WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! If you don’t have any plans this weekend, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute will be hosting their annual “Boo at the Zoo.” It’s an after-hours Halloween event that will feature trick-or-treating stations, a pumpkin patch, and much more. Get tickets here.
Earlier today, Callie spoke with former regulator Jamie Van Nostrand about surging fuel oil prices and how the New England region in particular is feeling the squeeze. Keep reading to see what he suggested as short- and long-term solutions to the growing affordability crisis.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Democrat Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado spoke on a podcast this week about the Senate’s plans to take up permitting in November when lawmakers return from midterms.
“I think that it’s going to take a little bit of massaging, because there are some things in there that are going to be tough for some Democrats, and there’s some things in there that are going to be tough for some Republicans. That’s the nature of democracy, right?” Hickenlooper said.
“To get something that matters, both sides have to give a little. So again, I’m not going to prejudge or try to estimate what the votes are going to look like, but I am willing to, and have already made plans to, have a lot of discussions about the bill, so we get a full chance to hear it,” he added.
NEW ENGLAND FEELS THE SQUEEZE FROM OIL:
With snow already falling in northern Maine, homeowners and businesses in New England are preparing to turn on their heat and face record-high heating oil costs.
As we touched on earlier this week, fuel oil costs have surged across the country due to global oil market disruptions caused by a decline in oil flows in the Middle East and loss of refining capacity worldwide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its latest Consumer Price Index that fuel oil prices alone rose by 74.2% for the year ending in September.
Up north, those prices have jumped even higher.
In Maine alone, heating oil prices have risen by around 80% from last year, just below $6 per gallon.
Typically, an oil-heated home can use between 500 and 700 gallons of oil each year. With those prices, families are going to be paying around or more than $4,000 to keep their homes warm this winter.
And in Maine, where around 50% of residents use fuel oil to keep their homes warm, people are going to be feeling “real hardships,” Jamie Van Nostrand, a former regulator in Massachusetts, told Callie today.
Van Nostrand, policy director of the Future of Heat Initiative and former chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, warned that the high prices will stick throughout this winter, which could create dangerous conditions for families.
“It potentially gets to be unsafe because people might not adequately heat their home,” he said.
Additionally, it may cause some homeowners to fall behind in paying their bills, forcing some to choose between things like going to the doctor or heating their home.
“It’s just basic hardship,” he said.
Short-term solutions: The easiest way to address the surging prices locally, Van Nostrand said, is for state officials to offer assistance to homeowners struggling with their bills. The most obvious pathway is through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Local municipalities have already seen a surge in applications for the assistance, with Aroostook County in Maine alone seeing 16% more this year than in 2025, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Van Nostrand suggested that local governments can go further than that, taking a look at any money that hasn’t been spent and determining if it can be reallocated to subsidize fuel oil over the winter.
There might also be an opportunity for the federal government to take action, with agencies such as the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency issuing emergency orders allowing for additional refining.
A long-term solution: Van Nostrand said higher oil prices present an opportunity for homeowners and businesses to take advantage of alternative heating resources, such as heat pumps.
“The solution to this is going to electric heat pumps, and that’s going to be the lowest cost path,” he said. “And it may be some cold weather states, if you’re already on fuel oil, you could keep that fuel oil as a backup. As it gets below a certain temperature, you go off your electric heat pump and then rely on your fuel oil furnace.”
There is a cost barrier to heat pumps, with whole-home heating systems in cold climates costing around $15,000 to $25,000 to install, Van Nostrand estimates.
However, the Future of Heat initiative has said these systems can save more than $1,000 a year on heating bills, depending on electricity rates.
Van Nostrand noted that as electricity prices increase, the cost of maintaining a heat pump will also rise. But, he insisted that those costs would not be as volatile as just using natural gas to heat your home, as the heat pump draws on a blend of electricity generation.
All the rest:
TRANSMISSION FOR THE VIRGINIAS: The Department of Energy is moving to expand transmission capacity in Virginia and West Virginia, using the Defense Production Act.
The project, announced earlier today, aims to add roughly 290 megawatts of transmission capacity across Appalachian Power’s Virginia grid system, by deploying advanced reconductoring and Dynamic Line Rating technologies. These upgrades are meant to increase the amount of electricity sent to consumers, reduce congestion, and support growing demand.
The project is estimated to take four years, and will be a combined effort by Virginia Energy, Appalachian Power, Potomac Edison, and other regional partners. Through the DPA, the Department of Energy is providing up to $50 million to deploy the transmission upgrades.
Key quote: “A stronger electric grid doesn’t always mean building more power lines. Sometimes it means making better use of the ones we already have,” Office of Electricity Assistant Secretary Katie Jereza said.
As a reminder: In April, President Donald Trump signed five executive orders invoking the DPA, declaring the development, manufacturing, and deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure are critical to national defense. The Cold War-era law gives the president authority to prioritize government funding and contracts for certain industries to support national defense.
OIL BACK ABOVE $100: Domestic oil prices surged back above the $100 line today as Iran escalated its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine was nowhere in sight.
Just after 3 p.m. EDT, West Texas Intermediate had surged about 3.61% and was selling at $101.51 a barrel. Brent crude also increased 3.60% and was priced at $109.73 a barrel.
“Uncertainty in the Middle East and concerns over the sustainability of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz has the market pricing in a significant risk premium,” ING analysts said.
LEGISLATION TO BLOCK TRUMP’S RUSSIA DEAL: Prices could see even more upward pressure, as a group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced a bill that would block Trump’s deal with Russia to supply the world with diesel.
The bill, dubbed the Prohibit Corrupt Russia Oil Deals Act, was introduced today by Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
It would block the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation from investing in Russian energy, nullify general licenses issued by the Treasury permitting the sale of Russian diesel, ban future similar licenses, and mandate the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Russian energy.
“This deal won’t lower costs for the American people, who are already paying for Trump’s failed war of choice in Iran. It will hand Putin millions of dollars to continue slaughtering Ukrainian civilians with impunity,” Meeks said in a statement.
Among the bill’s cosponsors is Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska.
AMERICANS SPENDING MORE ON GAS AND DIESEL: Since March 1st, Americans have now spent $135 billion more on gasoline and diesel purchases compared to the same period last year, Gas Buddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
The Trump administration has made several efforts to lower prices at the pump for consumers, including making a deal for Russian diesel, pressing Europe to release emergency stock, and temporarily expanding access to dyed diesel.
Yet, prices for diesel remain high.
As of today, the nationwide average price of diesel is at $6.32 per gallon. Diesel prices in several states have increased. For instance, diesel prices in California set an all-time high today of $8.44 per gallon and Colorado hit a new high of $6.48 a gallon.
GLOBAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES FELL 2% IN SEPTEMBER: Global sales for electric vehicles declined by 2% in September, breaking a six-month upward trend.
The Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said in a report that 2.15 million electric vehicles were sold globally in September, bringing this year’s EV sales to 15.5 million. EV sales month-on-month did rise 17%, but were down 2% year-on-year.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Data Manager Charles Lester said the decline is partially driven by a weaker North American market and a slowdown in China.
However, Europe had its strongest month on record, selling almost 600,000 EVs last month, which is about 10% more than the previous high set in June. Sales in Europe were up 39% year-on-year. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, and Finland had record-high monthly EV sales.
Meanwhile, North America sales fell 44% year-on-year, which is the steepest decline of the year.
FRANCE AND GERMANY PUSH TO END 2035 CLIMATE GOALS FOR CARS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expects the European Union to water down emissions rules for new fuel-burning cars.
Bloomberg reports that Germany and France have joined forces to try to end the EU’s goal of reaching climate neutrality for cars by 2035 as part of an effort to protect domestic industries. Some of the biggest carmakers are in Germany and France.
“We reached an agreement between Germany and France on future policy toward the automotive industry,” Merz told reporters in Brussels. “With this, the combustion engine ban is history.”
Germany and France will lobby to weaken a key pillar in the EU’s green deal, which seeks to reach net-zero by 2050.
The two countries are seeking to lower overall emissions cuts for autos to 90% by 2035, without having to compensate the remaining 10% through offsets via renewable fuels and green steel.
RUNDOWN
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
