May 7 – CNN:
“Against the backdrop of the water crisis in the Colorado River Basin, where the country's largest reservoirs are plunging at an alarming rate, California’s two largest reservoirs — Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville — are facing a similar struggle. Years of low rainfall and snowpack and more intense heat waves have fed directly to the state's multiyear, unrelenting drought conditions, rapidly draining statewide reservoirs. And according to this week's report from the US Drought Monitor, the two major reservoirs are at ‘critically low levels’ at the point of the year when they should be the highest. This week, Shasta Lake is only at 40% of its total capacity, the lowest it has ever been at the start of May since record-keeping began in 1977. Meanwhile, further south, Lake Oroville is at 55% of its capacity…”
May 8 – Wall Street Journal:
“From California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat waves or other peak periods as soon as this year. California’s grid operator said Friday that it anticipates a shortfall in supplies this summer, especially if extreme heat, wildfires or delays in bringing new power sources online exacerbate the constraints. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large regional grid spanning much of the Midwest, said late last month that capacity shortages may force it to take emergency measures to meet summer demand… The risk of electricity shortages is rising throughout the U.S. as traditional power plants are being retired more quickly than they can be replaced by renewable energy and battery storage.”
May 9 – Reuters:
“Ukraine's
president said… trade at the country's ports was at a standstill and
urged the international community to take immediate steps to end a
Russian blockade to allow wheat shipments and prevent a global food
crisis. Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the comments after speaking to
European Council President Charles Michel, who was visiting Odesa - the
major Black Sea port for exporting agricultural products where missiles
struck tourist sites and destroyed buildings on Monday.”
May 9 – Bloomberg:
“Demand for electricity in Texas is forecast to surge to a level rarely seen outside of summer as a spring heat wave drives up temperatures and millions of people crank up air conditioners. The state’s main grid operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said it has secured enough supply to meet power use throughout the day. Demand on the grid hit 67.3 gigawatts early afternoon Monday and is forecast to peak at 71.1 gigawatts at 5 p.m. local time. That’s about 3.7 gigawatts short of the all-time demand record for the state, set in August 2019.”
May 10 – Associated Press:
“California's water use jumped dramatically in March, state officials said…, as one of the driest stretches on record prompted a wave of homeowners to start watering their lawns earlier than usual in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom's pleas for conservation amid a severe drought. Newsom last summer asked residents to voluntarily cut water use by 15% compared to 2020 as climate change intensified a drought that threatened to drain the state's reservoirs to dangerously low levels.”
May 11 – Bloomberg:
“The diesel crisis in the US may get worse this summer with the potential of shortages and rationing on the East Coast, said billionaire refinery and fuel station owner John Catsimatidis. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised to see diesel being rationed on the East Coast this summer,’ Catsimatidis, CEO of United Refining Co., said… ‘Right now inventories are low and we may see a shortage in coming months.’”
May 12 – Reuters:
"America’s antiquated electric infrastructure (upgrading) – a task some industry experts say requires more than $2 trillion. The current network of U.S. transmission wires, substations and transformers is decaying with age and underinvestment… Power outages over the last six years have more than doubled in number compared to the previous six years… In the past two years, power systems have collapsed in Gulf Coast hurricanes, West Coast wildfires, Midwest heat waves and a Texas deep freeze, causing long and sometimes deadly outages.”
May 12 – Reuters:
“Pressure on Europe to secure alternative gas supplies increased on Thursday as Moscow imposed sanctions on European subsidiaries of state-owned Gazprom a day after Ukraine stopped a major gas transit route. Gas prices surged, with the key European benchmark gaining 12% as buyers were unsettled by the mounting threats to Europe's supply given its high dependence on Russia. Moscow has already cut off supply to Bulgaria and Poland and countries are racing to fill dwindling gas reserves before winter.”
May 12 – Bloomberg:
“Russia has banned Gazprom PJSC from shipping gas to Europe through the Polish section of the Yamal pipeline in retaliation for international sanctions, potentially putting the continent’s energy security further at risk… The Yamal-Europe pipeline, barely used this year, has been seen as a potential alternative route in case Russian transits via Ukraine stop during the chaos of war.”
May 13 – Bloomberg:
“From record gasoline prices to higher airfares to fears of diesel rationing ahead, America’s runaway energy market is disquieting both US travelers and the wider economy. ... More than 1 million barrels a day of the country’s oil refining capacity — or about 5% overall — has shut since the beginning of the pandemic. Elsewhere in the world, capacity has shrunk by 2.13 million additional barrels a day, energy consultancy Turner, Mason & Co. estimates. And with no plans to bring new US plants online, even though refiners are reaping record profits, the supply squeeze is only going to get worse.”