The U.S. regular gasoline price and the U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price are both in a declining trend, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest gasoline and diesel fuel update showed. This update, which was released this week, put the average U.S. regular gasoline price at $3.078 per gallon on March 3, $3.069 per gallon on March 10, and $3.058 per gallon on March 17. It put the U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price at $3.635 per gallon on March 3, $3.582 per gallon on March 10, and $3.549 per gallon on March 17. Of the five Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions highlighted in the EIA’s latest fuel update, the West Coast was shown to have the highest U.S. regular gasoline price as of March 17, at $4.061 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown to have the lowest U.S. regular gasoline price as of March 17, at $2.629 per gallon. In the update, the West Coast was also shown to have the highest U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price as of March 17, at $4.203 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown to have the lowest U.S. on-highway diesel fuel price as of March 17, at $3.245 per gallon. A glossary section of the EIA site notes that the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are divided into five districts, with PADD 1 further split into three subdistricts. PADDs 6 and 7 encompass U.S. territories, the site adds. According to the AAA Fuel Prices website, the average U.S. regular gasoline price is $3.121 per gallon, as of March 20. Yesterday’s average was $3.102 per gallon, the week ago average was $3.079  per gallon, the month ago average was $3.165  per gallon, and the year ago average was $3.515 per gallon, the site showed. The average U.S. diesel price

Power generation firm Excitation & Engineering Services (EES) is expanding operations its operations to the Scottish Highlands amid a boom in energy investment in the region. EES said its new Inverness base will strengthen its ability to support its customers in the power sector as investment in hydroelectric and long duration energy storage (LDES) projects “continues to grow”. This includes the 1.3 GW Coire Glas project, set to be the first large-scale pumped storage scheme developed in the UK in 40 years. SSE Renewables is developing the £1.5 billion project in the Great Glen near Loch Lochy, around 50 miles from Inverness. When complete, the Coire Glas scheme will double the UK’s LDES capacity. With nine other pumped hydro schemes in development in Scotland, EES has launched a recruitment campaign for two engineers with local expertise to capitalise on opportunities in the region, “with potential for further expansion”. Inverness base EES director Ryan Kavanagh said establishing an Inverness base is a “major step towards enhancing our support for the region’s power generation industry”. “With more investment flowing into renewable energy, it’s crucial that we can offer specialised, responsive support locally,” he said. © Supplied by SSEAerial view of Loch Lochy, where the Coire Glas scheme will be built. “This office will help us serve our customers, improve collaboration with plant operators and support the maintenance and improvement of Scotland’s electricity supply.” EES founder and director Douglas Cope said the growing sector is a “great opportunity for engineers to develop their careers”. Cope founded the Tamworth-based firm in 2011 alongside a group of electrical engineers from firms including RWE and Alstom. “Scotland has a wealth of talent and we want to contribute to the region’s growth while fostering local expertise,” Cope said. Scotland pumped hydro boom Pumped storage projects and other

Nigeria’s push to revive oil production and encourage investment has been put at risk by sabotage at the heart of its crude pipeline system. Better security has been key to a recovery in the nation’s output, which rose 40% over the past few years after slumping to little more than half its historic peak. In January, Africa’s biggest producer even breached its once-distant OPEC quota.  The vandalism on a segment of the Trans-Niger Pipeline — which handles about 15% of the nation’s exports — is a setback for a government that had already taken measures to increase security in the area. President Bola Tinubu responded by imposing a state of emergency in Rivers State on Tuesday, citing an 18-month political standoff between local officials who he said failed to stop acts of sabotage by militants.  “This is a blow to the Tinubu government’s recent successes on oil output, gains driven in part by improved security measures,” said Clementine Wallop, director for sub-Saharan Africa at political-risk consultant Horizon Engage. “It is also a very difficult investment signal during a period where the government seemed to be turning a corner on energy.” Renaissance Africa Energy, a local consortium that only last week took control of assets including the TNP that it bought from Shell Plc, said it has no plans to issue a force majeure over exports of Bonny Light crude. Two tankers are waiting to load from the Bonny terminal, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. In 2022, when Nigeria nearly dipped below a million barrels a day, security on the TNP had deteriorated to such an extent that the pipeline system had been illegally tapped in about 150 places. That meant producers only received a small fraction of the volumes they pumped through. Tightening security on oil pipelines

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has granted a conditional permit for non-FTA exportation to CP2 LNG, a project of Venture Global Inc. under construction in Cameron Parish, Louisiana The project had already received authorization for the FTA portion of its request to export the equivalent of about 1.45 trillion cubic feet a year of natural gas, in a DOE order April 22, 2022. A final permit for the non-FTA portion has been withheld pending a DOE review of permitting considerations concerning greenhouse gas emissions, environmental impact, energy prices and domestic gas supply, according to a department order Wednesday granting the conditional permit. While the Trump administration ended ex-President Joe Biden’s pause of pending decisions on LNG export to countries with no free-trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S., the DOE under Trump indicated it would not junk a study published by the previous government on permitting considerations. In a January 21, 2025, statement the DOE said it was extending the deadline for the comment period for the results of that study from February 18, 2025, to March 20, 2025. “DOE expects to issue a final order to CP2 LNG in the coming months”, the department said in an online statement Wednesday. “We are grateful for the Trump Administration’s return to regular order and regulatory certainty that will allow us to further expand U.S. LNG exports, which have consistently been found to be in the public interest across multiple Administrations”, Venture Global chief executive Mike Sabel said in a company statement Wednesday. “This will enable us to provide our allies around the world with American LNG in just a few years and for decades to come”. Arlington, Virginia-based Venture Global said, “To date, the initial phase of CP2 LNG has been sold through 20-year sales and purchase agreements with ExxonMobil,

Calvin Butler is president and CEO of Exelon and Kenneth Cooper is the IBEW International president. A resilient, secure and modern power grid is not only a technical achievement, it is a cornerstone of American competitiveness, national security and strength. The grid’s ingenious design has allowed it to operate in much the same way for centuries, delivering life-sustaining electricity to cities, rural towns, small businesses, manufacturing complexes and critical services across the country. Now, this dependable, age-old system is undergoing rapid change. Our country and world are experiencing unprecedented energy demand. Nonprofit energy research center EPRI predicts that data center energy consumption could more than double by 2030. And just as the data centers now powered by the grid support artificial intelligence (AI) and other complex technology, the grid itself is becoming more complex to maintain. We must ensure there is a workforce with the skills and technological know-how to ready the grid for its next iteration, supporting new demand, but built to withstand increasingly extreme weather events and natural disasters. This critical necessity was top of mind earlier this month when representatives from labor and management from across the energy industry convened for the National Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. As leaders of the nation’s largest energy delivery company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents 858,000 lineworkers, generation workers and other skilled tradespeople, we represent both sides in a critical, symbiotic relationship: energy infrastructure and those who build and operate it for the benefit of customers. Partnerships between local energy companies and labor demonstrate what a robust, economy-spurring energy system requires. By prioritizing workforce development and innovation, we can continue leading the world in grid reliability and technology. It means industry can adapt and thrive, spurring prosperity through creation of

Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative intends to buy power from two solar-plus-battery-storage projects planned by AES Hawaiʻi in a move that would bring the utility’s power supply mix close to 80% renewable in 2028. KIUC has asked the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission to approve 25-year, fixed-price power purchase agreements for the 35-MW Mānā and the 43-MW Kaahanui project, each of which include 4-hour storage capacity, the utility said Tuesday. The utility will pay $127/MWh for power from the Mānā project and $133.40/MWh for electricity from the Kaahanui project, according to filings with the PUC. The cost for power under the Mānā contract could be reduced by up to $13.50/MWh if it receives a loan under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Powering Affordable Clean Energy Program, according to the PPA application. The project was selected as a potential loan recipient. Also, the Kaahanui PPA could be reduced by $10/MWh if the Internal Revenue Service publishes final regulations on tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act for renewable energy projects that are in “energy communities,” and AES determines that the facility qualifies for the tax credits, according to the PPA application. If built, the projects will displace oil-fired generation, saving KIUC customers about $13.4 million in the first year and about $800 million over the life of the PPAs, according to the utility. “We’ve already experienced significant rate stabilization over the past five years due to the high percentage of power generation from renewable projects on fixed-price PPAs,” David Bissell, KIUC’s president and CEO, said in the press release. “Our rates have gone from being the highest in the state by a large margin, to among the lowest in just 20 years. With these projects we’ll be essentially buffered from oil-price volatility.” KIUC told the PUC it plans to dispatch the projects’ stored energy