Energy industry lobbying spending trended upward in 2024, as just about everyone began preparing for Trump 2.0, Nick writes.

Why it matters: Energy companies and trade groups have tapped new Republican lobbyists and tax specialists over the past few months, according to federal filings.

• They're increasingly reporting discussions with lawmakers about the looming tax and reconciliation battle royale.

Driving the news: The corporate energy and environmental lobbying spending we've been tracking ticked up in 2024 from the previous year.

• The American Chemistry Council led that charge, spending $22.1 million in 2024, up from $15.8 million in 2023.
• NextEra Energy, meanwhile, tapped Joseph ​Boddicker — former tax counsel to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republicans on the Finance Committee — to lobby for it, per a disclosure filed this month.
• The Nuclear Energy Institute similarly brought on outside lobbyists from Miller Strategies — including former Mike Pence legislative affairs director ​Jonathan ​Hiler.

Zoom in: A focus on reauthorizing the original Trump tax cuts — and protecting industry-friendly aspects of the IRA — started showing up in much more detail in the Q4 disclosures.

• The Solar Energy Industries Association reported lobbying on the "maintenance" of incentives for solar.
• Oil companies are talking to lawmakers about a possible repeal of the IRA's methane fee, which many of them publicly oppose.

ConocoPhillips listed its priorities for the tax debate in its Q4 disclosure.

• They included a 21% corporate rate, intangible drilling cost expensing (impacted by the IRA) and "preserving" the 45Q carbon capture credit.

By the numbers: Some of the notable lobbying spends:

• American Petroleum Institute: $1.27 million in Q4 and $6.3 million total in 2024, compared with $6.2 million in 2023.
• American Clean Power Association: $520,000 in Q4 and $2 million total in 2024, compared with $1.9 million in 2023.
• Solar Energy Industries Association: $460,000 in Q4 and $1.87 million total in 2024, compared with $1.87 million in 2023.
• Nuclear Energy Institute: $340,000 in Q4 and $1.5 million total in 2024, down from $2 million in 2023.
• Edison Electric Institute: $1.5 million in Q4 and $ 10.6 million total in 2024, compared with $11.5 million total in 2023.
• ExxonMobil: $1.5 million in Q4 and $6.7 million total in 2024, compared to $6.4 million in 2023.
• Shell USA: $1.6 million in Q4 and $7 million total in 2024, compared with $7 million in 2023.
• Chevron: $2.5 million in Q4 and $9.1 million total in 2024, up from $7.8 million in 2023.
• ConocoPhillips: $3.8 million in Q4 and $8.3 million total in 2024, compared to $7.9 million in 2023.
• Orsted North America: $240,000 in Q4 and $1.3 million total in 2024, up from $1 million in 2023.
• Southern Company: $3 million in Q4 and $11 million total in 2024, compared with $10.9 million in 2023.
• NextEra Energy: $2 million in Q4 and $7.8 million total in 2024, compared to $7.6 million in 2023.
• Duke Energy: $1.7 million in Q4 and $6.4 million total in 2024, up from $6 million in 2023.
• Constellation: $1.1 million in Q4 and $4.7 million total in 2024, compared with $4.3 million in 2023.

Rep. Mark Amodei plans to press the Trump administration and Republican colleagues to keep Biden-era funding that benefits Nevada projects, Daniel writes.

Why it matters: Amodei, a moderate GOP voice on IRA repeal, is returning to the Natural Resources Committee to have a greater say on public lands and mining issues.

• He was one of 18 House Republicans who signed a letter in August warning Speaker Mike Johnson against a wholesale IRA repeal.

Context: Amodei's district is home to several projects backed by the DOE Loan Programs Office that went dormant under Trump 1.0 and that Republicans have urged to immediately freeze.

• The Biden administration finalized a $2.26 billion loan to the Thacker Pass lithium project and issued a $2 billion conditional commitment to Redwood Materials for a battery materials campus.

What he's saying: Trump's government-efficiency efforts will likely cut the flow of federal funding "from a 36-inch pipe to a 12-inch pipe," Amodei said.

• If Nevada is targeted for any proposed cuts to a project or company, "we're talking with the company, talking with the agency under the Trump administration, to go: 'What are we doing? Why are we doing it?'" he said.

Zoom in: He said he plans to reintroduce as soon as this week his legislation to address the Rosemont decision that limited where mining companies can operate.

• The bill passed the House in May (with nine Democrats voting in favor) but was never brought up in the Senate.

Amodei also reintroduced a bill last week to strip presidential authority to unilaterally designate national monuments and give that authority to Congress.