Latest News
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Emergency declarations made in New York and New Jersey due to flash flood danger
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and her acting counterpart from New Jersey have declared states of emergency in areas that are at risk of flash floods. These extreme flooding is forecast for Thursday along the Eastern Seaboard. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings in parts of the Northeast urban area stretching from Washington-Baltimore to Philadelphia, Wilmington and Delaware. It also included the New York City metropolis. The Interstate-95 corridor was also under severe thunderstorm warnings. Hochul said that the most intense bands of showers could bring up to 5 inches (12 cm) of rainfall across New York City and Long Island, as well as the Hudson River Valley. The rainfall rate may exceed 2 inches an hour. Hochul urged New Yorkers to be vigilant, informed and cautious as they expect heavy rains with flash floods. In a declaration, Tahesha Wadway, the acting Governor of New Jersey, said that New Jersey should expect rainfall totals between 1 and 3 inches in general with localized downpours causing 5 to 7 inches. She warned that extreme rainfall in New Jersey could cause landslides and rock slides, as well as flash flooding on roadways. The damaging winds of thunderstorms would also pose additional dangers. Way, lieutenant-governor, issued a statement saying that residents should stay off the roads, and inside, unless it is absolutely necessary. She temporarily serves as the chief executive of the state while Governor Phil Murphy is on vacation. The Weather Service said that the storm threat was due to a frontal cold air mass that brought a combination unstable air mass with exceptional amounts of moisture in the atmosphere to the area. (Reporting and writing by Joseph Ax, Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Sandra Maler).
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EIA: US gasoline demand in may hits lowest seasonal level since 202020
The Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that the U.S. gas demand for May was the lowest since the coronavirus outbreak of 2020. This indicates consumers are cutting back on fuel purchases, despite the lower price. The EIA proxy for demand is the product supplied of finished motor gas, which averaged 9.06 million barrels per day in May. This represents a 3.6% decrease from last year. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has claimed credit for lowering gas prices. They had risen to a record-high in 2022 because of supply disruptions due to Russia's invasion. Analysts have stated that the decline is partly due to the economic uncertainty caused by Trump's policies. The latest figures show that gasoline prices have fallen 8.3% in the 12 months ending June. Consumer Price Index Report The U.S. crude oil prices fell more than 20% as a result of concerns about a lackluster demand, and the trade war between China and the United States. Patrick De Haan is head of petroleum analyses at GasBuddy. He said, "Uncertainty to me, is the bigger issue." He said that the tariff/trade situation had left consumers feeling pessimistic. "Look for the figures from May to rebound in June/July, but I doubt that they will be any better than 2024." The EIA reported that the average gasoline demand in May of last year was 9.40 million barrels per day, the highest since the pandemic. Shariq Khan, New York (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Chôy)
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Eversource's quarterly profits rise on the strength of transmission and distribution
Eversource Energy announced a higher second-quarter profit Thursday as continued investments in its electric transmission systems and rate increases throughout its New England service area helped offset higher operating expenses. The utility's earnings for the quarter ended 30 June were $352.7 million or 96 cents a share. This is up from $335.3 millions or 95 cents a share compared to a year ago. Segmentally, Eversource’s electric transmission business saw a 10% increase in profit, reaching $208 million, in the second quarter. This was largely due to ongoing upgrades of its network in New England. Electric distribution unit's earnings were up $161.5 millions in the quarter reported, compared to $149.7 in the previous year, due to base rate increases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which helped offset rising interest, property taxes and depreciation costs. The natural gas segment's profit jumped 30% to $35.3 Million, mostly due to distribution rate increases which took place in late 2024 in order to recover infrastructure investment. The water distribution income rose from $8 to $14.4 millions, thanks to higher revenues and reduced interest costs. The company confirmed its earnings forecast for 2025, which ranges between $4.67 and $4.82 a share. (Reporting and editing by Alan Barona in Bengaluru, Sumit Saha from Bengaluru)
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Colombian deforestation increases by 43%, fueled by land grabs and fires
According to the data released by the Colombian Environment Ministry on Thursday, deforestation increased in Colombia last year. The destruction of 113,608 ha (1,136 sq km) was mainly in the Amazon region. This is a 43% increase over the previous year. This is a dramatic reversal from 2023, when the forest area destroyed fell by 36% compared to the previous year. It now stands at 79.256 hectares (793 sq km), its lowest level for 23 years. Lena Estrada, Environment Minister in Bogota, said that "deforestation continues." "The Amazon is the most affected area, which is a fragile region." Estrada stated that the increase in 2024 is partly due to forest fires sparked by a drought fueled by climate changes. She said that the main drivers were land grabs for pastures, expansion of livestock farming and illegal road construction. Growing illicit crops like coca leaves was also a major factor. More than 65%, or 75,000 hectares, of the total losses were in the Amazon region. Colombia has the highest biodiversity in the entire world. It is home to thousands plant and animal species. However, it is losing large areas of forest every year due to deforestation. More than half of the South American nation is covered by forest. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra, Luis Jaime Acosta and Natalia Siniawski. Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Sarah Morland and Brendan O'Boyle.
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PPL-Blackstone joint venture secures land to meet growing demand
Executives from the company announced on Thursday that PPL Corp.'s joint venture with Blackstone, to build power plants for Big Tech Data Centers, has secured land, and is in discussion with potential customers, as well as gas pipeline companies, and turbine manufacturers. The U.S. demand for electricity is rising due to the energy-intensive data centres needed for artificial intelligence expansion. This has raised concerns about reliability and costs for power grids that are running out of supplies. PPL CEO Vincent Sorgi stated on a conference call with investors that "Meeting the unprecedented growth in demand will require an unprecedented reaction and will require everyone to be a part of this solution." PPL said separately on the call that it would extend the retirement of coal-fired generation in Kentucky due to the growing demand for electricity. PPL, an electric utility that operates primarily in Pennsylvania, announced this joint venture earlier this month during a summit on AI energy in Pittsburgh, which was attended by U.S. president Donald Trump, technology giants and executives from the power industry. Energy companies who previously only operated power lines are now looking at other options, such as developing their own power stations, to increase power supply. PPL's data center demand has risen to 14.5 gigawatts. This is equivalent to the amount of power needed to run all the homes of California, the U.S. largest state. PPL also supports state legislation in Pennsylvania which would allow utilities fully regulated to own their power generation. This is not currently allowed in Pennsylvania. PPL Electric or any of its subsidiaries regulated by the PPL Electric Corporation are not included in this joint venture.
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California imports Saudi Arabian gas for the first time since 2022
Data from oil analytics company Kpler revealed that fuel importers in California received gasoline from Saudi Arabia’s Jubail industrial port after maintenance at India's world's biggest refinery helped to open up the rare arbitrage. Kpler reports that three gasoline shipments, totaling 886,000 barrels, from Saudi Arabia's Jubail industrial port have been discharged at Southern California's Olympus terminals in the last few months. California hadn't imported fuel from Saudi Arabia since the year 2022. In 2025, about 40% of the gasoline imported by the terminal came from Jamnagar. This was because Jamnagar had a maintenance shutdown in April. Yui Torikata, Kpler's analyst, said that this forced buyers to look to Saudi Arabia for an alternative supplier. Fuel imports to California rose to the highest level in four years in may, as the state with the largest oil consumption in America sought to compensate for refinery problems at home by using other unconventional routes. California regulators are proposing investments to increase fuel import capacity as the state prepares to close refineries that provide about 17% its fuel needs. Torikata stated that "there are concerns about the upcoming closures" of two refineries. Recent favorable freight costs also encouraged the large imports. (Reporting from Seher Dareen and Shariq Khan in London; editing by Barbara Lewis.)
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Enel's profit in Italy grew by a hefty 1 billion euro in the first half of this year
Enel, the Italian utility, reported an increase of 1% in its core ordinary profit for the first half when asset sales are excluded. It also announced that it will launch a share-buyback program worth up to one billion euros in later this year. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) was 11.5 billion euro, which is above the analyst consensus of 11 billion euros. Enel reported a normal EBITDA between January and June of 11,4 billion euros. Enel stated that lower energy prices for end-customers and renewables in Italy affected its domestic margins. However, the positive impact from its Spanish business as well as grids in Italy or Argentina was more than offset. Enel has confirmed that it expects an EBITDA between 22.9 and 23.1 billion euro and a net income between 6.9 and 7.9 billion euro for the entire 2025 period. The Group's ordinary net profit rose by 4.4%, to 3.8 billion Euros, exceeding analysts' expectations of only 3.6 billion Euros. The net financial debt at the end June was 55.5 billion euro, down from the 55.8 billion euro forecast at the end 2024. Enel's shareholders granted the board in May the authority to launch an share buyback program worth up to 3,5 billion euros to reward investors along with dividends. The company announced that the first tranche will be paid from August 1, until December 31, at the latest. (1 dollar = 0.8744 euro) (Reporting and editing by Elvira pollina, Alvise Armellini, Keith Welr)
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PG&E's profits miss estimates due to higher maintenance, operating costs
The utility firm PG&E Corp. narrowly missed Wall Street expectations for the second-quarter profits, due to an increase in operating costs. The company's total operating and maintenance expenses rose by 3.7%, to $2.86 Billion. It also said that wildfire claims, net recoveries, and the utility’s wildfire fund expenditure increased from one year ago. PG&E is responsible for a number of wildfires in California, including the most deadly. It has made investments to improve its grid's reliability. The utility stated that it would build 700 miles underground power lines, and upgrade 500 miles of wildfire safety systems between 2025-2026. Patti Poppe, CEO of the company, said that over 10,000 sensors have been deployed in high-risk zones to detect problems early and reduce outages. The utility said that it would also be working on supplying 10 gigawatts of new electricity from data center projects in the next ten year. The final engineering phase of 17 data centers totaling 1.5 GW is expected to start operations in 2026 or 2030. As tech giants look for places to build data centres to meet the increasing computational needs of artificial intelligence, electric utilities in the U.S. have seen a surge in requests for power capacity. In the second quarter, the company added 3,300 new electric grid customers. The total operating revenue for the quarter fell from $5.99 billion to $5.90billion. According to LSEG, PG&E's adjusted quarterly profit was 31 cents per diluted share for the period ending June 30. This missed Wall Street's expectations by one cent per share. In afternoon trading, the company's stock was down by 1.3%. (Reporting and editing by Shash Kuber in Bengaluru, with Sumit Saha reporting from Bengaluru)
Two years after the Sudan war, drone attacks have cut off power in Khartoum State
Authorities said that drone attacks had cut off power in Khartoum, and other surrounding states, on Thursday. This was as the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, continued their long-distance attack campaign, more than two years after they began fighting with Sudan's Army.
RSF, who has been largely pushed out from central Sudan over the past few months, has changed tactics, switching from ground attacks to drone strikes on power stations and dams in territory held by the army.
Sudanese Electrical Company released a statement saying that drones had struck Khartoum on Wednesday evening. The Sudanese Electrical Company said that staff were working to extinguish large fires, assess the damage and repair it.
The war between two opposing forces has destroyed the country. It has forced more than 13,000,000 people from their homes, and caused famine and diseases to spread. In the fighting, tens of thousands have been killed.
RSF drone attacks on the army’s wartime capital Port Sudan, and other areas, have plunged the majority of the country into prolonged blackouts.
The water supply has also been affected, adding to the difficulties and increasing the risk of spreading cholera and diseases.
Army sources confirmed that the army continued to fight in southern Omdurman (part of Khartoum), where it was attacking pockets of RSF militants.
The clashes have also forced thousands of people to flee the most active frontline during the war in Western Kordofan.
The army has been trying to seize key oil-producing zones and advance into RSF territory. In the Darfur region the army is also trying to break the siege of the city al-Fashir - its last foothold.
According to the United Nations, the conflict over the transition from military to civil rule has led to acute hunger in half of the population.
The conflict has seen the momentum swing back and forth, but neither side appears to be close to winning. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Khalid Abdelaziz, Nafisa eltahir)
(source: Reuters)