Polling set to be released by the American Exploration and Production Council this week shows that both Democrat and Republican voters are acknowledging the need for oil and gas to meet rising demand, and keep energy costs affordable to American consumers. 

Some numbers: In fact, roughly 79% of voters said they believed oil and natural gas are important for keeping costs affordable, according to the poll first obtained by Daily on Energy. This view was shared by 51% of voters who identified as very liberal, and 70% of those who identified as a Democratic voter. 

As a result, most voters polled (63%) said they would support expanding oil and gas production to meet surging demands. Unsurprisingly, very liberal voters were the least likely to support this view, with only 26% saying they would support expanding fossil fuel production and 70% saying they would oppose. However, a plurality of Democratic voters, around 47%, said they would support, and only 43% said they were in opposition. 

Republican voters voiced the strongest support for expanding oil and gas production at 90%, with 97% of MAGA-identifying voters also backing the move. 

“Voters across the political spectrum agree that supporting oil and natural gas production is key to making life in America more affordable,” Anne Bradbury, CEO of AXPC, said in a statement. “It’s time to break the cycle of policy uncertainty that delays and derails critical energy investments, and passing durable, source-neutral permitting reform will provide a pathway to lower costs for struggling families.”

Pressure at home: The poll comes as electricity and energy prices have continued to soar, in part due to the war in Iran. As we touched on in yesterday’s newsletter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said energy prices overall increased by 14.7% for the year ending in July. 

There’s been a lot of debate over what has been the driving force behind the surge in energy costs, with many quick to blame the rapid build out of power-hungry data centers. 

But the issue is much more complicated than just new demand, as grid operators and utilities have been forced to reckon with years of failing to upgrade transmission infrastructure, the closure of many coal-power facilities, inability to connect new generation to the grid quickly, and the influence of global market prices for products such as oil and gas. 

One thing everyone can agree on, though, is that prices are higher. 

The survey coming out this week found that 79% of those polled have seen their energy bills go up in the last year, 44% of which said their bills have gone up a lot. Only 4% said their bills stayed the same, while 13% said their bills went down. 

If you forgot, earlier this month Callie wrote a deep dive on actions homeowners and renters can take to lower their energy bills. You can find that here. 

All the rest

OIL VOLATILITY COULD DRIVE FASTER GLOBAL EV ADOPTION: The global fleet of electric vehicles could jump from 4% to 25% by 2040, amid the continued volatility in the oil markets, Wood Mackenzie reports. 

Global EV sales have been gradually increasing due to the higher gas prices as consumers consider more fuel-efficient options. 

Wood Mackenzie said that several factors can contribute to pushing EV sales even further, including government investments in supply chains, high fuel pieces, and faster than expected advances in EV technologies. 

“If these forces converge all at once, the effect on EV adoption could be dramatic,” said David Brown, director of Energy Transition Research at Wood Mackenzie. 

TRUMP SIDELINES KENTUCKY GOVERNOR ON DATA CENTER PLAN: Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has claimed the Trump administration left him in the dark about the Department of Energy’s $100 billion data center campus planned for the state. 

Beshear told Politico in an interview that he has some “complaints” about the project, specifically, that nobody from the administration briefed him on it. The governor acknowledged that the DOE notified his office that a project would be revealed on July 29, but he was not briefed. 

Key quote: “I was not briefed on it. I had gotten notice that there would be an announcement and that it was a data center announcement,” Beshear said. “But at no point did the companies come and talk about the scope, the power demands, how they were going to be met, designs that could reduce or eliminate — hopefully — environmental issues.”

“Those are the types of things that we want to talk through with any data center project,” Beshear added.

As a reminder: Last month, the DOE announced that NextEra Energy will be transforming a closed Cold War uranium-enrichment facility in Kentucky into a data center campus. 

The project is privately funded with $100 billion going towards building 2 gigawatts of natural gas generation at or near the campus, upgrading existing transmission, and deploying up to 2.6 gigawatts of battery energy storage. 

MICROSOFT PULLS BACK ON CARBON REMOVAL: As Big Tech ramps up its AI operations, one tech firm is also slowing its investments in removing carbon emissions. 

A new report from Bloomberg reveals that Microsoft significantly reduced its investments in carbon removals in the first half of this year, buying about 8.55 million metric tons of carbon removal credits through mid-July. This is about an 80% drop from the same period of time last year. Simultaneously, Microsoft is seeing its carbon footprint grow, increasing by 25% last year. 

The company has defended the dip in carbon removal investments, telling Bloomberg that those investments are just one part of its overall strategy to decarbonize. A spokesperson for Microsoft told the outlet that any adjustments do not signal any change in ambition.

Key quote: “Aside from the sheer size of its purchase, Microsoft’s activity has also sent a key signal to its peers that carbon removals are a worthwhile investment,” Layla Khanfar, an analyst with BloombergNEF said. “If it pulls back, that also sends a message and other companies could be disinclined to take its spot as a champion.”

TESLA PLANS $10BN SOLAR PROJECT IN TEXAS: Tesla filed plans this week to build a $10.1 billion solar factory in Texas dubbed Project Crystal Sun, Electrek reports. 

The project would be located outside Houston in Fort Ben County, providing more than 9,000 jobs, according to the company’s application that was signed July 22. Commercial production at the plant is expected to start in the first quarter of 2029. 

The project is described by Tesla as a fully vertical plant, where it would take raw polysilicon at one end and turn it into finished photovoltaic cells and modules at the other. This is similar to how China does its solar manufacturing. 

In its application, Tesla requested a 10-year property tax break under the state’s JETI program. The company noted that it is considering other locations but the potential tax breaks keeps Texas as a competitive location. 

ICYMI – ENERGY DEPARTMENT SCRAPS BIDEN PLANS FOR BUILDING OUT TRANSMISSION: Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Energy said it was canceling three proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors that were planned under the Biden administration and would build out much needed transmission across the country. 

The what: The National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors are essentially sweeping corridors where power lines and other transmission infrastructure would be built to lower the chance of power outages and potentially lower the cost of electricity in some regions. 

The three corridors were selected under a program that started back in 2005 and was amended under the bipartisan infrastructure law to make it easier to build out transmission on private and public lands. The corridors in question would have been built near Lake Erie, through the Dakotas and Nebraska, as well as through Colorado and New Mexico. 

The why: The Trump administration has claimed that these three projects would have been a means to advance Democrats’ “Green New Scam Agenda” and “accelerate decarbonization.” As a result, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the corridors would not have been effective in “strengthening grid reliability and reducing electricity costs.” 

The administration has insisted that it is not scrapping investments in transmission altogether, pointing to loan guarantees already issued over the last year, and funding opportunities announced earlier this past spring. 

RUNDOWN 

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