Canada measles cases pass 4,500, highest count in Americas

But the bulk of the Canadian epidemic has occurred among Anabaptist Christian communities — of whom Mennonites are one — where vaccine hesitancy is historic.

By AFP
August 21, 2025

A child receives the measles vaccine - Copyright AFP Anwar AMRO

Canada’s measles case count has passed 4,500, with the western province of Alberta — which has about five million people — recording more cases this year than the United States, figures updated Thursday showed.

World Health Organization data released this month show Canada accounts for about half of all the confirmed measles cases across the Americas region this year.

Canada officially eradicated measles in 1998, but the virus has stormed back, particularly among unvaccinated members of certain Mennonite Christian communities.

The most populous province of Ontario, which has about 16 million people, has recorded 2,366 cases, according to federal government data updated this week, which put the national case count at 4,638.

Alberta’s government, which releases its weekly figures on Thursdays, said it had registered 1,790 cases, making it the hardest-hit area per capita.

The United States, confronting its worst measles epidemic in 30 years, has confirmed 1,375 cases, the Centers for Disease Control said this week.

The Pan American Health Organization, WHO’s regional office, said this month that 71 percent of confirmed cases occurred in unvaccinated people, with an additional 18 percent among people whose vaccination status was not known.

Canadian experts have pointed to several factors driving the outbreak, including the proliferation of vaccine misinformation.

Canadian physicians have criticized US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spent decades spreading false information about vaccines.

But the bulk of the Canadian epidemic has occurred among Anabaptist Christian communities — of whom Mennonites are one — where vaccine hesitancy is historic.

The beginning of the outbreak has been linked to a Mennonite wedding in the eastern province of New Brunswick.

Outside of Ontario and Alberta, which have larger Mennonite communities, cases have been isolated, with British Columbia the third-hardest hit province with 190 cases.

The only suspected measles-related death in Canada during the 2025 outbreak was that of a newborn baby whose mother was unvaccinated, but officials noted the baby was born pre-term and had other medical conditions.

Record EU wildfires burnt more than 1 mn hectares in 2025: AFP analysis

By AFP
August 21, 2025


Wildfires are continuing in Spain and Portugal and Europe as a whole has already had a record year for destruction, according to an AFP analysis of data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). - Copyright AFP Cesar Manzo

Wildfires have so far ravaged more than one million hectares (2.5 million acres) in the European Union in 2025, a record since statistics began in 2006, according to an AFP analysis of official data.

Surpassing the annual record of 988,524 hectares burnt in 2017, the figure reached 1,015,731 hectares by midday Thursday, representing an area larger than Cyprus.

This calculation is based on a total compiled by AFP from estimates by country from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), at a time when Spain and Portugal are still battling wildfires.

Four countries in the European Union — Spain, Cyprus, Germany, and Slovakia — have already experienced their worst year in two decades of existing data.

Spain is struggling with numerous fires in the west of the country, which have claimed four lives. By far the most affected EU country by fires, with more than 400,000 hectares burnt, Spain accounts for nearly 40 percent of the EU total.

Portugal, which holds the unenviable EU record of 563,530 hectares burnt in 2017, is the second-most affected EU country. As of August 21, it has never had an area of this size (nearly 274,000 hectares) burnt so early in the year.

Romania follows with 126,000 hectares while in France 35,600 hectares of forest have been reduced to ashes, mostly in the southern Aude region, which was ravaged by a massive fire in early August.

These calculations by EFFIS, a component of the European climate monitor Copernicus, only take into account fires that have burnt areas of at least 30 hectares.

Outside the EU, Britain is also experiencing a record year, following fires in April during an early heatwave, as well as in northern Scotland at the end of June.

In the Balkans, Serbia is also recording its worst year since statistics began.

By August 19, forest fires in 22 of the 27 EU countries had already emitted 35 megatons of CO2 since January, an unprecedented amount at this point in the year according to EFFIS, indicating the annual record set in 2017 of 41 megatons could be surpassed.

During the previous record year, in 2017, wildfires had killed more than 200 people in the EU, notably in Portugal, Italy, Spain and France.

In 2025, the provisional EU death toll due to fires is 10, according to an AFP count: two people dead in Cyprus, one in France, and seven in the Iberian Peninsula.

Spain’s deadly wildfires ignite political blame game


By AFP
August 22, 2025


Helicopters have played a key role in the battle against wildfires in Spain - Copyright AFP Thomas COEX
Alfons LUNA

As helicopters dump water over burning ridges and smoke billows across the mountains of northern Spain, residents from wildfire-stricken areas say they feel abandoned by the politicians meant to protect them.

A blaze “swept through those mountains, across those fresh, green valleys and they didn’t stop it?” said Jose Fernandez, 85.

He was speaking from an emergency shelter in Benavente where he took refuge after fleeing his nearby village, Vigo de Sanabria.

While praising the care he received at the shelter, run by the Red Cross, he gave the authorities “a zero” for their handling of the disaster.

Blazes that swept across Spain this month have killed four people and ravaged over 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) over two weeks, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Three of those deaths were in the region of Castile and Leon, where Vigo de Sanabria is located, as well as a large part of the land consumed by the fires.

And as happened after last year’s deadly floods in the eastern region of Valencia, the fires have fuelled accusations that politicians mishandled the crisis.

“They committed a huge negligence,” said 65-year-old Jose Puente, forced to flee his home in the village of San Ciprian de Sanabria.

The authorities were “a bit careless, a bit arrogant”, and underestimated how quickly the fire could shift, he added. He, too, had taken refuge at the Benavente shelter.

“They thought it was solved, and suddenly it turned into hell,” said Puente.



-‘Left in God’s hands’ –



Both men are from villages in the Sanabria lake area, a popular summer destination known for its greenery and traditional stone houses, now marred by scorched vegetation from wildfires.

Spain’s decentralised system leaves regional governments in charge of disaster response, though they can ask the central government for help.

The regions hit hard by the wildfires — Castile and Leon, Extremadura, and Galicia — are all governed by the conservative Popular Party (PP), which also ruled Valencia.

The PP, Spain’s main opposition party, accuses Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of having withheld aid to damage conservative-run regions.

The government has hit back, accusing the PP of having underfunded public services needed face such emergencies. They argue that these regions refused to take the climate change which fuelled the wildfires seriously.

The wildfires have also thrown a spotlight on long-term trends that have left the countryside vulnerable.

Castile and Leon suffers from decades of rural depopulation, an ageing population — and the decline of farming and livestock grazing, both of which once help keep forests clear of tinder.

Spending on fire prevention — by the state and the regions — has dropped by half since 2009, according to study by daily newspaper ABC, with the steepest reductions in the regions hit hardest by the flames this year.

“Everything has been left in God’s hands,” said Fernandez, expressing a widely held view by locals hit by the fires.



– ‘Life and death’ –



Spain’s environmental prosecutor has ordered officials to check whether municipalities affected by wildfires complied with their legal obligation to adopt prevention plans.

In both Castile and Leon and Galicia, protesters — some holding signs reading “Never Again” and “More prevention” — have taken to the streets in recent days calling for stronger action from local officials.

The head of the regional government of Castile and Leon, the Popular Party’s Alfonso Fernandez Manueco, has come under the most scrutiny.

Under his watch in 2022, the region suffered devastating wildfires in Sierra de la Culebra that ravaged over 65,000 hectares.

He has defended the response this year, citing “exceptional” conditions, including an intense heatwave. He has denied reports that inexperienced, last-minute hires were sent to fight the fires.

Jorge de Dios, spokesman for the region’s union for environmental agents APAMCYL who has been on the front line fighting the fires in recent days, criticised working conditions.

Most of the region’s firefighting force “only works four months a year”, during the summer, he told AFP.

Many are students or seasonal workers who participate in “two, three, four campaigns” before leaving.

“We are never going to have veterans,” he said, adding that what was needed were experienced firefighters capable of handling “situations that are clearly life or death”.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Cenovus to Buy MEG as Canada’s Oil Sands Consolidate Further

By Charles Kennedy - Aug 22, 2025

Cenovus Energy on Friday announced it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire MEG Energy Corp in a cash and stock deal valued at US$5.7 billion (C$7.9 billion), including assumed debt.

The agreement between Cenovus and MEG marks the end of a months-long saga in which suitors have sought to buy MEG Energy.

Earlier this year, Strathcona Resources made an unsolicited offer to acquire MEG Energy, but MEG’s board rejected the offer and advised shareholders to reject it too and not tender their shares.

MEG’s board said in June that the share consideration in Strathcona’s offer exposes shareholders to a company with inferior assets, and that “MEG is a uniquely attractive investment opportunity that warrants a premium valuation.”

At the time, MEG initiated a strategic review of alternatives with the potential to surface an offer superior to its standalone plan.

Reports emerged earlier this month that Cenovus Energy was in talks with a coalition of Canadian Indigenous groups to jointly acquire oil sands rival MEG Energy.

Ultimately, Cenovus has apparently decided to go alone and agree a deal with MEG.

The acquisition of MEG will boost Cenovus’s position as a leading oil sands producer, with over 720,000 barrels per day (bpd) of output of the combined company. Many of the assets are complementary and the deal will consolidate adjacent, fully contiguous, and highly complementary assets at Christina Lake. The acquisition is set to enable integrated development of the region and unlock significantly accelerated access to previously stranded resources, Cenovus said.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. Cenovus expects the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and approval of the transaction by MEG shareholders.  

MEG’s board recommends MEG Shareholders vote FOR the transaction at a special meeting expected to be held in early October 2025.

“After considering the Strathcona unsolicited offer, engaging with multiple parties on proposals, and assessing them against MEG's standalone plan, the Special Committee and the MEG Board unanimously concluded that the proposed transaction with Cenovus represents the best strategic alternative, with short- and long-term value creation potential through a premium purchase price, an amalgamation of adjacent top tier oil sands assets, and participation in significant associated synergies,” said James McFarland, chairman of MEG's board of directors.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Strathcona blasts MEG Energy’s ‘weak board’ as company chooses $7.9B Cenovus deal

By The Canadian Press
Updated: August 22, 2025

Cenovus Energy logos are on display at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, June 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — MEG Energy Inc. has accepted a friendly cash-and-stock takeover offer from oilsands neighbour Cenovus Energy Inc. worth $7.9 billion, including debt, but Strathcona Resources, the hostile bidder MEG has spurned, is not ready to give up its pursuit.

A special committee reviewed all available options to boost shareholder value after Strathcona made its takeover attempt this spring, MEG chairman James McFarland said Friday.

“After considering the Strathcona unsolicited offer, engaging with multiple parties on proposals, and assessing them against MEG’s stand-alone plan, the special committee and the MEG board unanimously concluded that the proposed transaction with Cenovus represents the best strategic alternative,” McFarland said in a statement.Latest updates on company news here

Strathcona executive chairman Adam Waterous said MEG’s board has agreed to a “take-under,” as the Strathcona bid, open until Sept. 15, is worth a dollar more per share than what Cenovus has put forward.

Waterous said his company’s cash-and-stock offer, which includes a higher equity proportion than the Cenovus offer, would mean more upside opportunity for MEG shareholders.


“Hats off to Cenovus for preying on a weak board which owns almost no shares in the business and clearly adopted an ‘Anybody But Strathcona’ view as a result of Strathcona putting the company in play,” Waterous said in an email.

“I am sure Cenovus felt that negotiating with MEG’s board was like taking candy from a baby.”

Strathcona is almost 80 per cent owned by Waterous Energy Fund, which Waterous runs.

Cenovus had been floated by industry watchers as the most likely company to launch a competing bid because it and MEG have side-by-side oilsands properties at Christina Lake south of Fort McMurray, Alta., that could be more efficient together.

Cenovus said the deal represents a unique opportunity to acquire about 110,000 barrels per day of production adjacent to its operations.

It’s also predicting annual cost savings and efficiencies of $150 million a year in 2026 and 2027 and $400 million a year in 2028 and beyond if the deal goes through.

On a conference call with analysts Friday, Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie called MEG one of the top producers using the steam-assisted gravity drainage, or SAGD, method to extract bitumen from deep underground. In SAGD, the bitumen is heated up and drawn to the surface through wells instead of mined in an open pit.

“We are very excited to leverage the best practices of both companies to continue to drive value. We can see several areas where MEG has advanced new and innovative approaches, and we’ll be evaluating to see what we can implement across both Christina Lake assets, as well as extending to the rest of our SAGD portfolio,” McKenzie said.

“At Cenovus, all of us remain committed to pushing the boundaries of SAGD innovation and this combination brings together two of the best performing producers in this space.”

A takeover of MEG would further shrink the number of independent players active in the oilsands and increase an already dominant footprint for Cenovus, which took over Husky Energy for $3.8-billion in 2021.

Cenovus says a combination with MEG would bring its oilsands production to 720,000 barrels per day, growing to 850,000 in 2028. The Alberta Energy Regulator says total oilsands bitumen production last year was almost 3.6 million barrels a day.

Under the agreement, MEG shareholders can receive $27.25 in cash or 1.325 Cenovus common shares for each MEG share, subject to a limit of $5.2 billion in cash and 84.3 million Cenovus shares available.

On a fully pro-rated basis, the offer per MEG share represents $20.44 in cash and 0.33125 of a Cenovus share.

MEG shares closed at $27.56 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, making the deal a “modest take-under,” said Desjardins Securities analyst Chris MacCulloch in a research note. Stay on top of your portfolio with real-time data, historical charts and the latest news on oil

Strathcona’s offer includes a combination of 0.62 of a Strathcona share and $4.10 in cash per MEG share. Based on Strathcona’s closing share price of $38.83 on Thursday, its bid is worth $28.17 per MEG share.

“We believe the Cenovus offer should prove more attractive to MEG shareholders given it includes a large cash component while allowing them to participate in the superior synergy potential of the combined entity through a more liquid equity component,” MacCulloch wrote.

The deal must be approved by a two-thirds majority of MEG shareholders in a vote set for October.

MacCulloch said Cenovus has left itself the financial room to sweeten the deal before then if needed and called the proposed transaction a “strategic masterstroke.”

When it announced its takeover attempt in May, Strathcona disclosed that it holds a 9.2 per cent stake in MEG.

Waterous said if a majority of MEG shareholders don’t tender to the Strathcona bid next month, it plans to vote against the Cenovus offer. It also said it will follow through on its plan to return about $10 per share to its investors through a special dividend by year end if it is unsuccessful.

---

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2025.

 

Trump Prompts $19 Billion Worth of Wind and Solar Projects Cancellations

CUTS NOSE TO SPITE FACE

By Irina Slav - Aug 22, 2025

Since President Trump took office, almost $19 billion worth of wind and solar power generation projects have been canceled, according to U.S. consultancy Atlas Public Policy.

As President Trump slashed subsidies and regulatory support for wind and solar, companies involved in these industries have canceled projects worth a total $18.6 billion, the consultancy said, as quoted by the Financial Times.

Investment announcements since January have declined by 20%, Atlas Public Policy also said in its Clean Economy Tracker, down to $15.8 billion compared to $20.9 billion last year.

The radical change in federal government attitudes towards the wind and solar industries has already shaken them, causing bankruptcies and stock price slumps. In the case of Danish wind turbine major Orsted, that change contributed significantly to a government bailout in the form of a rights issue worth close to $10 billion.

The report from Atlas Public Policy comes on the heels of a fresh threat by President Trump, who said earlier this week that his administration will no longer approve wind and solar projects.

“Any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS. THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY! We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!! MAGA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Indeed, with the axing of the Inflation Reduction Act and its subsidy stipulations for wind and solar projects, the Trump admin has already effectively suspended new wind and solar projects by rendering them economically unviable.

Meanwhile, energy transition proponents are warning that this course of action may compromise energy supply security for data centers.

“Renewables can be built and connected in a matter of a year or two, in a way that meets data centre developers’ timelines,” Advait Arun, an energy policy analyst at the Center for Public Enterprise, told the FT. “If you’re ignoring renewables, then you’re missing a key part of the equation.”

Wind and solar, however, cannot generate electricity around the clock, which is another key part of the equation that most pro-transition analysts consistently ignore.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

 

Eastern Libya Poised to Greenlight Turkish Offshore Exploration

By Charles Kennedy - Aug 21, 2025

• Eastern Libya is close to approving a 2019 pact letting Turkey explore in Libyan waters.
• 
  
• The EU objects to the Libya–Turkey maritime plan, and Greek tenders overlap claimed areas.
• 
  
• Libya's oil and gas output hit a 12-year high in May.

Libya’s eastern-based parliament is preparing to approve a 2019 maritime pact that would allow Turkey to explore for oil and gas in Libyan waters, according to people familiar with the talks in Benghazi and Ankara. Most obstacles to the accord have been cleared, they said, a striking reversal for the east—long aligned with commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army and historically opposed to Turkish involvement. Tripoli, which already maintains close ties with Ankara, backs the deal.

If ratified, Turkish survey and drilling vessels could begin work in a corridor between Turkey and Crete, bolstering Ankara’s claims in the eastern Mediterranean and likely aggravating disputes with Greece and Cyprus. The pending vote follows a cautious détente between Turkey and Haftar: a Turkish navy corvette, TCG K?nal?ada, is visiting Benghazi; Ankara is weighing military training support; and Haftar’s son, Saddam, met Turkey’s defense leadership in April. Turkey is also keen to revive billions of dollars in stalled construction contracts and has restarted direct flights to Benghazi, while major Turkish contractors scope reconstruction and materials production in the east. Eastern authorities increasingly see the accord as a way to attract investment.

The maritime move comes as Libya’s energy sector regains momentum. On August 19, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported over 1.38 million barrels of crude produced in the prior 24 hours, plus ~50,000 b/d of condensate and 2.48 bcf of natural gas, reaffirming its focus on production stability, domestic supply, and export obligations. Output reached a 12-year high of ~1.23 million b/d in May despite periodic clashes around Tripoli, and NOC targets 2 million b/d by 2028 through capacity expansions and stronger infrastructure. Libya launched its first field tenders in 17 years in March, drawing 400+ bids across 22 blocks, and ExxonMobil signed an MoU this month to assess offshore blocks off the northwest coast and the Sirte Basin—signals of returning foreign interest. Libya’s light, low-sulfur barrels remain highly prized, with reserves leading Africa and ranking ninth globally.

Regionally, the potential Turkish exploration underscores shifting geopolitics. With Russia preoccupied in Ukraine, Oilprice.com's Simon Watkins writes that Washington and London are pushing to cement influence across the Middle East and North Africa, backing economic stabilization tied to energy development in states like Syria and Libya. In Libya, BP and Shell recently signed frameworks with NOC to evaluate redevelopment of large onshore fields and other assets, while a Mellitah Oil & Gas–Hill International agreement aims to lift gas output from 2026. These moves—alongside U.S. and European engagement—make it harder for rivals to reassert dominance.

Still, the maritime file is fraught. Greece in May tendered exploration blocks south of Crete that overlap waters Libya claims; the European Union has argued the mooted Libya–Turkey arrangement infringes third-state rights and conflicts with the UN Law of the Sea. For Libya, the near-term challenge is operational continuity: safeguarding fields and export terminals, ensuring power and water for upstream operations, and keeping cross-faction revenue disputes in check. If stability holds and planned investments proceed, Libya could add meaningful barrels just as global supply is expected to loosen into late 2025–2026—while Ankara’s prospective offshore campaigns would add a new layer of complexity to the eastern Mediterranean energy map.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

 

Mexico’s Unconventional Oil Plays Could Boost Production By 250,000 bpd

By Alex Kimani - Aug 21, 2025

• Mexico’s 2025–2035 plan targets 1.8 mb/d by 2030 and more gas.
• 
  
• WoodMac sees early development of Pimienta & Eagle Ford, with potential ~250 kb/d liquids + 500 mmcfd gas by the early 2030s.
• 
  
• Pemex’s heavy debt (~$100B) and chronic refining losses threaten execution.

A couple of weeks ago, Mexico’s National Oil Company (NOC) and the federal administration unveiled the Pemex Strategic Plan 2025–2035, a comprehensive roadmap for Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to boost oil production, reduce debt, and promote energy sovereignty through increased public and private investment. Key goals of the blueprint include achieving oil production of 1.8 million barrels per day by 2030, increasing natural gas output, securing funding through government support and private partnerships, and integrating energy transition projects like hydrogen and geothermal. Pemex is Mexico's largest company and one of the largest in Latin America, not just by revenue but also as the country's most significant fiscal contributor. As the state-owned oil company, it handles the entire oil and gas value chain and plays a critical role in Mexico's energy security and economy.

Wall Street appears to have warmed up to the ambitious strategy, with Wood Mackenzie saying the Mexican government is likely to target the Pimienta and Eagle Ford unconventional formations for initial development, thanks to their established geology as well as ample potential to supply both oil and natural gas. According to WoodMac, both formations have the potential to produce 250,000 bpd of liquids and another 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas by the early 2030s.

“The strategy needs major capital investment and international operators working under profitable contract terms. However, it’s encouraging that the government and Pemex leadership are tackling natural gas production challenges by promoting development of the nation's extensive unexploited unconventional reserves,” said Ismael Hernandez, Research Associate at WoodMac.

Related: Despite Delays Suriname’s Oil Boom is Fast Becoming a Reality

Mexico is also looking to unlock its LNG sector, with a series of projects proposed for the country’s Pacific Coast having the potential to turn the country into Latin America’s LNG powerhouse. According to a recent Gas Outlook report, Mexico plans to build five major LNG export terminals along the Pacific Coast, aiming to transform the country into a top-tier gas exporter. Most of the feed gas needed to  supply these terminals would mainly be sourced from the United States’ America’s Permian basin in New Mexico and Texas, rather than sourced from Mexico directly. This would give Mexico a big cost advantage over its LATM peers. Natural gas prices at the Waha hub in the Permian basin in West Texas have sunk to sub-zero levels in recent years, thanks to gas production growing more quickly than takeaway capacity. Mexico would then be able to sell this gas at ~$10-$14 per MMBtu in Japan or Korea, a potentially highly profitable business even after factoring in liquefaction costs.

However, a lot of these plans could be derailed by Pemex's poor financial health. The Mexican government recently expressed confidence that it will stop funding the debt-ridden NOC as early as 2027, saying Pemex will have become financially self-sufficient. However, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has its work cut out trying to rescue the country’s crown jewel. For years, Pemex has struggled with a high debt load amidst persistent underproduction of crude, with the company only managing to remain solvent through tax incentives and capital injections. In fact, Pemex has been able to post a profit in three of the past 15 years. Last year, Pemex reported a net loss of approximately $30 billion (or about 190.5 billion pesos) for FY 2024, a reversal from the modest profit in 2023. This loss was driven by decreased revenues from lower oil exports and falling international crude prices, alongside increased operating and financial costs, including losses from foreign exchange.

More worryingly, Pemex’s refining division has remained in the red over the past decade and a half despite high utilization rates coupled with a favorable policy environment. Operative inefficiencies have dogged Pemex for so long that the company is unable to capitalize on high oil prices whenever they arise. Pemex’s debt has surged to nearly $100 billion since 2010, making it the most indebted oil and gas company in the world. Meanwhile, the company has seen its overall liabilities jump from $121.9 billion in 2010 to $233.4 in 2023. If Pemex were a country, its liabilities would be the seventh largest amongst Latin American economies. 

However, there’s still hope for the company. Pemex swung to a profit during the first half of the current year, with the government seeking to inject $12 billion to help pay down the company’s debt. Pemex’s bottom-line was boosted by a strengthening peso in the second quarter, as well as lower cost of sales and improved performance among some financial assets. Further, Moody’s Ratings is looking to upgrade Pemex thanks to the government’s new commitments. This could help the company secure future loans at more favorable interest rates.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

AMERIKA

The Real Reasons Your Power Bill Is Exploding

By Robert Rapier - Aug 22, 2025

• AI data centers, global LNG exports, and extreme heat are major new forces driving up U.S. electricity demand and costs.
• 
  
• Aging grid infrastructure and stalled policy reforms add structural upward pressure on power prices.
• 
  
• Regions anchored by nuclear and hydro remain resilient, showing how local energy mixes shape household bills.

Over the past month, friends, family, and acquaintances have asked why their electricity bills have skyrocketed. One friend wrote, “I am curious if you have any thoughts about why electric bills are doubling and, in some cases, tripling? People in my area are in shock. In two months, my bill doubled.”

I live in Phoenix, and we actually have reasonable electric bills because we are served by the Palo Verde Generating Station. Despite the intense heat here, my electric bill never rises above $300 except in July. More on that later. 

That’s not the case everywhere. From the Midwest to the Southeast, people are seeing bills that are several times higher than that. What’s driving these sudden spikes isn’t just “using more power” or “a hot summer.” The reality is more complex, and it won’t be easy to solve.

Here are the five biggest forces reshaping your electric bill.

AI Data Centers Are Consuming Gigawatts

The surge in artificial intelligence has unleashed a gold rush in data center construction, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most powerful forces driving electricity demand. These facilities are energy-intensive, often consuming 30 times more electricity than traditional data centers. A single AI center can draw as much power as 80,000 homes, and by 2030, data centers are projected to require 30 GW of new capacity—the equivalent of 30 nuclear reactors. 

To meet this demand, utilities are scrambling to add transmission lines and upgrade grid infrastructure, with those costs inevitably showing up on customer bills. At the same time, utilities that sell power into competitive markets—rather than operating under regulated rate caps—are seeing a windfall. Texas-based NRG Energy, for example, has seen its stock price triple in just two years, as soaring wholesale prices boosted profits.

LNG Exports Are Pushing Up Fuel Costs

Natural gas powers about 40% of U.S. electricity generation, and U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have risen by nearly a factor of seven in the past seven years to over 13 billion cubic feet per day. 

That means when Asian or European buyers bid up LNG cargoes, U.S. households indirectly feel it in their electricity bills. Put simply, you’re now competing with the world for the same fuel—and global demand is strong. The spot price of natural gas in the U.S. is about $1.00 per million Btu higher than it was a year ago at this time. That translates directly into higher electricity bills this year.

Heat Waves Are Breaking the Grid

July 2025 saw record-breaking temperatures across much of the country, with a “heat dome” trapping high humidity and driving peak demand to 758,149 MWh in a single hour—a national record. Air conditioning loads surged, and in many regions, utilities had to buy expensive spot-market electricity to meet demand. That cost gets socialized across monthly bills.

Aging Infrastructure and Grid Bottlenecks

The U.S. grid is old and straining under new loads. More than 70% of transmission lines and transformers are over 30 years old. Replacing and upgrading them is both essential and expensive.

Delivery charges—the part of your bill that covers the poles, wires, and transformers needed to move electricity—have climbed sharply in recent years. For households, that means even if fuel costs ease or demand moderates, the higher cost of maintaining and upgrading the grid will likely keep electricity prices from returning to the levels we saw just a few years ago.

Policy Shifts and Regulatory Lag

Finally, policy isn’t keeping up. The repeal of clean energy tax credits under the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” slowed renewable deployment. At the same time, permitting bottlenecks have delayed new transmission and generation.

Layer on top of that the electrification push—EVs, heat pumps, electric appliances—and electricity demand is rising faster than utilities can build capacity. The mismatch creates structural upward pressure on rates, regardless of short-term market moves.

Where Electric Bills Aren’t Skyrocketing

While millions of Americans are grappling with sticker shock, there are notable exceptions—regions that enjoy stable or even declining electricity prices, thanks to their unique energy mix.

Phoenix is one of them. As previously noted, despite triple-digit temperatures, my own bill rarely exceeds $300, largely because the Palo Verde Generating Station provides stable, low-cost nuclear power. Nuclear plants offer a huge advantage: their fuel (uranium) isn’t tied to volatile global gas markets, and their reactors run around the clock at high capacity factors. 

It also doesn’t hurt that Arizona has seen a 187% increase in wind and solar power generation over the past decade, or that the state ranks 3rd nationally in installed battery storage capacity.

Other regions also benefit from abundant local resources:

• Idaho: The lowest average rates in the nation at just 11.9 cents per kWh, thanks to hydroelectric power (which can be impacted by droughts).
• Pacific Northwest (WA, OR): Wholesale prices are falling in 2025 due to strong hydropower and growing solar generation.
• Texas (ERCOT): Despite surging demand, competitive market dynamics and solar buildout are keeping wholesale prices flat or slightly lower.

By contrast, states heavily reliant on natural gas—like California, New Jersey, and Ohio—are seeing double-digit rate hikes as LNG exports and peak demand drive up costs.

Why Nuclear Matters

It’s worth pausing on nuclear. Yes, the upfront capital costs are high, but once plants are built, their operating costs are remarkably stable—about 9.3 cents per kWh, compared to 7 cents for gas–which is susceptible to price spikes–and 9.5 cents for coal. Nuclear also avoids carbon pricing and doesn’t need backup generation like intermittent renewables.

In a grid increasingly stressed by AI demand, climate extremes, and geopolitical risks, nuclear’s ability to provide price stability, energy security, and reliability is hard to match.

The Bottom Line

So, why did your bill suddenly double? It’s not just about running your air conditioner a little harder. It’s about structural shifts in the energy system:

• AI data centers reshaping demand
• LNG exports reshaping fuel markets
• Heat waves stressing supply
• Aging infrastructure raising delivery costs
• Policy bottlenecks slowing new capacity

At the same time, regions anchored by nuclear or hydro have been shielded from the worst price spikes. That contrast underscores an important truth: the U.S. doesn’t face a single energy reality—it faces many, depending on local resources and policy choices.

Unless utilities, regulators, and policymakers find smarter ways to expand capacity and modernize the grid, the broader trend is clear: for many households, higher electricity bills aren’t just a fluke—they’re the new normal.

By Robert Rapier  for Oilprice.com