SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily onEnergy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/

WHITE HOUSE READIES PLAN TO BAIL OUT NUCLEAR, COAL PLANTS: The White House reportedly is preparing to bail out struggling coal and nuclear plants, with a meeting scheduled for Friday.

The plan includes ordering federally overseen grid operators to buy electricity from the power plants, allowing the plants to evade market pressures and keep running.

• A matter of national security: Bloomberg broke the news late Thursday night, obtaining a draft memo circulated ahead of Friday’s meeting of the White House National Security Council.

• Action needed: “Federal action is necessary to stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation capacity,” reads the 40-page draft memo.

• First Energy bailout: The memo reflects a plan that would give utility First Energy everything it asked for in a petition it sent to Energy Secretary Rick Perry in April.

• Over-extended authority: The company wants Perry to use his authority under the Federal Power Act to issue an emergency must-run order. But the scope of the petition is much broader than how the authority has been used in the past, which is used to keep one plant running for a short period — such as several months — because of reliability concerns.

• Invoking the Cold War: Perry also has said he is looking at using a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act, which gives the federal government the authority to keep power plants running in time of war or as a matter of national security.

• An electric reserve? The memo says the White House is looking at both laws to keep the plants going. It also lays out a plan to create a “Strategic Electric Generation Reserve” with the goal of promoting a national defense and maximizing domestic energy supplies, almost like a Strategic Petroleum Reserve for electricity.

• Pushback: If the White House approves the measure, it would receive huge pushback from a huge coalition of industry groups assembled to stop the First Energy plan.

The coalition includes the oil and natural gas industry, merchant utilities, manufacturers, and the solar and wind industries. The coalition says any such plan is outside the scope of the law and would undermine the function of the restructured markets overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

• FERC stuck in the middle: FERC is evaluating the state of the grid’s resilience, and whether any new payments to generators is required. But that process is expected to take years. FERC had rejected a similar idea floated by Perry in the fall.

• It’s ‘outrageous’: The Natural Resources Defense Council was one of the first out of the gate to oppose the White House’s proposed plan.

“This would be the most outrageous scheme yet,” said John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project housed within the big environmental group.

“The only risk here is to Trump’s campaign promise to bail out very expensive polluting coal and aging nuclear plants, which will cause our electric bills to skyrocket,” Moore said. “And the only security that will be protected is that of the companies who want a massive bailout.”

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] 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.

WHITE HOUSE: TRUMP WON’T BACK DOWN ON PARIS CLIMATE DEAL: President Trump is not going back on his decision to exit the Paris climate change accord one year after deciding to exit from the deal, the White House said Thursday.

• No change: “One year later, there has been no change in the U.S. position,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in an email to the Washington Examiner.

Friday is the one-year anniversary of Trump’s June 1 Rose Garden speech last year announcing the country’s exit from the agreement.

• White House finding holds: “The Trump administration, after conducting an interagency policy process, concluded that withdrawing from the Paris climate accord was the best decision for the United States and for the American people,” Walters wrote.

• The wait: Trump has to wait two years before he can formally withdraw from the agreement under the United Nations bylaws governing the agreement. The date of the exit is Nov. 4, 2020, one day after the next U.S. presidential election. Many believe Trump has carved out a way to rejoin the agreement as a campaign victory in 2020, but it’s not clear what will happen at this point.

POPE FRANCIS TO HOST OIL EXECUTIVES TO TALK ABOUT COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE: Pope Francis will convene a meeting of oil executives and investment firm managers next week at the Vatican to discuss what the industry can do to address climate change, according to a report.

Companies such as BlackRock, BP, Exxon Mobil and Equinor are expected to be represented at the gathering, which likely will be held June 9, per Axios.

The focus will be aligned with Francis’ 2015 “On Care for our Common Home” encyclical, a papal document arguing climate change is caused by humans and that world leaders are not doing enough to mitigate it.

OIL INDUSTRY ‘DEEPLY DISCOURAGED’ BY TRUMP’S NEW TARIFFS: The oil industry’s lead trade group said it is “deeply discouraged” by President Trump’s Thursday decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

“We are deeply discouraged by the administration’s actions to impose tariffs on our three closest trading partners,” said Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. The industry views the decision “as a step in the wrong direction,” he said.

The oil and natural gas group has been pushing hard against tariffs proposed by Trump, including those imposed on $150 billion of Chinese products, because of the industry’s dependence on dozens of imports.

ENERGY DEPARTMENT PLAYS UP GOOD TRADE RELATIONS WITH CANADA AMID TRADE BATTLE: The Energy Department tweeted out a chart Thursday that asked “#DidYouKnow Canada is America’s largest energy trading partner?” asking readers to dig into the data that shows strong energy trade between the two countries.  

• Tariffs: The only issue with the positive tweet was that the Trump administration Thursday morning announced new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, which prompted the country to threaten new duties on U.S. exports in retaliation, setting up a trade battle that will undoubtedly affect energy trade across the border.

REPUBLICAN BLASTS PRUITT OVER LATEST OIL REFINER BAILOUT: Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a leading supporter of the ethanol industry, is bashing the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest tactic to free oil refiners from having to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard.

• What happened? News broke Thursday that the EPA awarded tens of millions of dollars of renewable identification number credits  to refiners HollyFrontier and Sinclair Oil, after the companies said they had been wrongly denied waivers in 2014, sources told Reuters.

• Blame game: Ernst is blaming EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for pursuing a plan that is undermining both the ethanol program and Trump’s plan to allow the blending of higher ethanol fuel blends year round.

• Uphold the law: “Administrator Pruitt needs to understand that his actions to continue to grant waivers, now retroactively, to oil refineries is undermining the Renewable Fuel Standard — a program that Administrator Pruitt told Congress he was committed to upholding,” Ernst said.

• ‘Dragging his feet:’ “From granting waivers to oil refineries left and right to dragging his feet on fulfilling the president’s promise to farmers on E15, Administrator Pruitt is undermining the RFS,” Ernst said.

• Pressure play: Ethanol trade groups on Thursday started a campaign to hold Pruitt accountable for not meeting the pledge made by Trump to open up the gasoline market to 15-percent ethanol blends, citing June 1 as the first day of the summer driving season when E15 is barred from use because of its high fuel volatility.

The ethanol industry wants Pruitt to enact the president’s plan to allow year-round use of the mid-grade ethanol fuel by granting a fuel-volatility waiver. Pruitt has made no mention of doing so.

EPA’S SCIENCE BOARD REBUKES PRUITT OVER RULE COMBATING ‘SECRET SCIENCE’: The EPA’s Science Advisory Board unanimously agreed Thursday to vet a controversial proposal from Pruitt that would block the agency from using scientific studies that do not make public the raw data used in research.

• Anti-science: Members of the 44-person board, a panel of outside researchers and experts who review the quality of the science the EPA relies on, concur with critics who say the proposed rule would restrict the science the EPA could use when drafting environmental regulations.

In voting to review the science research rule, the advisory board can issue recommendations on how to improve it or whether to scrap it. Pruitt is not required to follow any proposed recommendations.

• Meet and greet: The decision to review the rule was made during the Science Advisory Board’s first meeting since Pruitt appointed new members, many with energy industry ties.

• More reviews: The Science Advisory Board also voted Thursday to review five other EPA actions, including the agency’s planned repeal of the Clean Power Plan, its decision to scrap Obama administration fuel-efficiency rules, and its repeal of a rule regulating emissions from so-called “glider trucks.”

Members mostly did not express concerns about the substance of the plans, but rather said the EPA had not adequately responded to requests from board members for information about the proposed rules. The board can advise EPA only on scientific matters, not policy or legal issues.

TRUMP WANTS TO OPEN OCEANS: Trump declared June as National Ocean Month in an order issued Thursday night that takes aim at opening the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone to development.

• Must harness: The order says that the zone “is currently underutilized,” but could be opened up to development “to harness the vast resources of the EEZ.”

• New technologies: Trump vowed in the order that “we will develop and deploy new technologies in partnership with American academic institutions and innovators.”

• Streamline regulations: “We will streamline regulations and administrative practices to promote economic growth, while protecting our marine environment for current and future generations,” the order stated.

• Aquaculture: “We will also create new opportunities for American products in the global marketplace, including through continued support of our commercial fisheries and promotion of domestic aquaculture.”

• Few specifics: It is not clear what development Trump is talking about, if it could mean opening up new forms of ocean-based renewable energy could be part of it.

GROUP SUING TRUMP THE MOST STEPS INTO MIDTERMS: The conservation group Center for Biological Diversity is stepping into the midterm election battle by launching its 501(c)(4) organization devoted to electing county, state, and federal lawmakers with “unshakable environmental values.”

• More than 70 lawsuits: The group has sued the Trump administration more than 70 times in the last year, becoming the first group to sue Trump over his proposed border wall, because of the harm it posed to threatened species’ habitat.

• First up, New Mexico: The group’s new Center Action Fund announced its first political endorsements in New Mexico and Nevada. The  Democratic primary in New Mexico is June 5, and Nevada’s is June 12.

“The candidates we endorse today will stand up for America’s air, water, land and wildlife. They will protect our freedom and right to a healthy environment,” said Kieran Suckling, president of the Center Action Fund.

• Significant resources: “The Center Action Fund will invest significant resources nationally in the 2018 election cycle to elect candidates who will stand up to President Trump and his cronies in Congress,” said Suckling. “We will call out Democrats and Republicans alike who sell out America’s wildlife and environment.”

TWO MORE MONTHS TO RESTORE POWER IN PUERTO RICO: Power won’t be fully restored on Puerto Rico for another two months, as the island continues its slow recovery after Hurricane Maria wiped out an already crippled energy system.

Walter Higgins, the new CEO of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the island’s bankrupt, state-run utility, told the Associated Press that more than 11,000 customers remain without power.

• Wishful thinking: “We all wish we were further along,” he said.

Higgins added will take years to modernize and strengthen Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, and that it’s too early to say what will happen if and when PREPA or its operations are privatized.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello wants PREPA privatized to cut costs and attract capital.

EPA’S WEBSITE OFFLINE ALL WEEKEND: An alert on the EPA website says it is going dark all weekend, beginning Friday at 9 p.m.

• Why? Good question. EPA officials would not immediately explain.

• EPA at ‘diminished capacity’: A notice at the top of the EPA main web page reads: “From 9pm EDT on Friday, 01 June 2018 to 6am EDT on Monday, 04 June 2018, EPA’s website will operate in diminished capacity.”

• No answers, no search: “Some services, such as search, will be unavailable,” EPA said.

The notice on the website was first seen Thursday.

RUNDOWN

New York Times 24 oil wells in a school’s backyard. How close is too close?

Reuters Coal lobby fights black lung tax as disease rates surge

Greentech Media California regulators approve landmark utility EV-charging proposals

New York Times In a first for Germany, Hamburg bans diesel engines. On two roads.

Washington Post Senate Democrats demand EPA IG probe whether Pruitt got improper gift from top aide who scouted apartments