Infrastructure

Natural gas-fired electricity generation increased during heat waves in New England

Published: 27 August 2024
Categories: US Energy Information Administration

RSS feed source: US Energy Information Administration

In-brief analysis

August 27, 2024

Electricity generation using fossil fuels increased in New England to meet the additional air-conditioning demand during heat waves in June and July. Natural gas-fired electricity generation made up 56% of New England’s generation mix during the week of the June 16 heat wave, peaking at 61% on June 22. Between July 6 and 13, natural gas-fired electricity averaged 58% of the generation mix. Despite the closure of the Mystic Generating Station in Massachusetts, natural gas accounted for more of the generation mix during both periods compared with the five-year (2019–23) average of 48% for the June 16–23 period and 54% for July 6–13.

On July 10 in New England, 468,403 megawatthours (MWh) of electricity was generated, 31% more than the previous five-year average, and natural gas-fired generation supplied more than half of

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U.S. share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales increased in the second quarter of 2024

Published: 26 August 2024
Categories: US Energy Information Administration

RSS feed source: US Energy Information Administration

In-brief analysis

August 26, 2024

Data source: Wards Intelligence
Note: EV=electric vehicles, which include both battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

The share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales in the United States increased in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24) after a slight decline in 1Q24. Combined U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increased from 17.8% of total new light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales in 1Q24 to 18.7% in 2Q24, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence.

This slight increase in the electric and hybrid vehicle market share was driven primarily by hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) sales, which increased by 30.7% year over year. Hybrid sales accounted for 8.6% of the total light-duty market in 1Q24 and increased to 9.6% in 2Q24. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales increased

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Iran-based Cyber Actors Enabling Ransomware Attacks on US Organizations

Published: 23 August 2024
Categories: US-Computer Emergency Readiness Team

RSS feed source: US Energy Information Administration

Summary

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) are releasing this joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to warn network defenders that, as of August 2024, a group of Iran-based cyber actors continues to exploit U.S. and foreign organizations. This includes organizations across several sectors in the U.S. (including in the education, finance, healthcare, and defense sectors as well as local government entities) and other countries (including in Israel, Azerbaijan, and the United Arab Emirates). The FBI assesses a significant percentage of these threat actors’ operations against US organizations are intended to obtain and develop network access to then collaborate with ransomware affiliate actors to deploy ransomware. The FBI further assesses these Iran-based cyber actors are associated with the Government of Iran (GOI) and—separate from the ransomware activity—conduct computer network exploitation activity in support of the GOI (such as intrusions enabling the theft of sensitive technical data against organizations in Israel and Azerbaijan).

This CSA provides the threat actor’s tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs), as well as highlights similar activity from a previous advisory (Iran-Based Threat Actor Exploits VPN Vulnerabilities) that the FBI and CISA published on Sept. 15, 2020. The information and guidance in this advisory are derived from FBI investigative activity and technical

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Midwest refinery outages increase regional gasoline prices

Published: 22 August 2024
Categories: US Energy Information Administration

RSS feed source: US Energy Information Administration

In-brief analysis

August 22, 2024

A series of refinery outages in Chicago and Ohio have generally increased Midwest prices for petroleum products relative to the U.S. average, particularly gasoline. The outages reflect an unusual decline in refining activity near the end of the high-demand summer season and have drawn down regional inventories.

On July 15, ExxonMobil’s Joliet refinery outside of Chicago, with 251,800 barrels per day (b/d) of capacity, was shut down on an emergency basis in response to a power outage brought on by severe weather conditions. The shutdown took the refinery offline for several weeks before it could safely resume operations. Operators reported they had begun bringing the facility back online as of August 8, and later reports have since indicated that the Joliet facility has resumed normal operations.

In Ohio, operators also reported

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