EUCI Blog

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Oil and gas upstream mergers slumped in the third quarter of 2025, as doggedly low oil prices kept buyers away, with deals dropping to $9.7 billion, making it the third straight quarterly decline, according to Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR). The year began with a flurry of mergers and acquisitions,…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The independent market monitor for the PJM Interconnection is calling on federal regulators to reject an agreement to provide power to a planned Pennsylvania Amazon data center until there is evidence it won’t impact retail energy costs. The PJM is the largest grid operator in the U.S. covering Midwestern…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer While geopolitical risks tend to push up the price of oil, an increase in supply and global economic uncertainties has tamped down the price of oil to its lowest in nearly three years. Global petroleum inventories rose by an average of 1.8 million barrels a day in the second…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Trump administration is making a $625 million push to “reinvigorate and expand” the country’s coal industry, but even as it moves ahead another 8.1 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired capacity is set to close in 2025. The administration’s package includes $350 million for recommissioning and retrofitting old coal-fired plants…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The virtual power plant (VPP) market grew by 13.7% year-over-year in 2025, reaching 37.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity with an increase in company deployments, companies buying VPP energy credits, and utility-run programs, according to a Wood Mackenzie market report. The 33% in the number of a participants in the…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The sea lanes vital to the global oil market are under pressure from geopolitical events as shipments through five critical maritime “chokepoints” drop and insurance rates rise, according to a Rystad Energy analysis. In 2023, more than 71 million barrels a day (bpd) of oil and 26 billion cubic…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Solar and storage continued to dominate in new capacity in the first half of 2025, accounting for 82% of all new installations, but the sector faces headwinds from Trump administration policies with some areas already faltering. In the first half of the year, 18 gigawatts (GW) of solar were…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Rising natural gas prices – spurred increasing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – are set to push up electricity prices at the same time new demands are being placed upon electric grids, according to an Institute for Energy Economics and Finance Analysis (IEEFA) study. Natural gas generation become…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Trump administration’s tariffs on aluminum, copper, and steel are posing a challenge to the utility sector as it faces the need to make “historic capital investments” in infrastructure, according to financial services company Morningstar. “The timing of these tariffs collides with an ambitious agenda to upgrade and expand…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Oil and gas field mergers and acquisitions in 2024 reached $207 billion – a 331% year-over-year increase – as consolidation continued among the largest U.S. companies in the sector, according to Ernst & Young LLP. At the same time, some operators trimmed share buybacks and dividends to shareholders, and…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Trump administration, with an eye toward having the country’s first small modular reactors (SMRs) up and running by July 4, 2026, announced it will help fast-track 11 advanced nuclear projects. Building on a May executive order by President Donald Trump calling for a nuclear pilot program, the reactors…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Five state utility commissions opposed to paying for what they see as renewable energy projects for other states are seeking to change the financing for $22 billion in transmission projects planned by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). In a complaint filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),…