2024-11-16 14:16

Utilities lobby for preserving clean energy and EV tax credits Trump plans to eliminate $7,500 EV tax credit EEI members emphasize IRA benefits for growth and consumers BAKU, Nov 20 (Reuters) - (This Nov. 16 story has been corrected to fix the title of Pedro Pizarro in paragraphs 1 and 3) The U.S. utility industry wants the incoming Trump administration and Republican-led Congress to preserve clean energy and EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, Pedro Pizarro, the head of Edison International (EIX.N) , opens new tab, the parent company of Southern California Edison, said on Saturday. The 2022 IRA contains hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for clean energy and is billed as outgoing President Joe Biden's signature law to combat climate change. President-elect Donald Trump, a climate skeptic, has vowed to rescind it, something that would require support of Congress. Pizarro, the president and CEO of Edison, who until recently chaired the board of industry trade group Edison Electric Institute, said the lobby group's members have been making the case with the Trump transition team and Republican members of Congress that preserving the IRA is good for businesses and consumers alike. "One of our big priorities as an industry is going to be to articulate the benefits of the IRA," Pizarro told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. "Most of those (IRA) benefits don't actually accrue to our shareholders. They go straight to our bills and down to our customers," he said. Trump's transition team is already working on plans to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, Reuters has reported. A group representing major electric vehicle and battery manufacturers including Rivian (RIVN.O) , opens new tab, Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab, and Panasonic (6752.T) , opens new tab, on Friday also urged Trump not to kill EV tax credits, citing the impact on key states that voted Republican. Dan Brouillette, Trump's former energy secretary, stepped down as CEO of EEI on Oct. 28, just days before the U.S. election and is working with the transition team on energy policy and cabinet appointments. For EEI members, which include US and international investor-owned utilities such as AES (AES.N) , opens new tab, Edison International (EIX.N) , opens new tab, Duke Energy (DUK.N) , opens new tab and Southern Company, retaining IRA tax credits for energy storage, transmission, nuclear power, hydrogen, EVs and others are crucial for continued growth, Pizarro said. "It's really across the board." EEI members will spend the coming months reaching out to members on Capitol Hill, he said. "We'll be very active there, just explaining the benefits of the IRA," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-utilities-want-trump-republicans-save-inflation-act-edison-ceo-says-2024-11-16/

2024-11-16 12:45

Stiell urges G20 to support climate finance with grants, loans, and debt relief Business groups also call for policies supporting shift from fossil fuels to clean energy Negotiators at COP29 struggle to reach agreement on finance target BAKU, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The U.N.'s climate chief called on leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday to send a signal of support for global climate finance efforts when they meet in Rio de Janeiro next week, to help trigger a deal at COP29 talks. The plea, made in a letter to G20 leaders from top U.N. climate official Simon Stiell, comes as negotiators at the COP29 conference in Baku struggle for a deal intended to scale up money to address the worsening impacts of global warming. "Next week's summit must send crystal-clear global signals," Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in the letter. He said they should support an increase in grants and loans, along with debt relief, so vulnerable countries "are not hamstrung by debt servicing costs that make bolder climate actions all but impossible". Business leaders echoed Stiell's plea, saying they were concerned about the "lack of progress and focus in Baku". "We call on governments, led by the G20, to meet the moment and deliver the policies for an accelerated shift from fossil fuels to a clean energy future, to unlock the essential private sector investment needed," a coalition of business groups said in a separate letter. The groups included the We Mean Business Coalition, United Nations Global Compact and the Brazilian Council for Sustainable Development. Ana Toni, a Brazilian climate official, told a press conference she was hoping for "a very strong signal on climate" from the G20 meeting, saying it was vital to the Baku talks. ANNUAL FINANCE TARGET Success at this year's U.N. climate summit hinges on whether countries can agree on a new annual finance target for richer countries, development lenders and the private sector. Developing countries need at least $1 trillion a year by the end of the decade to cope with climate change, economists told the U.N. talks. But negotiators have made slow progress, midway through the two-week conference. A draft text of the deal, which earlier this week was 33-pages long and comprised of dozens of wide-ranging options, had been pared down to 25 pages as of Saturday. Sweden's climate envoy, Mattias Frumerie, told Reuters the finance negotiations had not yet cracked the toughest issues: how big the target should be, or which countries should pay. "The divisions we saw coming into the meeting are still there, which leaves quite a lot of work for ministers next week," he told Reuters. Samir Bejanov, COP29's deputy lead negotiator, urged nations to get beyond their differences. "Over the last few days, some people have doubted whether collectively we can deliver. It's time for the negotiators to start proving them wrong," he told reporters. European negotiators have said large oil-producing nations including Saudi Arabia are also blocking discussions on how to take forward last year's COP28 summit deal to transition the world away from fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Progress on this issue has been dire so far, one European negotiator told Reuters. Uganda's energy minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, said her country's priority was to leave COP29 with a deal on affordable financing for clean energy projects. "When you look around and you don't have the money, then we keep wondering whether we will ever walk the journey of a real energy transition," she told Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-climate-chief-asks-g20-leaders-boost-finance-talks-lag-2024-11-16/

2024-11-16 10:33

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - For residents of Morro da Babilonia, one of Rio de Janeiro's underdeveloped 'favela' neighborhoods, geopolitics rarely enters daily conversation, but as the city readies to host leaders from the Group of 20 major economies on Monday, locals hope a project of theirs will find its place in the sun. Within walking distance of Rio's famous Copacabana beach, Babilonia has been slowly expanding its use of solar power since 2015, with local non-profit Revolusolar installing panels to power some 50 families' homes in a community of less than 4,000. Next year, the non-profit hopes to expand to 100 families at a cost of 1.5 million reais ($260,000). Revolusolar has been participating in the G20 Social, a side event created by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for non-government groups to take part in the global forum. Lula is set to join the G20 Social's closing ceremony on Saturday alongside first lady Janja Lula da Silva. "We managed to deliver one of our documents to her," said Adriano Hazad, a Babilonia local and Revolusolar employee, who took the event as a chance to discuss plans with Rio state officials. The non-profit, that also provides solar power to eight other communities across Brazil, including an Indigenous community in the Amazon rainforest, hope the visibility will bring funding and government support for sustainable energy in favelas. "When we are a showcase for the world, I believe it's the time to stand out and make our project grow," said Hazad. ($1 = 5.7947 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/solar-power-project-brazil-favelas-hopes-shine-g20-spotlight-2024-11-16/

2024-11-16 10:13

BERLIN, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Austrian energy company OMV said gas deliveries from Russia had ended at 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Saturday, but the regulator said supplies to customers were stable despite a drop in flows into Austria. "We confirm that there has been no gas delivery from 6 a.m. today," an OMV spokesperson said. Alfons Haber, head of E-Control, the regulator, said: "Quantities coming into Austria are currently down by 12-15%." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/omv-says-its-gas-deliveries-russia-have-stopped-2024-11-16/

2024-11-16 08:00

Austria's OMV stopped receiving Russian gas OMV seeks to recover damages from Gazprom OMV says Gazprom failed to deliver to its German unit Slovakia says other buyers asked for more Russian gas MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Russia halted gas supplies to Austria on Saturday in a dispute over payments but was still pumping steady volumes to Europe via Ukraine after remaining buyers asked for more gas. Russia, which before the Ukraine war was the biggest single supplier of natural gas to Europe, has lost almost all of its European customers as the EU tries to reduce its dependence and after the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany was blown up in 2022. Now one of the last main Russian gas routes to Europe - the Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline via Ukraine - is due to shut at the end of this year, as Kyiv does not want to extend a five-year transit agreement which brings northern Siberian gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. Austria said on Friday that Moscow had informed it that the gas would be shut off following an arbitration award to OMV (OMVV.VI) , opens new tab, Austria's biggest energy supplier, over unfulfilled supplies to its German unit by Russia's state firm Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab. On Saturday, Austria's energy regulator E-Control said Gazprom's deliveries to OMV had stopped at 6 a.m. (0500 GMT), adding that prices and supplies to Austrian customers were steady. OMV is seeking to recover the 230 million euro ($242 million) damages, awarded during arbitration, from Gazprom by offsetting the claim against invoices for deliveries to Austria - essentially stopping some payments for gas supplied via Ukraine. Gazprom declined to comment on the suspension of flows to Austria, but the Russian company said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the same volume as on Friday and during every other day in recent months. Slovak state-owned firm SPP said it was still receiving gas from Russia and added others were buying more. "The situation when a large consumer stopped taking gas from the east, but the same volume flows through the territory of Ukraine, shows that there is still great interest in this gas in Europe," SPP said in a statement, without naming the other buyers. OMV usually accounts for around 40% of Russian gas flows via Ukraine, or some 17 mcm per day. Austrian grid operator AGGM said it was not currently substituting imports from Germany or Italy. Austria said earlier it had plentiful stocks to cover the shortfall. GAS POLITICS Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the first time in nearly two years, as European leaders wait to hear Donald Trump's ideas on ending the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. According to the Kremlin, Putin told Scholz that Russia had always fulfilled its contractual obligations for energy supplies and was "ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if the German side shows interest in this". Soviet and post-Soviet leaders spent half a century from the discovery of major Siberian gas deposits in the post-WW2 years building up an energy business which linked the Soviet Union, then Russia, and Germany, by far Europe's biggest economy. War, and explosions, have destroyed that link, damaging the economies of both countries. At its peak, Russia was supplying 35% of Europe's gas but since the war started in 2022 Gazprom has lost market share to Norway, the United States and Qatar. The Yamal-Europe pipeline via Belarus was closed after a dispute, while Russia blamed the United States and Britain for the explosions under the Baltic Sea that closed the Nord Stream route. Washington and London have denied they blew up the pipelines. The Wall Street Journal has reported Ukrainian officials were behind the attack. Kyiv has denied that. Without Austria, significant Russian supplies will only go to two European countries, Hungary and Slovakia, in Hungary's case via a pipeline running mostly through Turkey. Russia shipped some 15 billion cubic metres of gas via Ukraine in 2023, about 8% of peak Russian gas flows to Europe via various routes in 2018-2019, according to data compiled by Reuters. In 2023, the Ukraine transit route met 65% of gas demand in Austria and its eastern neighbours Hungary and Slovakia, according to the International Energy Agency. ($1 = 0.9487 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-gas-exports-via-ukraine-europe-stable-despite-austria-cuts-2024-11-16/

2024-11-16 06:24

MANILA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Philippine authorities issued an urgent appeal on Saturday for residents in low-lying areas and coastal towns to move to safety as super typhoon Man-Yi gained strength on its approach towards the country's main Luzon island. Man-Yi, the sixth tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in a month, intensified with maximum sustained winds reaching 195 kph (121 mph) and gusts up to 240 kph, according to state weather agency PAGASA. This prompted it to raise its storm alert to its highest level for the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines Sur in the central Bicol region. Ariel Nepomuceno, head of the Office of Civil Defense, urged residents in the typhoon's projected path to comply with evacuation orders as Man-Yi threatened to unleash heavy rains and powerful winds that could trigger floods and storm surges. "It is more dangerous now for those in landslide-prone areas because the ground has been saturated by the consecutive typhoons," Nepomuceno said, warning that storm surges could reach 3 metres (10 ft). PAGASA warned that the typhoon continues to be a "potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation" for the Bicol region. More than 500,000 people in the region's six provinces have been evacuated, a disaster official told DZRH radio, adding the number is expected to rise as local authorities mobilise more residents. As of 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), PAGASA reported that the storm was located 120 km east of Catanduanes and was projected to make landfall late Saturday night or Sunday morning. "It must be emphasized that heavy rainfall, severe winds, and storm surge may still be experienced in localities outside the landfall point," PAGASA said. The main capital region Metro Manila is also likely to be affected with heavy to intense rains as early as Sunday. Locally named as Pepito, Man-Yi also caused the cancellation of dozens of flights in the eastern Visayas region facing the Pacific Ocean. On average, about 20 tropical storms strike the Philippines each year, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and deadly landslides. In October, Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey triggered floods and landslides that killed 162 people, with 22 still missing, government figures show. This month marked the first time in recorded history that four storms were active simultaneously in the western Pacific Ocean, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Nepomuceno said nearly 40,000 uniformed personnel were on standby for search, rescue and relief operations, while more than 2,000 vehicles, including navy vessels, were ready to be deployed. "We aim for zero casualties," Nepomuceno said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/philippines-evacuates-tens-thousands-super-typhoon-man-yi-nears-2024-11-16/