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Japan to introduce new energy plan in August
Japan to introduce new energy plan in August
Osaka, 29 June (Argus) — The Japanese government plans to introduce an improved energy strategy in August, tapping on lessons from unexpected disruptions to fuel shipments through the strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran conflict, it said. The resource-poor country seeks to improve energy resilience, meet rising electricity demand and accelerate decarbonisation. Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi tasked the country's trade and industry Meti minister Ryosei Akazawa late last week to recommend policies by the end of August that aim to improve Japan's energy supply-demand structure by expanding its energy options through crisis management investment. Easing crude oil prices offer a timely opportunity to further improve Japan's energy security in co-ordination with Asia and the G7, she added. Details of the policy package remain unclear. But the new plan may place greater emphasis on oil security and its diversification, given that Takaichi has been promoting the recently introduced Power Asia framework , which aims to ensure stable oil supply across Asia, as well as the well-established green transformation (GX) strategy, which is focused on energy security, economic growth and decarbonisation. This would build on the existing Strategic Energy Plan (SEP), which is in line with the country's green transformation plan, emphasising gas security and expanding the use of non-fossil domestic energy such as nuclear and renewables. The plan aims to consolidate measures that can be implemented without waiting for the next review of the SEP, which will likely take place in the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year. Tokyo typically reviews the SEP every three years and updates it as needed, with the current plan last revised in February 2025 . The plan to compile the package by August is also broadly aligned with the usual timing of Japan's initial budget requests. Under the current SEP, Japan aims to have renewable energy making up 40-50pc of the country's power generation in 2040-41, up from 22.9pc in 2023-24. The share of nuclear power will increase to around 20pc from 8.5pc, and thermal power will fall to around 30-40pc from 68.6pc during the same period. Japan will need to replace its nuclear capacity to maintain nuclear power's 20pc share in the power mix because a few of its reactors are expected to be decommissioned. It will need to replace around 2.2-5.5GW of nuclear capacity — equivalent to 2-5 reactors — by the 2040s. It will then need to replace a total of 12.7-16GW — or 11-14 reactors — by the 2050s, with this figure inclusive of the capacity that it replaced in the 2040s. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Rhode Island governor rejects building GHG bill
Rhode Island governor rejects building GHG bill
Houston, 26 June (Argus) — Rhode Island governor Dan McKee (D) vetoed a pair of bills that would have required owners of large buildings to report on their annual energy use. McKee on 24 June vetoed the bills, H7183 and S2260, saying they conflict with a separate provision in the state's budget for the 2027 fiscal year that sets greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benchmarking and performance standards for state-owned and occupied buildings. The bills would have created uncertainty over how the reporting program would be administered and would have taken resources away from the benchmarking provision outlined in the state budget, according to McKee In addition, the bills pose "a significant unfunded mandate" for Rhode Island's Office of Energy Resources (OER) as it does not allocate funding for the agency to implement the reporting requirements outlined in the legislation, the governor said. "The framework enacted through the [fiscal year] 2027 budget represents a more practical and sustainable path forward and does not place any burden on residential and commercial properties," McKee said. The sponsors of the bills, senator Meghan Kallman (D) and representative Rebecca Kislak (D), said they were disappointed by McKee's veto. "It is irresponsible to veto this legislation, which is the first step to getting information about building energy use so we can ensure a healthy and affordable energy future for everyone," Kislak said. "I think it represents a lack of understanding of where we are at this moment. To veto an energy efficiency program at a time when Rhode Islanders are facing astronomical energy prices, I think, is careless and irresponsible," said Kallman, who pointed towards a similar program that is being enacted in the state's capital, Providence, which covers 40pc of the state's large buildings. The General Assembly, which holds comfortable Democratic majorities, passed both bills earlier this month . The legislation would have required residential and non-residential buildings at least 25,000 ft2 to report their annual energy consumption. OER would have been charged with implementing the program, identifying and notifying covered properties of their reporting requirements and submitting reports to the General Assembly detailing the energy use and emissions data received. The legislation was seen as the first step in eventually implementing GHG performance standards for large buildings and help the state reach its climate goals. H7183 was accompanied by a second bill, H7184, that would have required the establishment of performance standards. But that bill died in committee, and critics warned that implementing such standards would prohibitively increase costs. State lawmakers could attempt to override McKee's veto of the bills, but to do so would require at least 60pc of lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly to support such a measure. In addition, the General Assembly completed the legislative session for this year. In some special cases, the governor can call a special session of the legislature. "It is possible, and it is my hope that we will" override the veto of the bills, Kallman said. Rhode Island must lower its GHG emissions by 45pc from 1990 levels by 2030, 80pc by 2040 and achieve net zero emissions by mid-century. By Ida Balakrishna Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
House committee advances data center power bill: Update
House committee advances data center power bill: Update
Updates with statement from Data Center Coalition in the fifth paragraph Houston, 25 June (Argus) — A US House of Representatives subcommittee advanced a bill to make large-load power users such as data centers pay their own way when it comes to powering their projects, an effort to protect regular consumers from higher utility bills. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy approved the measure by voice vote Wednesday as part of a package of electricity bills, sending it to the full committee for further consideration. The bill would require developers of projects requiring 100MW of power or greater to cover the full cost of new power plants, transmission lines or other grid upgrades needed to serve their facilities. The legislation, HR 9340, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, was introduced by Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colorado) and co-sponsored by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida). The bipartisan bill largely mirrors President Donald Trump's ratepayer protection pledge, under which major technology companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta, agreed in March to ensure that the costs of powering new data centers, including grid upgrades, are not passed on to residential consumers. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), the panel's top Democrat, noted the suite of bills — which also included measures to improve load forecasting, speed up generator interconnection, and expand transmission capacity — was a "useful first step", but he said more aggressive action was needed to "ensure that data center developers are held accountable and that consumers aren't left holding the bill." An industry group representing data center developers endorsed the House measure. "We are committed to paying the full cost of the energy we use," Data Center Coalition (DCC) chief executive Josh Levi said in a statement. "DCC supports the approach taken by the Ratepayer Protection Act to achieve this goal and ensure the industry's energy costs are not shouldered by residents and businesses." Manufacturing groups are pressing lawmakers to narrow the bill's scope, warning that its broad definition of "large-load customers" could sweep in energy-intensive industries well beyond data centers. In a letter to the committee, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America urged legislators to instead target "large computational load" users, arguing the current language risks raising costs and creating regulatory uncertainty for manufacturers that compete globally and are not driving recent spikes in electricity demand. The measure now heads to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration, where it could face further amendments before any potential consideration by entire House. By Jasmina Kelemen Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Plant upgrades may delay rise in US coal demand
Plant upgrades may delay rise in US coal demand
Houston, 25 June (Argus) — Recent federal initiatives to support the US coal industry may initially delay any uptick in coal demand as power plant operators upgrade coal-fired units to reliably meet growing energy needs. US president Donald Trump on 4 June directed the US Department of Energy (DOE) to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the nation's coal capacity, including $425mn for upgrades at 12 existing coal plants in the US, claiming authority under the Defense Production Act. DOE had previously committed to providing $175mn to support six other coal plant modernization projects. The funding, announced earlier this month, was one of the latest efforts under the Trump administration to delay coal plant retirements to maintain the nation's baseload generation. "With the new trend of US electricity demand increasing rapidly, these actions ensure that rather than eliminate energy sources, the US is maintaining an energy mix that meets the needs of American consumers," Jim Grech, chair of the National Coal Council and chief executive of US producer Peabody Energy, said in remarks to Argus this week. "Our existing coal plants provide essential dispatchable generation, and extending their operation is one of the most cost-effective ways to support reliability and meet incremental demand." Multiple selected recipients of these grants said DOE's support will help to reduce internal cost pressure to complete projects that were already included in their capital investment plans but were not yet adequately funded. US utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), for example, was selected to receive up to $46.3mn of the Defense Production Act grants for projects at its Cumberland plant, including previously planned upgrades to turbine and generator systems, the boiler and environmental controls such as a scrubber module, the company told Argus this week. TVA has also committed an additional $69.4mn to the plant. If awarded, the federal grants could also allow utilities to begin work on these projects, which aim to extend the selected plants' operational life and potentially increase their generation capacity, sooner than initially planned. Still, multiple market participants confirmed that most of these plant upgrades may require utilities to put units into recurring forced outages. Sources added that many existing coal plants in the last decade or longer have not received the necessary maintenance and funding to ensure their units can reliably operate over an extended period, especially at higher dispatch levels. Without these funded upgrades, certain coal plants would likely break down within a few days if their operators tried to ramp up their capacity factor rates to the levels needed to meet the increase in power demand anticipated within the next few years, one market participant said. At least some of the coal units set to receive federal funding are currently operating at sub-50pc capacity factor rates, with some operating as low as 30pc, sources said. In order to support the growing energy needs later this decade, market participants claimed capacity rates at these units would need to climb to 60-70pc or higher. Forced coal plant outage rates have already increased by a meaningful measure in the last year. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) annual weighted equivalent forced outage rate calculation for coal units increased to 14.1pc last year from 11.2pc in 2024, according to its 2026 State of Reliability report published on Wednesday. In addition, NERC estimated the amount of unavailable coal-fired generation as a result of plant outages in 2025 grew by 39,835 GWh from the previous year. As such, additional units getting taken off line over extended periods of time to complete work on the planned upgrades may further weigh on near-term coal consumption and generation over the next couple years even as overall electricity demand is expected to rise. Total US coal consumption is projected to fall to 418.8mn short tons (379.9mn metric tonnes) this year and slide again to 403mn st next year, down from 452.4mn st in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest Short-Term Energy Outlook released on 9 June. Similarly, the agency forecasts domestic coal generation to drop from a year earlier by 6.6pc in 2026 and by 3.2pc in 2027. This decline over the next two years is also expected to reduce coal's portion of the US' fuel mix, which EIA projects will fall to 16pc in 2026 and 15pc in 2027 from 17pc last year. On the other hand, after these coal plant upgrades are completed near the end of the decade and into the 2030s, market participants expect coal to account for a larger portion of the nation's total generation, which is projected to rise by 0.9-1.6pc annually over the next few decades, EIA said in April in its 2026 Annual Energy Outlook . While some sources claim coal's market share in the US could potentially climb to 20pc or higher, other sources have a less robust perspective and only expect coal's share to inch back up to its present level following the completion of the projects. Still, even if only a few larger coal plants were to consistently operate at much higher capacity factor rates in the long-term, that could boost annual coal consumption at each plant by several million short tons, various US utilities and producers estimated. Because of this potential uptick in coal demand, many buyers are concerned whether coal producers, particularly in the eastern US, will have enough availability later this decade and into the 2030s to supply their contract needs. As a result, even though multiple forced outages expected in the near future may weigh on near-term coal use, several utilities were heard in the last few months seeking greater volumes of coal through the end of 2029 and beyond to secure shipments before supply further tightens. By comparison, many eastern US coal buyers in the last couple years rarely solicited the market for term contracts beyond one to two years. By Anna Harmon and Elena Vasilyeva Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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