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.

TRUMP SAYS US WILL RESUME ATTACKS ON IRAN: President Donald Trump said the U.S. will resume attacks against Iran as soon as today, citing Iran shooting down a U.S. helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. 

“We’re going to be attacking them, and attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office today. The president earlier today said Iran has to “pay the price” for taking too long to reach a deal. 

The president is still urging Iran to reach a deal. He added that “they should sign the deal, it’s a good deal,” noting that it would prohibit Iran from having a nuclear weapon. 

“We’ll see what happens, but we hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” the president said. “And we’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to the deal but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers.” 

Trump mysteriously claims that the U.S. has taken 100 million barrels of oil out of Iran: The president also claimed that the U.S. has been taking out millions of barrels of oil out of Iran. It is not yet clear what he was referring to. 

“Every night, we took that oil,” Trump said, adding “Millions of barrels of oil has come out and that’s why it’s at $85-90 a barrel instead of $250.”

The president later on Truth Social said that he directed a secret military mission last month to support oil tankers and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz that has resulted in “more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market.” 

He added that more than 200 ships have made their way through the waterway. 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told lawmakers during a hearing today that he was not aware of the U.S. taking millions of barrels out of Iran. 

WRIGHT SAYS NEARLY 100 SHIPS HAVE USED THE JONES ACT WAIVER: Wright told lawmakers today that nearly 100 vessels have used the administration’s Jones Act waiver. 

The Jones Act waiver “has been used enormously,” Wright said in testimony before the House Science Space and Technology Committee. “I think close to 100 ships already have used that Jones Act waiver.” 

As a reminder: The Jones Act requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be carried only by American-built ships.

Trump first issued a waiver on the Jones Act in March as part of a broader effort to lower oil prices. The administration in April extended the waiver by 90 days, giving refiners until July. 

The waiver is aimed at lowering the cost of transportation of oil from Gulf refineries to coastal states like California and parts of the East Coast. Wright later criticized California’s energy approach, stating that the state imports much of its oil from the Persian Gulf and South America.

“Democrats have decided to make energy of all kinds expensive in California,” Wright said. “President Trump has thought that’s deeply unfair, and we need to do everything we can to lower the price of energy for all 340 [million] Americans, whatever state they live in.” 

Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber, who asked Wright for an update on the Jones Act waiver, noted that the move was controversial, given its impact on domestic industries.  

Weber said that it is essential “we get the Jones Act back in place as quickly as we can” for the domestic maritime industry. 

Read more by Maydeen here. 

ENERGY PRICES SURGE MORE THAN FIVE TIMES THE RATE OF INFLATION: The war in Iran and extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz continued to put upward pressure on electricity and gas prices last month, causing energy prices overall to surge at five times the rate of regular inflation. 

The details: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest update to its Consumer Price Index this morning, revealing that inflation rose to 4.2% for the year ending in May, the highest reading in three years. Energy prices soared much faster than that, increasing by 23.5% for the year. Month-over-month, energy prices rose 3.9%.

Gasoline prices saw the largest increase in May, rising by 40.5% for the year. Compared to April, gasoline prices jumped 7%. The cost of fuel oil also surged last month, jumping 58.9% for the year ending in May. Month-over-month, fuel oil prices rose 3.8%.  

Electricity prices also continued to tick upward, rising by 5.9% year-over-year. Compared to April, electricity prices increased by just 0.6%. 

The only monthly decrease in energy prices was seen for utility piped gas service, with prices dropping 0.5%. Year-over-year, however, those prices increased by 3%. 

OPEC CRUDE PRODUCTION FALLS TO LOWEST IN OVER TWENTY YEARS: A new survey conducted by Reuters has found that oil output from OPEC has fallen to the lowest levels since 2000, as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has lasted more than 100 days. 

The survey found that output from the 11-member oil cartel dropped month-over-month by 1.06 million barrels per day in May. This left output at around 16.13 million barrels per day, the lowest monthly figure in more than two decades. 

The largest drop was in Iran, likely driven by the Trump administration’s own blockade in the waterway. 

WHERE PRICES STAND: As Trump warned of new attacks on Iran today, oil markets are less than confident that Washington and Tehran could strike a deal to end the war and reopen the strait this week. 

Around 2 p.m. EDT, international and domestic benchmarks had risen by more than 3%. Brent Crude was up 3.19% and priced at $94.37 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate jumped 3.84%, selling at $91.59 a barrel. 

Even if the conflict were to come to a close in the coming days, oil executives are not confident that prices will fall immediately – something Trump has repeatedly promised. 

“Prices are going to move up,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said during a leadership summit today, according to the Wall Street Journal. “That’s the story of five to 10 years [ahead].”

‘PURPOSE,’ NOT PRESSURE FROM TRUMP – MORE FROM NRC CHAIRMAN CHAT: As mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, Callie sat down with Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Ho K. Nieh on Monday. 

During the interview, we discussed claims from Democrats and nuclear safety advocates that the Trump administration was threatening the agency’s independence. 

These concerns stemmed from new reviews being done by the White House on all proposed and final significant regulatory actions from independent agencies, the president’s firing of a Democratic commissioner, and the NRC’s plans to leverage authorizations made by the Energy and War Departments to accelerate licensing applications for commercial reactors. 

While some critics have characterized all this as “pressure” from the administration, Nieh said it is “purpose.” 

“I feel so empowered by this moment right now,” he said. “This is, really in my view, the most consequential moment for nuclear energy in America in nearly 50 years.”

The chairman said that nuclear energy has become essential not only for the energy sector but also for national security, as China has rapidly deployed dozens of new reactors within the last 30 years, while the U.S. has only built three. If the U.S. fails to deliver in the industry, he said, allies will turn to China to purchase reactors and accept the geopolitical consequences that come along with it.

You can read more from Callie’s interview with Nieh here. 

LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN BILL TO REAUTHORIZE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT: Earlier today, bipartisan leadership of the House Natural Resources Committee introduced legislation to reauthorize portions of the Great American Outdoors Act from 2020, which would invest nearly $2 billion each year in national parks and public lands. 

The details: The new bill, known as the Great American Outdoors Act 2050, was put forth by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman of Arkansas and Ranking Member Jared Huffman of California. 

The bill would invest around $1.9 billion in national parks, public lands, and Bureau of Indian Education facilities annually for the next five years. These funds would be generated by private donations, domestic energy revenue, and the new fees imposed on foreign visitors at national park sites. 

These funds would go toward high-priority deferred maintenance projects and efforts to restore areas such as campgrounds, trails, boat ramps, as well as hunting and fishing sites. These projects would support more than 72,000 jobs nationwide and are estimated to generate $24.5 billion in revenue for communities surrounding national parks, forests, and public lands. 

Key quote: “The Great American Outdoors Act 250 builds on a promise we made together, on a bipartisan basis, to keep our parks open and well cared for,” Huffman said. “It means a campsite ready when you pull in, clean restrooms and water at the spigot, and trails accessible enough for grandparents and kids to walk together.”

You can read the full text of the bill here. 

SOLAR AND STORAGE MAKES UP 90% OF NEW ENERGY IN FIRST QUARTER: Solar and storage provide over 90% of all new power to the grid in the first quarter, according to Solar Energy Industries Association.

SEIA said the U.S. added 7.8 gigawatts of new solar capacity in the first quarter. It noted that, despite the change in policy on renewable energy, solar and energy storage represented 91% of new capacity installed in the quarter. SEIA, along with Wood Mackenzie, also found that contracts for utility-scale solar rose 15% year-over-year due to the rise in artificial intelligence and data centers. 

“We are forecasting that US solar additions will be flat over the next five years despite the need for more power supply in the US,” said Michelle Davis, head of solar at Wood Mackenzie. 

“We’ve seen a notable increase in solar procurements in utility resource planning, but current permitting bottlenecks continue to serve as near-term headwinds,” Davis continued. 

Meanwhile, the clean energy think tank Ember today reported that solar accounted for 12.8% of U.S. electricity in May, surpassing coal at 12.2%. 

RUNDOWN 

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