Happening today: Major green energy trade groups are going public with concerns about a newly initiated, wide-ranging Energy Department study of power markets and reliability.
The 60-day study, begun in mid-April, is reviewing (among other things) whether "regulatory burdens" and "mandates and tax and subsidy policies" for renewables are forcing coal and nuclear plants into retirement.
Why it matters: The study is designed to help inform Trump administration policy, and represents one of Energy secretary Rick Perry's first major moves.
President Trump wants American pipelines to be built with American steel. American energy companies are telling him "no thanks."
Pipeline, oil and gas companies—along with their Beltway lobbying groups—are telling the Trump administration that domestic steel requirements would be almost impossible to meet and prohibitively expensive, letters reviewed by Axios show.
Why it matters: Reviving the U.S. steel industry is at the heart of Trump's governing mantra, but so is supercharging domestic oil and natural gas production. Doing the former by requiring pipelines to be made of U.S. steel counteracts the latter, energy industry officials say. How the administration goes about seeking to achieve both of these goals will help reveal which Trump cares about the most.
