Authored by Haley Zaremba via Oilprice.com,
Biglaw firm Duane Morris argues the energy sector's greatest AI-related risk is not surging power demand but failing to adopt AI tools fast enough to remain competitive.
MIT research challenges industry claims that AI efficiency gains will offset its enormous energy consumption, while new data centers continue to be approved at record pace.
AI shows genuine promise in clean energy applications - from nuclear fusion modeling to EV battery recovery - but the AI investment boom is simultaneously diverting capital away from next-gen energy research.
The artificial intelligence boom has created unprecedented pressure and anxiety in the energy industry. The public and private sector alike are expending enormous amounts of effort trying to quantify the amount of electricity that will be needed to power data centers in the near future, and get ahead of the skyrocketing energy demands headed for our already outdated and beleaguered electric grids. But the answer to the energy monster that AI is unleashing could very well lie in the application of AI tools.
A new article published by Biglaw firm Duane Morris argues that the most prescient AI-related risk for the energy industry is not the one posed by the demands of the sector itself, but the risk of falling behind in AI integration and application. The firm argues that the energy sector has an obligation to consider the ways in which large language models can be an asset, concluding that "AI should not be viewed only through the lens of risk avoidance."
"The risks of AI remain real and must be governed thoughtfully," the Energy Intelligence article goes on to say. "But in a sector responsible for critical infrastructure, the greater long-term risk may not be using AI too aggressively - it may be failing to use it enough."
Indeed, proponents of AI adoption argue that although training and operating large language models eats up an enormous amount of energy, not to mention other finite resources such as water, AI will be instrumental in making a wide array of industries significantly more energy-efficient. In fact, through these widespread efficiencies, some experts say that AI has the potential to save more energy than it consumes overall.
However, critics say that these claims are overblown and the result of wishful thinking rather than rigorous modelling. A 2025 report from MIT challenges such claims, pointing out that touted efficiency gains have not yet come to fruition, and may not be forthcoming. And while numbers on AI's efficiency gains - and even the amount of energy that AI is currently using - are still lacking, new data centers are being greenlit at lightning speed.
"AI's integration into almost everything from customer service calls to algorithmic 'bosses' to warfare is fueling enormous demand," the Washington Post wrote in an article published last summer. "Despite dramatic efficiency improvements, pouring those gains back into bigger, hungrier models powered by fossil fuels will create the energy monster we imagine."
Moreover, it is just this fear of "being left behind" that's fuelling the AI boom, arguably even more than actual demand. There is question as to whether rapid AI integration into everything from our energy grids to our electric toothbrushes - no, really - is going to create a more sophisticated and energy-efficient world, or whether it's just a resource-intensive bid to stay relevant in a rapidly changing global economy.
Wherever you stand on the issue of AI integration, it's increasingly clear that AI has some extremely promising applications in next-gen clean energy technologies. Researchers are using large language models to conduct "needle in a haystack" type inquiries to find the best methods and materials to advance nuclear fusion modelling, for example. In the renewable energy sector, AI is being used to improve forecasting of energy supply and demand for greater grid stability. And AI could even soon be used to give new life to dead EV batteries.
The massive energy needs of AI are also pushing increasing and intensified research efforts into cutting edge clean energy technologies such as nuclear fusion, advanced geothermal, and space-based solar power. But Big Tech is running on natural gas while it powers research into these clean energy ambitions. And, overall, research into next-gen energy is suffering from the AI gold rush as investors redirect their attention.
AI's role in the energy sector is anything but simple. And it's true that avoiding AI integration entirely won't solve the problem. But if the energy sector is going to eschew risk aversion and lean into the AI boom as Duane Morris suggests, it needs to have a strong policy foundation and a much smarter AI strategy going forward.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 06:30* * *
Oil Spikes After Israel Strikes Military Targets Inside Iran, Ignoring Trump's PleasIgnoring Trump's pleas not to respond to Iran's earlier strike, the Israel Defense Force has confirmed that it has launched strikes in the last few minutes against military targets in Western and Central Iran.
The Israeli Air Force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran a short while ago.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 8, 2026According to unconfirmed reports, explosions were heard in at least 6 cities across Iran, including Kermanshah, Urmia, Tehran, Mehrabad, Tabriz, Isfahan.
Israeli strikes on Najafabad, western Iran. pic.twitter.com/5QezAUbp2k
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 8, 2026Iran's decision is a slap in the face for Trump who earlier had communicated with Israel's Netanyahu, pleading the PM not to strike back.
The move, which will make Trump look even more powerless as he can't control either Iran or Israel, sent oil surging over $3 in late Sunday trading, with WTI last just around $94 and Brent below $97.
* * *
Trump Presses Israel To Hold BackPresident Trump said on Sunday he would tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to strike back after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation for an attack on the outskirts of Beirut, news outlet Axios reported.
Iran has long said any peace deal with the U.S. would depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters who fired rockets and drones across the border in solidarity with Tehran. But Israel earlier on Sunday launched strikes in the Beirut area for the first time since the U.S. announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week.
The Israeli military later said it had identified missiles launched from Iran and that its defense systems had intercepted them. Details on whether Israel suffered any damage were not yet available.
Trump, who was spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, had been briefed about the escalation between Iran and Israel, a U.S. official told Reuters. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"It's certainly not going to help negotiations," Trump told Fox News after the Iranian missile launches. "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough, get back to the table and make a deal."
Asked about the earlier Israeli strike on Beirut, he said: "I'm not happy about it." Trump also told Axios he would call Netanyahu and press him not to retaliate.
Iran's chief peace negotiator, parliamentary speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said U.S. bases and Israeli assets are legitimate targets because of hostile acts including the "violation of agreements over Lebanon." "They showed that they only understand the language of power," he wrote on X.
۱/ نه به آتشبس پایبندند نه به گفتگو باور دارند، و با محاصرهٔ دریایی و نقض توافقات دربارهٔ لبنان نشان دادند که فقط زبان قدرت میفهمند.
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) June 7, 2026Ebrahim Rezaei, an influential hardline lawmaker who serves as spokesperson for the Iranian parliament's national security committee, posted on X that Iran would deliver a "decisive and painful response" to Sunday's Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
به حمله رژیم صهیونسیتی به ضاحیه پاسخ قاطع و دردآور خواهیم داد. این سگ هار را باید تأدیب کرد و سر جایش نشاند.
امشب آسمان سرزمینهای اشغالی را ببینید.
Iran has not targeted Israel directly since a ceasefire in the wider war in April, although Hezbollah has done so.
In turn, an Israeli official, responding to the apparent threat, told Reuters that Israel would retaliate against any attacks on its territory from Iran, and consider it "an opportunity to renew the campaign".
Washington and Tehran have shown little progress in reaching a deal to end the war that Trump launched in February with a campaign of air strikes alongside Israel against Iran. Trump has repeatedly threatened to restart the strikes unless there is an agreement soon.
"We're very close to a deal, or I'm going to blow the hell out of them," Trump told NBC News in an interview, broadcast to mark 100 days of the conflict. The comments were recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday as Trump visited his New Jersey golf course. Trump has said a similar version of the same news for much of the past month.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes on Sunday on Beirut's southern outskirts, a district known as Dahiyeh that has long been a Hezbollah stronghold, were ordered in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israel. The Israeli military earlier said it had intercepted two projectiles fired over the border. It issued an evacuation order for the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and surrounding areas ahead of possible strikes there.
Elsewhere in Beirut on Sunday, mourners held a military funeral for Brigadier General Wissam Sabra, a senior military officer killed in a strike on his vehicle in south Lebanon on Saturday.
The wider war has been stalemated since the U.S. and Israel paused their attacks on Iran in early April, with Tehran blocking most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for Middle East oil. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.
Though Washington and Tehran have said they are close to a preliminary agreement that would reopen the strait, they have repeatedly traded strikes, with escalations in recent days that have included attacks on nearby Arab states hosting U.S. bases.
Early on Saturday, U.S. forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both in the strait, after shooting down drones launched by Iran that U.S. Central Command said posed a threat to maritime traffic. Two more Iranian attack drones that were threatening shipping in the strait were shot down, the U.S. military said late on Saturday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they retaliated against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait's army said it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties.
Trump has said any agreement to end the war must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and he is under pressure to deliver terms tougher than those agreed in 2015 under then-President Barack Obama in a deal Trump later repudiated.
Tehran's demands include the lifting of U.S. and international sanctions, recognition of its sway over the strait and the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets. However, as reported earlier, Washington is weighing making Iranian assets available to Gulf neighbors to repair damage inflicted by Iran. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Sunday any such diversion of Iranian assets would be illegal, and Tehran would take measures in response.
* * *
Iran Launches Missiles On Israel In First Since AprilTehran makes good on its earlier threats, after the IDF conducted a deadly airstrike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut earlier Sunday. Day 100 of the war has seen a major renewal and escalation, again bringing Iran and Israel into a likely state of all-out war, per WSJ:
Iran fired missiles toward Israel on Sunday, after a deadly Israeli airstrike on Beirut hours earlier targeting the Tehran-backed militants Hezbollah, Israel’s military said.
It marks the first time Iran has targeted Israel during its ceasefire with the U.S. that went into force in early April.
The attack came after Tehran threatened to hit Israel and American bases in the Middle East in response to the airstrike on the Lebanese capital, the first time Israeli warplanes have targeted Beirut since a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced by the U.S. last week.
So is the ceasefire dead yet?
BREAKING: Trump to Fox News:
What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal.
Source: @TreyYingst
President Trump has continued to maintain adherence to it, and days ago suggested that a 'moderate' amount of firing doesn't necessarily mean a broken ceasefire.
WATCH: Iranians celebrate missile strikes targeting Israel. pic.twitter.com/CzQKenllnN
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 7, 2026Israel earlier confirmed an airstrike on a Hezbollah headquarters in the Dahieh district of Beirut. Iran last week warned again hitting Beirut, saying it would assure US and Israeli bases and assets in the region would come under new attack. The earlier warning is reviewed as follows:
Video of reported initial inbound projectile on Israel circulating...
A third round of sirens sound in northern Israel, after the IDF intercepted several Iranian ballistic missiles. No initial reports of injuries or damages.
A senior Israeli official tells Israeli media: “There will be a forceful response.” pic.twitter.com/BixzsXOrhs
On Sunday Tehran ramped up its threats to renew ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel and America's Gulf allies, describing that the Israeli military's ongoing deadly attacks on Lebanon could obliterate the extended ceasefire with the US
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced on X that the ongoing American naval blockade against the Islamic Republic, with Washington having given a green light to Israel for its attacks on Hezbollah and Lebanon, turns both countries' bases and assets in the region into “legitimate targets.” The last days even saw a Lebanese general and other officers killed by IDF airstrike in south Lebanon.
"They neither abide by a ceasefire nor believe in negotiations," Ghalibaf wrote.
Below is the latest Bloomberg summary on where stalled negotiations stand... to be expected it cites "little progress":
"The US and Iran appear to be making little progress toward an interim deal to end the war Washington and Israel began 100 days ago, as fresh attacks pile pressure on a fragile ceasefire," Bloomberg writes, and continues:
The U.S. and Iran remain stuck in preliminary talks to end the war, with the main obstacle being Tehran's demand for access to billions of dollars in frozen assets and the Trump administration's refusal to provide upfront cash or broader sanctions relief. Tehran is seeking about $12 billion upfront and $24 billion during a proposed 60-day negotiation window.
"Twenty-four billion dollars is not much for America if he wants to reach an agreement with Iran," Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's top official, told CNN on Friday. "This is our own, not America's money."
For the Trump administration, releasing frozen funds for Tehran is optically displeasing because the president spent years blasting the Obama administration over the $1.7 billion Iran payment tied to the 2015 nuclear deal, and later criticized the Biden administration's move to allow Iran access to $6 billion in assets during a prisoner swap.
The U.S. government estimates that Tehran has $100 billion in inaccessible assets, mostly oil revenue trapped abroad, including funds in China, Qatar, Oman, and Iraq.
Iran FM Complains of 'Moving Goal Posts'On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei spoke with CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen about the ongoing negotiations with the U.S.
Baghaei stated, "The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goal posts, different statements, contradictory remarks by different officials, so it makes the whole process very cumbersome."
He outlined one of the main problems is that "the Americans must understand that they have to recognize Iran's rights," including its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment under the international non-proliferation treaty.
"At the same time, when they are talking about our blocked assets, they're not going to give us any concession," he said. CNN reported earlier on Sunday that the US plans to allow Iranian assets to be used for rebuilding projects in Gulf countries impacted by the war, according to a source close to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Baghaei added that the US must "simply stop their sanctions" and "need to let Iranian assets be released and be available for the Iranians."
Iran Implements Toll System as US BalksBeyond US-Iran talks, IRGC-linked Fars News reports that Iran has been collecting $1.5 million to $2 million per vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Fars said the payments are deposited into Iran's treasury under the budget law and directed toward designated spending areas. Some payments are reportedly settled not in cash but in USDT/Tether or through barter arrangements.
Top Overnight Headlines (courtesy of Bloomberg):US-Iran Conflict Flashpoints
Peace Negotiations Status
War Damage and Infrastructure
Economic Impact
Previous US-Iran Wrap
Institutional Market commentary:
Global Supply Chain:
Energy Market:
Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday that the immigration crisis in Europe is causing the continent to be stormed by "dangerous ideologies" and asked if Europe is ready to address "that invasion."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C) speaks with U.S. WWII and D-Day Landing veterans at a memorial ceremony held as part of the 82nd anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, north-western France, on June 6, 2026. Screenshot via The Epoch Times/X/Department of War"Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive," Hegseth said during a speech in France commemorating the invasion of Normandy during World War II. "When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not."
June 6 marked the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, when about 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies landed on the beaches of Normandy. The casualties reached 10,300 for the Allies and by the end of the month, more than 850,000 men had landed.
Hegseth's comments were similar to comments Trump made to reporters in July 2025.
"On immigration, you better get your act together or you are not going to have Europe anymore," Trump told reporters while in Scotland. "But you are allowing it to happen to your countries. You have to stop this horrible invasion that is happening to Europe, many countries in Europe. ... This immigration is killing Europe."
Hegseth also commented Saturday about the sacrifice of U.S. troops on D-Day.
"The task was daunting ... An impossible mission - a suicidal mission - the mission of free men. ... The United States military spearheaded a great crusade to shatter the Nazi war machine and liberate a continent," he said.
Hegseth also stressed the importance of all the allied countries doing their share in military operations.
"Each nation pulled its weight; each nation bled. America will lead - and we must - but capable allies must be right there with us, shoulder to shoulder, in the breach, when it matters," Hegseth said.
Twenty nine World War II veterans attended the ceremony.
Art Rose, a 107-year-old veteran, was in attendance. He is a Navy veteran who served as an engineering officer at Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion.
While in France, Hegseth met with Catherine Vautrin, the French Minister of the Armed Forces.
"We discussed a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO, support for Ukraine, freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the situation in Lebanon and the Indo-Pacific," Vautrin posted on X after the meeting.
"At a time when the freedom of nations is under threat in Europe, France and the United States are remembering what has made our friendship strong for 250 years, on this day commemorating D-Day."
Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 05:00The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) gave the market another concrete reason to stop pretending the grid can absorb unlimited hyperscale load growth on top of an already strained generation mix.
In a May 21st report, ERCOT disclosed that multiple clusters of proposed data centers and crypto facilities failed voltage ride-through testing. When subjected to simulated routine voltage disturbances, such as the kind caused by transmission faults, capacitor switching, or equipment issues, four groups of these large users simply disconnected. Models showed each group capable of removing more than 5,000 MW of demand in one event.
“Those abrupt drops in demand were equivalent to the electricity consumption of a large city such as Boston”
In a real-world fault on the Texas grid, those facilities would not ride through the sag and remain online like traditional industrial customers. Their protection systems would trip them offline to protect servers and mining rigs.
Only Texas is aware of the power demand tsunami that is coming. The US is woefully unprepared for the coming explosion in electricity demand pic.twitter.com/9wfgBbS6D8
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 13, 2024The instantaneous loss of thousands of megawatts of demand creates an immediate generation surplus. Frequency rises sharply. Other units can trip on over-frequency protection or be forced into abnormal operation. In tight reserve conditions or during summer peak, the event does not stay localized. It becomes a system stress event.
ERCOT has already recorded at least 26 such disconnection events involving data centers or crypto operations since 2023. The operator is now reviewing roughly 20 GW of large-customer applications, including several gigawatts slated to energize before July. The board has elevated voltage ride-through performance to a top priority precisely because the scale of these new loads makes the old assumptions obsolete.
This is such a fascinating graph. A frequency drop of 0.15Hz was enough to take down Spain and Portugal. pic.twitter.com/tZ1OrITtMU
— andi (twocents.com) (@Nexuist) April 28, 2025This is the demand-side mirror image of what happened in Spain on April 28, 2025. As we covered extensively at the time, the Iberian blackout was not a simple “too much solar” story. ENTSO-E’s final report pointed to gaps in voltage and reactive power control, differences in how generators responded to voltage swings, and rapid output reductions and disconnections that cascaded across the peninsula.
Many renewable resources were operating in fixed power-factor modes that did not provide dynamic voltage support when the system needed it most. The result was fast voltage increases followed by widespread generator tripping. Natural gas units ultimately helped stabilize the system in the recovery phase, a point we noted when the “net-zero death” narrative was being walked back in real time.
U.S. officials have already flagged the risk of Spain-style events on this side of the Atlantic. Now ERCOT is stress-testing the other half of the equation: what happens when the new hyperscale loads themselves become the trip risk during otherwise manageable disturbances.
We have documented for years how Texas electricity demand could more than quadruple under data-center and crypto growth scenarios, how PJM is scrambling to find 15 GW of new supply for its own data-center alley, and how the largest U.S. grids are operating with minimal spare capacity while aging infrastructure and retiring dispatchable plants reduce headroom. The common thread is not ideology about any single fuel.
It’s physics.
Inverter-based resources and large blocks of sensitive electronic load both behave differently from the synchronous machines the grid was designed around. They offer less inherent inertia and different voltage and frequency response characteristics. When protection settings on either the generation or load side are not aligned with system needs, routine disturbances can escalate.
Before the outage hit, Spain was running its grid with very little dispatchable spinning generation, and therefore no much inertia.
Solar PV/thermal + wind: ~78%
Nuclear: 11.5%
Co-generation: 5%
Gas-fired: ~3% (less than 1GW)
Snapshot at 12.30pm local time (outage was 12.35pm) pic.twitter.com/fF7FiIB6UD
That is why the push for new nuclear, new gas-fired capacity with fast-start and flexible capability, and retention of existing dispatchable resources where they still make economic sense is not optional window dressing. It is the engineering requirement for keeping the lights on while AI infrastructure scales.
Renewables can and will continue to grow, but they bring additional control challenges that the current grid architecture and market rules were never sized to handle at this speed and volume.
The Spain event demonstrated the supply-side version. ERCOT’s latest tests are showing the demand-side version. Both point to the same conclusion: you cannot substitute megawatts of intermittent or highly sensitive capacity for the stabilizing attributes that nuclear, gas, and coal plants provide at scale.