President Donald Trump announced Monday that Mesabi Metallics will construct a roughly $15 billion steel complex in Iowa—described by the White House as the largest steel plant in U.S. history. Combined with additional investment to complete the company’s Minnesota iron ore operations, the integrated project is valued at about $18 billion. The plant is slated […]
The Energy Realities Team of Dr. Nemeth, David Blackmon, and Stu Turley was in rare form this morning. In this roundtable discussion, three energy experts examine the perfect storm of policy decisions, geopolitical conflicts, and ideological commitments that have created a global energy crisis. Hosted by Stu Turley of Energy News Beat, with guests Dr. […]
September 18, 2026, the North Carolina Utilities Commission denied Duke Energy Progress a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for a new natural-gas simple-cycle combustion turbine at the Sherwood H. Smith Jr. Energy Complex in Richmond County. The denial is without prejudice, meaning Duke can refile. The message, however, is clear: data-center load forecasts and […]
The official line since the energy crisis has been simple. Families and businesses are exposed because fossil-fuel prices are set internationally. After the latest Middle East shock, ministers said Britain had to “get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster” and that “when global gas prices spike, people here shouldn’t be picking up the tab.” Ofgem and […]
On March 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security issued the longest and broadest Jones Act waiver since at least 1950, covering energy commodities and fertilizer inputs. The waiver was extended twice and now runs through November 15, 2026, with a narrower product list and voyage-by-voyage review after August 17. The Cato Institute’s Jones Act […]
If the latest Colorado Public Utilities Commission findings surprised anyone, they have not been watching the grid. On September 26, 2026, The Denver Post reported that Xcel Energy’s Colorado customers are losing power more often and for longer periods than they did from 2015 through 2023—and that the pattern continued through the first half of […]
Diesel prices in the United States have smashed records, topping $6 per gallon nationally and exceeding $7 on the West Coast, while inventories sit well below five-year averages. Truckers, farmers, freight operators, and industrial users feel it first. The pain is global: European and Asian markets have also hit or approached records as middle-distillate supplies […]
Baker Hughes printed the cleanest weekly headline: the U.S. rotary rig count rose 4 to 599 for the week ended September 25, 2026, with oil rigs up 3 to 455 and gas rigs up 1 to 135. That is 50 rigs above the year-ago print of 549. WellDatabase’s September 26 report sits almost on top […]
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity announced on September 24, 2026, that it intends to help fund 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states under the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) initiative. The package totals $5.25 billion—$1.9 billion in federal funding and $3.35 billion in […]
Kirk Edwards, President of Latigo Petroleum, stops by the Energy News Beat Podcast In this episode of the Energy News Beat Podcast, host Stu Turley sits down with Kirk Edwards, President of Latigo Petroleum, to discuss the critical energy challenges reshaping global markets. From diesel shortages and geopolitical tensions to drone warfare targeting refineries, the […]
