| | | | |  | | By Joel Kirkland | | Presented by |  | | | |  Illustration by Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (source images via iStock) | The nation’s most prolific oil-producing region is now home to bitcoin miners and digital data centers — forcing more electricity demand onto a Texas power grid that is increasingly plagued by blackouts. Of all places, this technology revolution is happening in the Permian Basin, the West Texas jewel of the U.S. oil and gas industry. Today's story by Shelby Webb provides an eye-opening account of surging electricity consumption stemming from America’s technology and industrial booms. The reporting also shows just how quickly the oil industry itself is adopting electric power to meet net-zero goals. Electric fracking rigs can use about as much electricity as a small town. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, also called ERCOT, the state’s main grid operator, estimates electricity demand from industries in the Permian region will more than double by 2030 compared with 2021. Companies will consume almost 24 gigawatts at peak demand times — more power than the entire state of Tennessee generates during similar periods. “It’s sort of stunning how much is coming online, and not from oil and gas,” said Cyrus Reed, a member of a state committee studying electricity demand and conservation director of the Sierra Club’s Texas chapter. “It’s almost overwhelming.” By 2030, electricity demand from digital technology could eclipse that of the oil and gas industry in the region. So-called crypto mines are buildings full of superfast computers verifying digital currency transactions. They’re expected to dominate the Permian’s demand increase and require almost 7 GW of power (roughly the equivalent of seven nuclear power plants), according to ERCOT. The shift is raising concerns about how the Permian region will be able to keep up. Texas officials are grappling with how to expand the state’s transmission grid. Years ago, Texas chose to operate as an electricity island, cut off from the larger regional grids around it. Ryan Luther, a researcher at the firm Enverus, said some of the crypto mining operations in Texas are out of China, which banned the technology in 2021. And that migration is being driven partly by a search for cheap natural gas for power. “They’re trying to find stranded gas that can’t get to market,” he said of crypto companies. Using excess gas for power production is one of the few alternatives to flaring, a major source of methane emissions from the oil fields. “For the producers in the Permian, they would rather see in-basin demand for their gas grow than have to build more gas pipelines,” Luther said. “Their primary objective is getting oil to market — gas is not as much in the value mix.”
| | | It's Monday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Joel Kirkland. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jkirkland@eenews.net. | | | | A message from Southern Environmental Law Center: Burning trees for energy devastates forests, harms nearby communities, which are disproportionately Black and low-income, and makes climate change worse. An upcoming Treasury Department decision on clean energy tax credits for the biomass industry could undermine President Biden’s climate agenda and environmental justice commitment. Redirecting tax credits to truly clean energy industries like solar, wind, and storage will accelerate our energy transition, combat climate change, and create stable jobs. Learn more here. | | | | | | Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Ben Lefebvre breaks down how the oil and gas industry views former President Donald Trump after his guilty verdict last week.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. | Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images | EU liberals demand weaker Green Deal
Germany's pro-business liberals are demanding that the European Commission water down the European Green Deal — or lose their vote, writes Zia Weise. The Free Democrats (FDP) published a list of demands today for the "necessary policy changes" the party wants to see after this week's Continent-wide election. Among them was trading out the Green Deal for a "Yellow Deal" that would abolish "small-scale detailed regulations" and country-specific climate targets. In a clear threat to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the party vowed to "exert its influence" regarding "personnel decisions for the new EU Commission." The demands come on the same day that Germany's council of climate experts said the country will fail to meet its climate targets. The FDP is part of Germany's three-party governing coalition. Its veto could force Berlin to abstain in a European Council decision on what candidates to back for Commission posts, and its five members of the European Parliament could vote against von der Leyen in July's confirmation vote. Trump: Environmental agencies 'bad for us'
Former President Donald Trump said he would try to cut the Interior Department — and potentially other "environmental agencies" — if he returns to the White House, writes Timothy Cama. In an interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends" on Sunday, Trump laid out what government programs he would slash if he wins against President Joe Biden in November. “One of the things that is so bad for us is the environmental agencies. They make it impossible to do anything,” he told host Rachel Campos-Duffy. "The environmental agencies have stopped — they’ve stopped you from doing business in this country." Geoengineering meets city council politics
A handful of local officials in the San Francisco Bay Area will determine whether to allow the country's first outdoor experiment to limit global warming by altering clouds, writes Corbin Hiar. The City Council of Alameda will vote Tuesday on the experiment, which is led by the University of Washington. It stands to be one of the first consequential public hearings on solar geoengineering in the nation. The project uses machines that resemble snow cannons to shoot trillions of sea salt particles into the sky in an effort to increase the density — and reflective capacity — of marine clouds. UW launched the experiment in April off the deck of a retired aircraft carrier, but Almeda officials ordered the university to halt the project until it received explicit authorization from the city. COMING SOON: POLITICO’S ENERGY SUMMIT — Join us live at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday for the event POLITICO Energy Summit: At a Crossroads to explore how the 2024 elections will drive the future of energy policy. Featured speakers include Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi; Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel; FERC Chair Willie Phillips; Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.); and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), chair of the Conservative Climate Caucus. Get the view from Wall Street, hear from NOAA’s chief scientist and more. Please RSVP here to attend or watch virtually. | | | | A message from Southern Environmental Law Center: Burning trees for energy devastates forests, harms the health of nearby communities, which are disproportionately Black and low-income, and makes climate change worse. An upcoming Treasury Department decision on whether the biomass industry should receive clean energy tax credits could significantly undermine President Biden’s climate agenda and environmental justice commitment. Ensuring tax credits go toward truly clean energy industries, such as solar, wind and storage will accelerate our energy transition, combat climate change and create stable jobs. Learn more here. | | | | | Mexico's next president: Claudia Sheinbaum will become Mexico's first female, and first Jewish, president after winning Sunday's elections in a landslide victory. Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, has pledged to invest billions of dollars in renewable energy. Deep in debt: The 50 countries most vulnerable to climate change have seen their debt payments double since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Biden administration, in agreeing to China’s request for consultations, signaled that it could defend the IRA legislation on national security grounds. | Alex Brandon/AP | China's challenge of U.S. electric vehicle subsidies could open the door to more countries imposing similar trade-distorting measures, depending on how the Biden administration defends the Inflation Reduction Act at the World Trade Organization. Coal plant retirements are expected to slow this year, representing a major obstacle to meeting America's climate ambitions. Connecting the Texas electric grid to the rest of the nation could prevent deadly power outages during extreme weather events, according to an MIT study that modeled the effects of a bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas). Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), the head of the House’s Conservative Climate Caucus, will face her first primary challenge on Tuesday since being elected to Congress. (Tune into POLITICO's Energy Summit one day later to hear her speak, along with many other government officials and experts.) That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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