for large loads after several incidents where data centers suddenly tripped offline, raising concerns about grid stability.

On average, electric demand was relatively flat between 2009 and 2024, growing by about 0.5% a year, MISO told FERC. Now, the grid operator expects 1% to 2% annual growth through 2044, with higher growth rates in the near term, according to MISO, which runs the grid and wholesale power markets from Louisiana to Minnesota.

MISO’s proposal defines “large loads” as those larger than 50 MW, and “computational loads” as large loads that include at least 25 MW of demand from information technology equipment, such as servers, storage and networking hardware.

The separate computational load classification will allow MISO to target certain requirements just to data centers, the grid operator said.

“Computational loads may exhibit rapid and coordinated changes in demand, significant power-electronic behavior, and distinct responses to transmission system disturbances,” MISO said.

MISO’s proposed reliability framework sets requirements for its transmission customers that take service on behalf of large loads. It covers four main areas:

  • Visibility requirements

To improve MISO’s visibility into large loads on its system, transmission customers must provide MISO with basic information and modeling data on large load facilities, according to the proposal. They must also provide real-time and day-ahead load forecasts for the facilities.

The information is needed “to support planning studies, operational assessments, and accurate representation of large loads behavior and system impacts,” MISO said.

  • Phasor Measurement Unit requirements

The PMU requirements set monitoring expectations for computation loads through high-resolution, time-synchronized measurements, according to MISO.

“PMU data provides MISO with greater visibility into facility behavior during system disturbances and rapid operating changes, supporting model validation, performance verification, disturbance analysis, and identification of potential dynamic interactions with the transmission system,” MISO said. 

  • Ramp requirements

MISO said its proposed ramp requirements address the rate at which computational loads may increase or decrease electric use during stable-state transitions. 

“Managing rapid changes in demand helps reduce real-time supply-demand imbalances, sudden change in transmission power flows, and associated operational impacts, while supporting more reliable system operation,” MISO said.

  • Ride-through requirements

The proposed measures set minimum disturbance performance requirements for computational loads during voltage and frequency disturbances to reduce the risk of unnecessary disconnection or customer-initiated rapid reductions in demands during system events, MISO said. 

MISO’s proposal includes grandfathering provisions to provide certainty to existing and nearly complete commercial arrangements for large loads. MISO asked FERC to let its proposal take effect on Dec. 4.

MISO plans to file additional large load-related proposals, including for additional transmission products and associated study processes, protections against cost shifts and the treatment of generation service to “electrically proximate” large loads, MISO said.

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LA Mayor Candidate Nithya Raman Gets DRAGGED for Bragging About a ‘Fixed’ Crosswalk – The Photo Will Blow Your Mind

Far left Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is getting dragged on Twitter/X for bragging about a ‘fixed’ crosswalk in the city.

She mentions in her tweet that the city received a complaint about the crosswalk in late 2025 and then happily announces that it just got completed, so that’s only about nine months, right?

Nine months, to do this…

Isn’t it great how they painted over the cracks?

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Race Hustlers Redux: How Low Can the Grievance Grifters Go?

One would think that the liberal race fizzgigs would look at the soon-to-be smoldering ruins of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and want to avoid the humiliation that goes hand-in-hand with lying about racism and funding it when there isn’t enough to go around, but no.

The SPLC is accused of paying millions of dollars to so-called “white supremacists,” including helping to fund and plan the now-infamous Charlottesville riot on Aug. 11, 2017, where a woman was murdered.

A Klan-hugger at the SPLC, Heidi Beirich, also got busted for paying Nazis to be more “Nazi,” including the goose-stepper she was sleeping with. 

The SPLC allegedly bribed white supremacy-types to remain in their bigoted battalions even when they wanted to leave. It also paid Beirich $190,000 per year, not counting the mad stacks she funneled into a joint account with her Klan-man cicisbeo. After all, if the truth were revealed that white supremacists are harder to find than Nancy Pelosi’s keys after a five-martini lunch, the donations would stop, Beirich would have to get a real job, and, even worse, racism might actually die in the United States. And without a racist boogeyman to scare black people, how can the Democratic Party trick black folks into voting for them?

Despite the SPLC’s shameful obloquy, the original attention-starved cockalorum bumboy himself, Don Lemon, couldn’t wait to beclown himself for clicks by joining the mayor of Gary, Ind., Eddie Melton, to blame “racism” for the reason Gary residents were still without power 13 days after a massive storm blew in.

What neither of these delusional tools discussed was that power linemen were being attacked by Gary residents as they tried to restore power.

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Trump Declares National Emergency to Secure U.S. Power Grid From Foreign Cyber Security Threats

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Aug. 26 to secure the national power grid, citing unusual and extraordinary foreign cyber and security threats.

The order prohibits certain foreign-made bulk-power system electric equipment, including software, that poses cybersecurity or operational risks, from being purchased or installed in the United States.

“Certain foreign actors are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system, which provides the electricity that supports our national defense, vital emergency services, critical infrastructure, and economy,” Trump said in the order.

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The Left Cries ‘Racism’ as Residents in Majority-Black City Have Been Left Without Power for Two Weeks – Then Community Notes Reveals the Damning Truth

An inconvenient truth regarding out-of-control crime has blown up another racial hoax attempted by the radical left regarding an unfortunate circumstance in a major majority-black city in America.

Thousands of residents of Gary, Indiana, have been left without power for two weeks following severe storms with 100-mph winds on August 11 that destroyed the region’s electrical grid.

This has created a massive humanitarian crisis, as many families are resorting to cooking meals in public parks because so many grocery stores are closed and they’re desperately trying to prevent more food from spoiling.

The delay is certainly tragic and has left thousands of residents in the 76.2% black city suffering. But instead of utilizing intellectual curiosity, leftists on social media quickly cried ‘racism.’

But X’s Community Notes quickly nuked the race-baiting angle with the real reason for the delays.

It turns out that some residents of Gary decided to shoot at NIPSCO crew members who were attempting to restore power to the city.

Why should utility workers risk their lives when the people of the community make it clear they are unwelcome?

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METAPHOR ALERT: Barack Obama Elementary School in Virginia Closed Indefinitely Due to Mold and Rodents

Barack Obama Elementary School in Virginia has been closed indefinitely due to an infestation of mold and rodents. You could not make this up.

All of the other schools in the area are open for business. The school that is named for former President Obama is the only one with this issue.

At least one parent in the video report below claims that this is the second time that mold has closed the school.

CBS 6 in Richmond reports:

Mold forces indefinite closure of Barack Obama Elementary as new school year begins

Barack Obama Elementary School will not open this week due to mold, and students will temporarily relocate to Clark Springs Elementary School while remediation continues.

Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said in a message to families Monday that teachers and staff setting up classrooms discovered “additional areas of mold growth (for example, behind bulletin board paper),” prompting the district to send everyone home for additional cleaning and testing.

“All of this is realistically going to take several days. So we will not be returning to the Obama building this week. Our goal is to do so by Monday,” Kamras wrote. “In the interim, we are working to get Clark Springs Elementary School ready as a temporary space. We’ll have more information about that by tomorrow. For now, school is closed on Tuesday.”

“Roller coaster is a good word,” said Samieh, a parent of students at the school for the past seven years, of the past five days. “The information keeps kind of cascading of ‘This is what’s going to happen. Oh, actually, it’s not what’s going to happen. Oh, we’re good. Oh, we’re not good.’.”

The district had already pushed back Barack Obama Elementary’s first day from Monday, Aug. 24, after air quality tests showed elevated mold spore levels inside the building.

Kamras said the mold growth stemmed from an HVAC outage that caused mold to spread in the school’s basement and on some furniture. The district also received reports of rodents in several rooms.

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