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LATEST ON IRAN – THE CEASEFIRE HOLDS? The situation in the Persian Gulf appears to have achieved enough stability today to reassure oil investors, despite the ongoing attacks by both sides. 

“Right now, the ceasefire certainly holds,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said today, downplaying the attacks yesterday by Iran on the UAE and commercial vessels. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said the attacks did not rise to the level of a violation of the ceasefire. Hegseth said the administration is closely monitoring the situation and would restart military operations if necessary. 

The UAE’s defense ministry did say that it did come under attack from Iranian drones and missiles again today, but Iran denied it. 

President Donald Trump was asked earlier today by reporters what would be considered a violation of the ceasefire. 

“You’ll find out because I’ll let you know,” the president said. “They know what to do, and they know what not to do more importantly, actually.”

The president also noted Iran is a topic that will be discussed when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. 

And the latest on the status of the strait: The latest round of violence was kicked off by the Trump administration’s “Project Freedom,” essentially a bid to end the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. 

It’s not quite clear how that’s going so far. Iran today announced the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which will require ships to email the regime to get clearance before attempting to transit the strait. 

One ship was observed crossing the strait today, down from six yesterday. 

The bottom line is that prices are down: Investors have interpreted the news as positive overall, as oil prices are down significantly today. As of mid-afternoon, the international benchmark Brent crude was at $110 per barrel, down more than 4%. WTI is also down 4% to $102 per barrel. 

CALIFORNIA INVESTIGATES GOLDEN STATE WIND: The California Energy Commission said it has issued an administrative subpoena to Golden State Wind over its agreement with the Trump administration to end an offshore wind project. 

Some background: Golden State Wind last week reached an agreement with the Department of the Interior to end its offshore wind lease in California in exchange for about $120 million in lease fees. Golden State Wind was expected to build a project that would generate up to 2 gigawatts of wind energy. 

The commission said that the deal with Interior “undermines significant investments” made by the state and other public entities in California. The commission said it is seeking records and documents about the company’s agreement with the Department of the Interior.

The department also reached a deal with Bluepoint Wind last week to end offshore wind projects in New York and New Jersey. These deals are part of a broader effort by the administration to curb offshore wind development. 

SEC MOVES FORWARD WITH ENDING CLIMATE DISCLOSURES: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is moving forward with ending a Biden administration regulation on companies’ disclosure of climate-related risks. 

The SEC has sent a proposal to the White House for review to end the regulation that was issued under the Biden administration. The rule would have required publicly traded companies to disclose climate-related risks to investors, which was subject to legal challenges by Republican-led states and industry groups. 

The regulation was never implemented. The Trump SEC said last year that it would also not defend the rule in court. Once the White House finishes its review, it will send the proposal back to the SEC to undergo a public comment period. 

“The Commission is focused on returning the agency to its core mandate — in line with its legal authority — restoring a materiality-focused approach to securities regulation,” a spokesman for the SEC told Bloomberg in an email.

SECRET FORD PROJECT – A $30K ELECTRIC TRUCK: A team at Ford has been secretly working on an electric truck that would be price-competitive with Chinese models, with a price tag of around $30,000, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The truck would have the speed of a Mustang, a range of 300 miles on a single charge, and tech comparable to that in Chinese vehicles. It is an effort by the U.S. automaker to catch up with the strides in EV manufacturing achieved by Chinese companies in recent years. 

The project began in 2022, and is led by a team that includes veterans of Tesla and Apple. They have tried to work outside the normal constraints of Ford’s manufacturing process to increase flexibility. 

Why it matters: The secret project shows that Ford does want to compete on EVs with Chinese automakers, which have an edge on tech and massive state support, even as the U.S. industry has shifted away from EVs in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut back on support. Cumulatively, the Big Three automakers have written off more than $50 billion in charges from retrenching form their EV strategies. 

MORE MOVEMENT ON ‘KEYSTONE LIGHT’ PIPELINE: The “Keystone Light” pipeline addition from Alberta to Wyoming has received key commitments from four oil companies, Reuters reports, citing anonymous sources, meaning it has taken a major step toward moving forward. 

The pipeline, proposed by Canadian company South Bow and U.S. partner Bridger Pipeline, would use part of the canceled Keystone XL pipeline on the Canadian side of the border, and would increase Canadian crude exports to the U.S. by 12%. 

Trump granted a presidential permit for the project last week.

GAS-TO-NUCLEAR COLLABORATION: Nuclear startup company Blue Energy announced a collaboration with GE Vernova to help accelerate the “world’s first gas-to-nuclear power plant.” 

The partnership will enable the companies to design and develop a nuclear power plant at Blue Energy’s first planned site in Texas using GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor.

“By collaborating with GE Vernova, we’re bringing together critical infrastructure, safe reactor technology, and a financeable delivery model,” Blue Energy CEO and Co-Founder Jake Jurewicz said in a statement. 

Earlier this year, Daily on Energy first reported that Blue Energy received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its licensing topical report, supporting its model of using natural gas as a bridge to deploy new nuclear power later. 

Blue Energy said it could begin working on its first planned site in Texas in 2026, to support a final investment decision in 2027. It added that it would apply to the NRC for a construction permit in 2027. Blue Energy plans to provide nuclear energy to power a nearby data center campus. 

ICYMI – NERC ISSUES GRID RELIABILITY WARNING REGARDING DATA CENTERS: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation issued its most severe warning yet regarding the risk data centers pose to the grid, E&E News reported. 

“[C]omputational loads, such as data centers, could increase exponentially in the next four years and that there are significant risks to the bulk power system (BPS) that need to be addressed through immediate industry action,” NERC said in a draft alert. 

The alert recommends seven key actions that transmission owners, grid operators, utilities, and other companies should take to reduce the risks. E&E News noted that NERC is seeking to create mandatory reliability standards for data centers, which would need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

RUNDOWN

The Associated Press A gold-fueled mining rush scars Brazil’s Amazon, spiking deforestation and mercury risks

Inside Climate News California’s Battery Array Is as Powerful as 12 Nuclear Power Plants. Here’s What’s on the Horizon.

Financial Times Heat pump sales jump as consumers recoil at high fossil fuel prices