MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 26, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California ‘anti-poverty activist’ and Dem mega-donor pleads guilty to carbon-credit scam; NATIONAL: WTI tops $64 on technical break; Early fall weather chilling natural gas market as futures trade sideways; The cheapest power plant is in your home; Americans’ quality of life jeopardized due to reduction of refineries; American fossil fuels are the key to energy freedom; INTERNATIONAL: India refiners to curb Russian oil buys.

OTHER U.S. REGIONS

California ‘anti-poverty activist’ and Dem mega-donor pleads guilty to carbon-credit scam
Daily Wire/Luke Rosiak
Joe Sanberg, a prominent California “anti-poverty” activist, Democratic mega-donor, and backer of Governor Gavin Newsom, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a massive carbon-credit fraud through his ESG-branded financial platform, Aspiration Partners Inc., which promised tree-planting and environmentally responsible banking with celebrity investors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr.; as prosecutors revealed, Sanberg fabricated customers and revenue to inflate the company’s value toward a $2 billion SPAC valuation, raising over $300 million from duped investors, while personally taking $100 million in loans secured by his stake, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud facing up to 40 years in prison, and is also facing civil SEC charges for misleading growth claims—including paying himself and others and orchestrating financial misrepresentations—while questions mount over the legitimacy of carbon-credit schemes and “greenwashing,” highlighting the deceptive nature of the scandal. [MDN: Illustrating yet again what we have said for years. That carbon credits are a scam, akin to the Catholic church selling indulgences in the Middle Ages. The fraud is finally being exposed.]

NATIONAL

WTI tops $64 on technical break
Bloomberg/Mia Gindis, Verity Ratcliffe
Oil prices climbed on Monday, extending last week’s gains as West Texas Intermediate rose 1.8% to $64.80 a barrel, its highest in three weeks, and Brent added 1.6% to $68.80. The rally was fueled by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s signal that interest rate cuts could begin as early as September, raising expectations of stronger U.S. economic growth and energy demand. WTI’s move above its 100-day moving average also triggered algorithmic buying. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions persisted after Ukraine struck Russia’s Baltic port of Ust-Luga, the latest in a series of refinery attacks raising concerns about tighter fuel supplies. Still, longer-term sentiment remains cautious as money managers cut bullish positions to a 17-year low, with agencies forecasting an inventory glut in 2026. OPEC+’s move to restore production has added oversupply worries, while Brent’s rare discount to Dubai crude highlights weakening Atlantic Basin demand. Trading volumes were muted by a UK holiday. [MDN: Oil continues in the $60s range, which is fine with us.]

Early fall weather chilling natural gas market as futures trade sideways
NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index/Andrew Baker
Still smarting from a fifth straight week of declines, prompt-month natural gas futures finished flat on Monday as traders assessed a mostly bearish weather outlook, plump supply and strong LNG export demand. The September Nymex gas contract, set to roll off the board at Wednesday’s close, settled at $2.696/MMBtu, down 0.2 cents. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. slipped 4.0 cents to $2.305. Deteriorating cooling demand and near-record production caused futures to fall 21.8 cents last week, while NGI’s weekly National Avg. declined 19.0 cents to $2.485. The selloff “was attributed to cooler trends and a not even close to hot enough weather pattern” forecast for Tuesday through Sept. 3, NatGasWeather said. [MDN: Cooler weather is pushing down the price. We’re still in yucky territory, well below $3.]

The cheapest power plant is in your home
Utility Dive/Paul Hines
The article emphasizes that the real game-changer in grid resilience isn’t more generation—but better leverage of household devices. The author argues that our homes—via smart thermostats, EV chargers, and batteries—are quietly transforming into the grid’s most cost-effective power plants, forming virtual power plants (VPPs) that can shift or reduce demand on command. Unlike new infrastructure, VPPs scale quickly—within six to 12 months—and deploying 60 GW could yield $15–$35 billion in savings over the next decade. Real-world examples include California avoiding blackouts in 2022 and the potential for New Yorkers to unlock 600 MW just by 5% participation, shifting tiny amounts of load. Advanced forecasting and dynamic load shaping make this seamless, allowing utilities to smooth peaks without compromising comfort. With programs that reward participation, VPPs not only boost reliability but could save Californians $550 million annually by 2035—all by making smarter use of what’s already in homes. [MDN: We thought this was the perfect example of how the left behaves. When reality finally slaps them in the face, they turn around and blame YOU! Yes, you should be turning down your thermostat and wearing more sweaters in the winter (a la Jimmy Carter), or turning up the thermostat and sweating your rear-end off in the summer—because it will save their precious unreliable renewables that simply can’t meet the demand otherwise. We say, forget it! Crank up the AC in summer and heat in the winter, and build more gas-fired power plants to meet the demand. That’s how real Americans do it.]

Americans’ quality of life jeopardized due to reduction of refineries
America Out Loud News/Ronald Stein, P.E.
In this article, Ron Stein argues that crude oil’s indispensable role in producing over 6,000 products and transportation fuels underscores the essential nature of refining capacity, yet the U.S. faces a decline in refinery infrastructure due to aging facilities and the inability to site and permit new ones; as American refineries shutter, this contributes to volatility in fuel supply and prices—especially on the West Coast, where California is projected to lose 17% of refinery capacity within a year due to closures in Southern and Northern California, imperiling aviation fuel for civilian and military airports—while globally, 181 new refineries are planned (mostly in developing countries) to add roughly 4.2 mb/d by 2030, even as developed economies face mounting environmental, political, and regulatory barriers to expanding fossil fuel processing, raising concerns about maintaining quality of life derived from oil-based systems. [MDN: We urgently need permitting reform and new oil refineries.]

American fossil fuels are the key to energy freedom
Washington (DC) Examiner/Trisha Curtis
Trisha Curtis argues that American fossil fuels—oil, natural gas, and coal—are essential to achieving energy freedom, affordability, and security, both domestically and globally. As the largest oil and gas producer in the world, the U.S. strengthens energy independence by reducing imports and providing reliable, law-abiding sources of energy. U.S. natural gas exports, especially LNG, have diversified Europe’s supply options and curtailed Russia’s pricing power. The dramatic rise in oil output—from under 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to 13.5 mbd today—has further enhanced global energy stability while allowing more African and Middle Eastern oil to go elsewhere. U.S. oil and refined exports, including crude, propane, gasoline, and diesel, offer transparent and ethical energy choices to other nations. Additionally, U.S. electricity remains far cheaper than in many European countries, supporting economic resilience. Curtis concludes that “fossil is freedom,” and that Western nations should fully embrace traditional energy sources to uphold prosperity, national security, and energy independence. [MDN: The simple fact is, we have our incredible standard of living today directly because of fossil fuels. Without them, we return to the Middle Ages of early death, disease, famine, and misery.]

INTERNATIONAL

India refiners to curb Russian oil buys
Bloomberg/Rakesh Sharma, Yongchang Chin
Indian refiners, including Reliance Industries and state-run processors, plan to modestly reduce purchases of Russian crude in the coming weeks, signaling a limited concession to Washington just before U.S. tariffs on Indian imports are set to double to 50% on Aug. 27. Purchases are expected to fall to 1.4–1.6 million barrels per day from an average of 1.8 million earlier this year, though India shows no intent to sever energy ties with Moscow. The Trump administration has ramped up pressure on New Delhi’s Russian oil trade, criticizing the sharp increase since 2022, when India went from negligible imports to accounting for 37% of Moscow’s exports. U.S. officials have also targeted India’s major energy companies amid broader efforts to curb Russia’s war funding. Volumes could shift if India secures a trade deal and Washington eases demands, but for now, refiners are signaling only a minor adjustment rather than a policy reversal. [MDN: Well, lookie here, tariffs and Trump’s demands are working. Bloomberg hates to admit it, but Trump’s policies are working. Behaviors are changing. Trump is bringing maximum pressure on Moscow to end the Ukrainian war. This is how real leadership works.]