AI's energy needs and rising household power bills could lower political hurdles to passing a major permitting bill this year, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said.

Why it matters: Today API is unveiling a policy framework it hopes will inform sweeping, bipartisan legislation.

• It's part of the powerful oil and gas group's wider lobbying and ad push to ease what many industries call undue barriers to infrastructure.

The big picture: The need to meet AI's power thirst "completely" changes the politics of permitting, Sommers tells Axios.

• He cites projections of U.S. electricity demand growing up to 40% by 2040, and home electricity bills that are already rising.
• "I believe that not just from a policy perspective do we need to get this done, but I think it is going to be a political imperative to get this done soon," he said in an interview.

"Politicians are going to start hearing from their constituents: 'Why are my electricity prices going up so much, 10%-20% every single year?'" Sommers said.

• The data center boom and rising U.S. electricity thirst overall are potentially a major boost for gas-fired power, and pipelines to provide it.
• More broadly, Sommers called a major bill needed to help the U.S. "win the AI race with China."

Driving the news: API sees many steps for Congress to speed federal reviews and limit challenges once projects are approved, like...

⏱️ New deadlines for federal agencies to request additional info on projects, wider use of "categorical exclusions" from the most detailed reviews, and forcing states to limit "drawn out" reviews under the Clean Water Act.

⚖️ Requiring that legal challenges be "filed promptly and only by those directly impacted by a project." They also want new deadlines for agencies to act when courts do remand permits for more work.

🔍 Limiting agency reviews to "direct project impacts" and confining reviews to alternatives "that align with the project sponsor's stated purpose." It would also bar use of the "social cost of carbon" in permit evaluations.

Reality check: Corralling 60 Senate votes for easing fossil fuel buildouts is a massive lift— even bills that boost low-carbon projects, too.

• And it's an especially raw topic right now as Trump 2.0 officials yank permits for planned or even under-construction offshore wind projects.

Yes, but: Some renewables and other clean tech interests signed a recent business-backed letter backing a major permitting overhaul.

• The "abundance" movement, which sees too many hurdles to building anything, has grown in prominence.
• "Both Republicans and Democrats have been frustrated with the permitting process," Sommers said.

What's next: API goals within the House Natural Resources Committee's ambit are in a bipartisan bill the panel will review tomorrow.

Anglo American and Teck today unveiled plans to merge into a combined mining heavyweight with a market value north of $50 billion.

Why it matters: The proposed deal to create Anglo Teck comes amid rising demand for copper and other critical minerals used in batteries, renewables, AI data centers and more.

The big picture: The new company would have the "enhanced financial resilience and resource endowment to deliver many of the metals and minerals needed for the energy transition and global economic development," Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad said.

State of play: Anglo shareholders would have 62.4% of the merged company, and Teck shareholders would have the balance of the firm, which would be HQ'd in Canada with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

• Merging will bring $800 million in annual synergies, the companies said in a joint statement.
• The company would be a top-5 global copper producer with output of 1.2 million tons and expected growth of 10% in 2027.

What we're watching: The agreement allows the companies to "consider unsolicited acquisition proposals," and both have seen interest from other mining giants in recent years.

• "Interloper risk will be a big question for the market on this deal," Berenberg analysts said in a note, per Reuters.

🏦 Banking giants' work to decarbonize their lending and investment is down but not out, a new Morningstar DBRS analysis finds.

• Why it matters: The UN-affiliated Net-Zero Banking Alliance recently paused to reevaluate after many banks like Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs quit. It was a stark sign of financial sector climate groups losing steam amid conservative political and legal pressure.
• The big picture: "From a sustainability standpoint, the departure of prominent banks from the NZBA is a significant setback to the prospect of a smooth and timely energy transition because it means there is less pressure to act," the Morningstar analysis finds.
• State of play: The landscape is becoming fragmented, too, with key European banks remaining in the group amid stronger climate policies in the EU.
• The bottom line: Climate risks remain even as the scaffolding around banks' efforts wanes. "Banks' capabilities to quantify climate risk are increasingly important, likely requiring further work," it finds.

🇨🇳 The Center for Strategic and International Studies has a great primer on the stakes and implications of the preliminary Russia-China agreement to build the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.

• The intrigue: The potential deal has geopolitical crosscurrents to spare. One of them: "What if China is trying to convince the Trump administration and the world that it needs far less LNG—and that the fuel should not be part of any U.S.-China trade discussions? China may be projecting strength and optionality in the gas market as a negotiation ploy," Jane Nakano and Leslie Palti-Guzman write.
• Go deeper: I'm just scratching the surface, so here's the whole thing.

Fermi America, which plans a massive power and data center campus in Texas, announced plans to go public in an SEC filing stuffed with pretty wild numbers.

Why it matters: Fermi, co-founded by former energy secretary Rick Perry, is at the intersection of two trends — a resurgent IPO market and, of course, AI's growing power needs.

Stunning stats: The company has visions of "Project Matador" in Amarillo, Texas, that would have 11 gigawatts online by 2038, via new nuclear, gas-fired, and solar projects.

• Fermi's filing cites Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the global generative AI market will grow from $64 billion in 2023 to $457 billion by 2027.
• And it notes McKinsey & Co. projections that total AI power demand will rise from 55 GW in 2023 to as much as 219 GW by 2030. Trillions of dollars in investment are needed, it states.

Reality check: The U.S. is awash in extremely ambitious data center plans amid estimates of massive AI growth.

• But it's all also awash in regulatory, financing, and market uncertainties, too.

What's next: Fermi hopes to have 1 GW of gas-fired generation online by the end of next year.

Go deeper: Full SEC filing...Data Center Dynamics coverage.

Tesla's U.S. market share dropped below 40% in August for the first time since 2017, as its aging lineup of electric vehicles faced new competition from GM, Ford, Hyundai and others.

Why it matters: It was always expected that Tesla's market grip would loosen as more EVs hit showrooms, but the trend has accelerated as CEO Elon Musk has been shifting his focus toward AI and robotaxis.

Driving the news: Tesla, which once accounted for 80% of U.S. EV sales, saw that share shrink to about 38% in August, per preliminary Cox Automotive data first reported by Reuters.

Full story

That's the rise in China's wind and solar generation in the first half of 2025 compared to the same stretch last year, per new analysis from the think tank Ember.

Why it matters: It's part of a wider new analysis that sees China's fossil fuel use already hitting an apparent plateau.

What we're watching: China's energy shift alongside trends in advanced economies means that "it's likely that the world's fossil fuel demand will be in structural decline by 2030."

Full report