Dive Brief: Hawaiʻi and Wisconsin joined the Affordable Clean Cars Coalition last week, increasing membership to 13 state governors.  Launched in May, the coalition aims to promote more affordable electric vehicles, support U.S. automotive manufacturers and preserve states’ authority under the Clean Air Act. The coalition was formed by the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan group of 24 governors. States will address their own challenges and opportunities while working together to achieve the coalition’s collective goals, the Climate Alliance said in a press release. Dive Insight: New electric vehicle sales were strong in the past two months as buyers rushed to take advantage of federal incentives before they expire Sept. 30. However, the share of EVs compared to total automotive sales declined in the second quarter both year-over-year and compared to the first quarter, according to CleanTechnica.  “Sales of EVs will likely fall dramatically when tax credits expire,” said Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough in an August 27 statement. A further blow to EVs came in June when Congress and the Trump administration ended California’s authority to set its own stronger vehicle emission standards. A 1990 federal law allows 17 additional states and the District of Columbia to follow California’s vehicle emissions regulations. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing many of the industry’s automakers and suppliers, supported the administration’s actions. “An aggressive regulatory push toward battery electric vehicles – ahead of consumer demand and without market readiness – will reduce U.S. vehicle production and auto jobs versus a more balanced approach that prioritizes and preserves vehicle choice,” said the group’s president and CEO, John Bozzella, in an April 29 blog post. The coalition’s 11 initial governors said in a May 23 statement that “The federal government and Congress are putting polluters over people and creating needless chaos for consumers

James Conlin is a director of product for Sharper Shape. As power grids grow older and climate threats intensify, electric utilities face urgent pressure to modernize. Meeting today’s expectations for resilience, safety, and efficiency depends not just on upgrading physical infrastructure, but on having the right data — accurate, timely, and scalable insights into assets across vast and varied terrain. One technology is rapidly changing how utilities manage their infrastructure: LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). LiDAR captures millions to billions of precise, high-resolution 3D data points — forming what’s known as a point cloud. These point clouds create detailed digital models of utility networks and their surrounding environments, mapping everything from power lines and substations to terrain and vegetation. This level of visibility is critical for planning, maintenance, risk mitigation, and emergency response. But collecting LiDAR data is only the beginning. The real value comes from turning that data into something useful. That’s where classification comes in. Raw LiDAR point clouds are essentially unstructured spatial data. Each point marks a location in space but offers no context on its own. Is it part of a wire, a tree, or the ground? Without classification, there’s no way to know. Classification assigns meaning to these points by labeling them according to what they represent, transforming raw data into actionable information. For electric utilities, this process is essential. It enables vegetation management by identifying growth that’s encroaching on power lines before it becomes a hazard. It supports asset inspection by helping monitor conditions such as wire sag, pole tilt, or equipment degradation. It ensures compliance and safety by verifying that infrastructure meets required regulatory clearances. It aids in disaster modeling by identifying potential risk zones for wildfires, floods, or storms. And it guides system upgrades by informing the design of new infrastructure or

ENGIE North America (ENGIE) has signed an agreement with Prometheus Hyperscale, a sustainable hyperscale data center developer, to co-locate data centers at select renewable and battery storage energy facilities along the Texas I-35 corridor. Under the exclusive agreement, Prometheus will deploy its high-efficiency, liquid-cooled data center infrastructure alongside ENGIE’s renewable and battery storage assets. The first sites equipped with high-performance, AI-ready data center compute capacity are expected to go live in 2026, with more locations planned from 2027, ENGIE said in a media release. “ENGIE is focused on delivering solutions to meet the growing demand for power across the U.S., with a strategic focus on enabling data center expansion. By leveraging our robust portfolio of wind, solar, and battery storage assets – combined with our commercial and industrial supply capabilities and deep trading expertise – we’re providing integrated energy solutions that support scalable, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure”, David Carroll, Chief Renewables Officer and SVP of ENGIE North America, said. “Prometheus is committed to developing sustainable, next-generation digital infrastructure for AI”, Bernard Looney, Chairman of Prometheus Hyperscale and former CEO of BP, said. “We cannot do this alone – ENGIE’s existing assets and expertise as a major player in the global energy transition make them a perfect partner as we work to build data centers that meet market needs today and tomorrow”. ENGIE added that Prometheus will work with Conduit to meet market needs quickly. Conduit is an on-site power generation provider for near-term bridging and back-up solutions. To contact the author, email [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR

Will technical resistance for the October natural gas contract hold? That was the question Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at EBW Analytics Group, asked in an EBW report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Tuesday, which highlighted that the October natural gas contract closed at $3.090 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Monday. That figure marked a 4.2¢, or 1.4 percent, rise on Friday’s close, the report outlined. “The NYMEX front-month briefly tested as high as $3.198 yesterday – pushing through technical resistance at $3.13 – before falling 10.8¢ into the close,” Rubin noted in the report. “Another technical retest of $3.20 per  million British thermal units may be coming this morning, aided by a modest upturn in CDDs [cooling degree days] and decline in production readings,” he added. However, Rubin warned in the report that the near-term fundamental picture “hardly warrants extensive optimism”. “Mid to late September warmth is modestly supportive, but also partially offset by stalling heating demand,” he added. “Tropics have been quiet, for now. Storage is rising faster than at a typical seasonal pace. Pipeline maintenance appears a key support of Henry Hub spot pricing,” he continued. Rubin went on to state in the report that the medium to long term structural outlook is robust. “Natural gas has surpassed multiple technical resistance levels over the past two weeks to add to momentum,” he said. “With storage likely to surpass 3,650 billion cubic feet by October 2nd – and chances for a mild October – the durability of the recent rally is uncertain despite a bullish long-term outlook for NYMEX gas,” he added. In a separate EBW report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Monday, Rubin noted that “weekend weather and LNG demand gains may align with bullish technicals to pose renewed

NextDecade Corp has secured a third buyer for the planned fifth train of the under-construction Rio Grane LNG after ConocoPhillips signed up for one million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) over 20 years. “NextDecade has now announced a total of 4.5 MMtpa of LNG from train V sold under 20-year LNG SPAs [sale and purchase agreements], which it believes is sufficient to support a positive FID on train V”, the Houston, Texas-based LNG developer said in a statement on its website. Subject to securing financing, NextDecade expects to reach a positive final investment decision (FID) in the fourth quarter. The supply for ConocoPhillips will be delivered on a free on board basis at a price indexed to Henry Hub. “We’re excited to help move this project closer to FID while advancing our global LNG portfolio strategy and 10 to 15 MMtpa offtake ambition”, ConocoPhillips chief commercial officer Khoa Dao said in a separate statement. “We continue to build scale and diversification, adding supply and sales points offering further optionality for optimization”. Just last month ConocoPhillips said it had signed an agreement to buy four MMtpa over 20 years from Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG phase II project in Jefferson County, Texas. ConocoPhillips had already committed to five MMtpa over 20 years from the under-construction phase I, from which it has also agreed to acquire a 30 percent equity stake. For Rio Grande LNG train V, the other two offtakers are Japan’s JERA Co Inc (up to two MMtpa) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EQT Corp (1.5 MMtpa). NextDecade expects to make a FID before the expiry of a newly revised price validity period for the engineering, procurement and construction contract it had awarded to Bechtel Energy Inc. The price validity period has been extended to November 15. NextDecade currently expects total costs for Rio Grande LNG train V

ConocoPhillips has been contracted to deliver its Optimized Cascade Process liquefaction technology for the 26 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, being developed by Monkey Island LNG. “After an extensive technology selection study and analysis on multiple technologies, Monkey Island LNG selected the Optimized Cascade process based on its operational flexibility, quick restart capabilities, high efficiency, and proven performance above nameplate capacity”, Greg Michaels, CEO of Monkey Island LNG, said. “The decision marks a major milestone in advancing Monkey Island LNG’s mission to deliver TrueCost LNG, a radically transparent, cost-efficient model that eliminates hidden fees and aligns incentives across the LNG value chain”, Michaels said. The 246-acre site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, is located on a deepwater port along the Calcasieu Ship Channel, about 2 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. It offers additional marine access via the Cameron Loop on Monkey Island’s northern bank, ensuring flexibility during construction and operation, according to Monkey Island LNG. The facility is also situated near one of North America’s most extensive natural gas transportation networks, which are directly connected to Henry Hub and the abundant Haynesville Shale gas basin, Monkey Island LNG noted. The facility is designed to have five liquefaction trains, each capable of liquefying approximately 3.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Each train gas a production capacity of approximately 5 MTPA. The facility will also have three LNG storage tanks with the capacity to hold 180,000 cubic meters (6.4 million cubic feet) each. Monkey Island LNG also said it has picked McDermott International as its engineering, procurement, and construction partner for the project. To contact the author, email [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of