Daily on Energy: The power plant rule rollback 

The agency is expected to announce today at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Abundance in Houston, Texas, a final rule repealing regulations on carbon and toxic emissions from fossil fuel plants, a source familiar with the EPA’s plan told Maydeen. 

It would repeal a set of standards that were finalized during the Biden administration, which required new and existing plants to reduce carbon pollution by installing carbon capture, sequestration, and storage technology. 

Those in the industry have argued that CCS technology is not at scale to meet emission reduction requirements. The final rule would keep certain efficiency standards for new and reconstructed combustion turbines. 

A step further: The EPA also plans to propose a supplemental rule and open a public comment period on whether the agency should remove all greenhouse gas emission standards for fossil fuel plants, including the 2015 standards for new coal-fired power plants and the remainder of the Biden administration power plant rules. 

The EPA announced last summer its plans to repeal the Biden power plant rule. 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin at the time argued that the final rule would help save money for households on electricity and provide reliable energy.  

Stay tuned for further updates by Maydeen as more developments on the final rule. 

OIL PRICES SURGE ON SAUDI PIPELINE OUTAGE: 

International and domestic oil prices soared by more than 4% this morning, as escalations in the Iran war caused greater concerns that more global oil supply is at risk of being taken off the market. 

Brent crude soared to more than $109 a barrel as of 10:30 a.m. EDT today, while West Texas Intermediate shot up to just over $104 a barrel.

The gains slowed by the afternoon, though both Brent and WTI were above the $100 per barrel line. Just before 2:30 p.m., Brent was up 1.24% to sell at $105.91 a barrel, and WTI was up 1.48% and priced at $101.58 a barrel. 

Red Sea tensions: Iranian-backed Houthis have captured more islands around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another crucial passageway for global oil trade. 

Last week the militants seized Perim Island, also known as Mayyun, and seized the coastal city of Dhubab, which sits directly across from the island along Yemen’s western coastline. 

As of today, Euronews reported that the Houthis had also taken control of the Hanish archipelago. 

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait separates the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and is the only entry point of the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean. Through the Suez Canal, on the other side of the Red Sea, it also connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Millions of barrels per day of crude oil and other petroleum products pass through the strait each day, and roughly 4.2 million barrels per day transited the strait in the first half of 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration. Greater Houthi control over the strait is guaranteed to constrain this supply. 

Saudi infrastructure hit: Last week, Saudi Arabia said its East-West Pipeline was struck by Iranian drones, forcing the country to shut down the 745 mile-long pipeline. This pipeline has been crucial for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz over the last six months and ensuring several million barrels of oil each day continue to exit the Persian Gulf. The East-West Pipeline has a capacity to carry up to 7 million barrels of crude daily. 

It remains unclear how long it will take to repair the pipeline, though officials briefed on the matter told the Associated Press that it could take three to five weeks. 

If Saudi Arabia is unable to restart the pipeline soon, some Saudi oil buyers and traders told Reuters, the country will run out of oil stocks for exports. This could lead to a loss of up to 4% of global oil supply. 

The Trump administration holds a more optimistic view, but has stopped short of estimating exactly when the pipeline could reopen. 

“I think you’ll see that pipeline running back soon,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg TV today. “They’ve been very carefully assessing what the damage was and what needs to be done, and I think more clarity on that will come out very soon.”

All the rest:

TRUMP DISMISSES AI AND DATA CENTER GUARDRAILS: President Donald Trump said the U.S. already has guardrails to regulate AI and data center companies, calling public backlash against them a “sick conspiracy.” 

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” the president wrote on Truth Social. 

Trump added the U.S. has “tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power” over AI companies, adding that this “SICK conspiracy” against AI and data centers makes China happy. 

The president said that his administration has stopped “AI ‘people’ from doing bad, or potentially bad ‘things,’” calling out Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Over the weekend, Amodei wrote a blog post stating that the development of AI models should be slowed to reduce risk. 

His post came days after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quit his job and warned that AI technology could “kill us all by the end of the decade” and accused both OpenAI and Anthropic of “gambling with our lives.”

DOE OFFERS $16 MILLION FOR MINING SCHOOLS: The Department of Energy announced today that it would offer $1 million awards, for a total of $16 million, to mining schools in an effort to grow the domestic workforce. 

The program, called the PROSPECT Planning Prize, was launched by the DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation and is part of the larger $100 million PROSPECT initiative for bolstering mining education. 

DOE Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson told Maydeen that the initiative is designed to help schools with existing programs double the number of graduates in the next two years. 

“It is a highly aggressive prize designed with measurable outcomes,” Robertson said.

DOE said eligible programs would serve a range of participants, including early-career professionals, incumbent workers, educators, and students from colleges or high schools.

Read more by Maydeen here. 

TRUMP SAYS UKRAINE AND RUSSIA HAVE AGREED TO STOP STRIKES ON ENERGY TARGETS: The president said that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to stop targeting energy infrastructure.

Trump had called on the two countries to stop their attacks on energy facilities following last week’s record high in diesel prices and oil prices hitting $100 per barrel. 

The national average of diesel on Friday crossed $6 per gallon for the first time ever. As of Monday, the national average price for diesel is at $6.23 a gallon. 

The president said in his post that the rise in global diesel prices is “mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that he is proposing an agreement with Russia. But he added that he is not convinced that Russia will follow through. 

“If our partners are ready to ensure that Russia genuinely refrains from striking our electricity system, other energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food supply routes, then, of course, we are ready to ensure a corresponding halt to our strikes,” Zelensky wrote. 

WRIGHT SAYS REFILLING OF SPR WILL START IN ‘NEXT FEW MONTHS’: The Trump administration plans to start refilling the nation’s emergency crude reserves in just a matter of months.

The details: “It’ll start being refilled in the next few months,” Energy Secretary Wright said of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve this morning on Bloomberg TV.

If you forgot, the Trump administration is in the process of releasing up to 172 million barrels of oil from the reserves. Under the terms of the deal announced earlier this year, the barrels were not sold, but rather loaned. Buyers were legally obligated to return the original number of barrels as well as a premium of up to 24% in the form of additional oil.

“Remember, the oil we released, none of it was sold,” he said. “It was all swapped with delivery dates and delivery amounts agreed in those contracts. So that oil will start going in. The oil problem is going to fade away.”

How low is it now? Data released by the Department of Energy this afternoon reveals that at the end of last week, roughly 285 million barrels of oil were held in SPR facilities. This, which is a 400,000 barrel drop from last week, is the lowest amount recorded for the reserves since they were being filled in late 1982. 

Read more from Callie here. 

ENERGY REBATES FOR NEW YORKERS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled energy rebate checks for more than 8 million households earlier today, with some of the checks being sent out as soon as next week. 

The checks will be mailed starting next Monday and continue through December, offering some relief to homeowners struggling with high electricity and utility bills. 

The one-time rebate will be worth up to $200, and homeowners don’t need to do anything to receive the check. 

Why it matters: The rebate comes as politicians across the country look to provide relief for homeowners facing the combination of high electricity bills and soaring gasoline prices. 

In a statement released today, Hochul accused Republicans of worsening the affordability crisis across the country, saying the rebate would “help provide needed relief in the face of federal tariffs that have increased the cost of living across the board and President Trump’s war in Iran that has New Yorkers now paying on average $4.35 per gallon at the pumps, a 45% jump since the war began.” 

Trump has deflected blame for high prices at the pump, writing in a post to Truth Social today that price increases were caused by the Biden administration, which ended over 18 months ago. 

A LOOK AHEAD: 

Sept. 12 – 18 is Houston Energy and Climate Week. 

Sept. 14 – 16 The G20 Energy Ministerial is taking place in Houston, Texas. 

Sept. 15 – 19 is National Clean Energy Week. 

Sept. 15 – 16 The Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association Energize Summit is taking place in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Sept. 15 The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Energy is holding a hearing titled, “Nuclear Spent Fuel Policy: Examining Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.” 

Sept. 15 The House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a legislative session tackling a number of bills, including one to amend the Endangered Species Act.

Sept. 16 The New American Industrial Alliance is hosting The New Industrial Age Forum in Washington, D.C. 

Sept. 16 The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is holding a legislative hearing focused on bills streamlining the Clean Air Act and vehicle emissions requirements. 

Sept. 16 The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is holding a legislative session to extend authorizations for aquatic ecosystem restoration projects, multi-benefit watershed health projects, and WaterSMART grants.

Sept. 17 The Council on Foreign Relations is hosting the latest Open to Debate event with the title, “Does the U.S.-Saudi Civil Nuclear Agreement Serve America’s Interests?”

RUNDOWN 

Canary Media Gavin Newsom’s complicated legacy on climate and clean energy

Politico ‘Slowing things down’: Trade wars hit global electrification shift

The Guardian Scientists find nine new sponge species in glimpse of Alaska’s deep-sea diversity