Energy Department Issues Emergency Order As Hot Weather Conditions Threaten Blackouts

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued an emergency order authorizing Southwest Power Pool Inc. to use certain energy resources to reduce the risk of potential blackouts, according to a July 21 statement from the department.

Electrical transmission poles and lines in Commerce, Calif., on Aug. 7, 2025. Mike Blake/Reuters

The order, issued on July 20 and signed by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, stated that Southwest Power Pool (SPP) had asked the DOE to temporarily permit certain resources to operate beyond their normal limits to help ensure grid reliability.

SPP, the regional grid operator serving 17 states in the central United States, also sought authorization to access and deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other large industrial and commercial customer sites.

On July 20, SPP issued multiple warnings about the possibility of rolling blackouts across its service area as high temperatures drove electricity demand to record levels. One alert said SPP had been forced to rely on some or all of its operating reserves after several power plants unexpectedly went offline.

According to the order, Wright determined that additional power dispatch was necessary and that backup generation resources might be needed to address the energy emergency created by the expected strain on the grid.

The determination was based on several factors, including an anticipated electricity shortage and the potential loss of power to homes and local businesses, which could threaten public health and safety.

Wright authorized SPP to use the necessary resources to meet electricity demand. He also permitted the grid operator to deploy backup generation resources as a last resort before issuing an Energy Emergency Alert.

In its statement, the DOE said that the order took effect on July 20 and expired on July 21. The department said the measure helped reduce the risk of power outages across the regions served by SPP.

"The Trump Administration is tapping into an abundant supply of unused backup generation to maintain affordable, reliable, and secure power for hardworking American families and businesses," Wright said in the statement.

The DOE estimates that more than 35 gigawatts of backup generation capacity remains unused nationwide.

Wright said the previous administration's policies weakened the U.S. power grid, leaving Americans vulnerable during emergency events.

"Thanks to President Trump's leadership, we are reversing those failures and using every available tool to ensure Americans have continued access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power and cool their homes," Wright said.

As the Epoch Times notes further, On July 15, PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest electric grid operator that serves 13 states, announced a hot weather alert for its service region through at least July 17.

Such an alert is issued ahead of expected hot weather or high humidity to prepare power generation facilities and personnel to meet a surge in electricity demand.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which serves 15 states, also issued an alert on July 15, citing above-normal temperatures, higher-than-forecasted loads, and power generation outages. The alert ended the same day.

High Temperatures

The emergency alerts issued by power grid operators came amid intense heat in parts of the United States.

According to a July 22 forecast by the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center, "hazardous heat" is expected to continue this week over the southern United States before expanding through the Great Basin and across the Northern and Central Plains.

"Forecast highs range in the mid-90s to mid-100s with heat indices exceeding 105-115 degrees for some locations," the center said.

"Widespread major to locally extreme HeatRisk (levels 3 and 4/4) is expected, which indicates a level of heat dangerous to anyone without adequate cooling or hydration."

Amid the high heat, more emergency alerts may be issued by various power grid operators, and the DOE may issue additional emergency orders to address the situation.

Elevated temperatures for the current summer season are a continuation of last year's trend. In a Jan. 13 post, nonprofit organization Climate Central said that 2025 was the fourth-hottest year on record for the contiguous United States. The nine warmest years in the country have all been recorded since 2012.

According to data from Injury Facts, an online resource run by nonprofit safety advocacy organization National Safety Council, high heat was responsible for 253 deaths in the United States last year.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:50

Boasberg's Law: Chief District Court Judge Under Renewed Scrutiny Over Pattern Of Unilateral Actions

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Chief Judge James Boasberg is frustrated … and he is not alone.

Recently, the D.C. federal judge reportedly “groused” that the D.C. appellate court had ordered him to reconsider a case about whether the D.C. government engaged in biased enforcement against political graffiti.

Conversely, the litigants are equally irked over what they see as Boasberg’s bias after he responded by, again, dismissing their claims without a trial.

For a second time, Boasberg has barred pro-life groups from access to a jury after members were arrested for writing in chalk “Black Pre-Born Lives Matter” on a sidewalk while Black Lives Matter writings were left untouched.

I wrote earlier about the emerging body of “Boasberg’s Law,” cases in which the judge has increasingly shown an untethered and expansive view of his own authority. Recently, Boasberg was found to have committed an “abuse of discretion” in twice finding that the Trump Administration was in contempt of court for failing to turn around deportation flights.

My disagreements with Boasberg are not over the underlying issues, but rather the court’s rejection of basic limits on its own authority.

While chastising President Trump for exceeding his authority, Boasberg has been reversed for exceeding his own.

In the earlier case, Boasberg dismissed grand jury subpoenas in the probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. I have been critical of that probe, but Boasberg’s refusal to allow the subpoenas to be executed was based on an opinion that was rife with open hostility for President Trump, dubious sources, and biased observations.

I have similar reservations in this latest case. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, streets in Washington were covered with BLM graffiti and the police watched as protesters wrote slogans and slurs on stores, streets, and sidewalks. The government itself even commissioned a massive painting of the message on a street near the White House.

However, when Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America wrote their pro-life version of the slogan, they were immediately arrested and the chalk protest removed.

The D.C. Circuit’s reversal of Boasberg in the case was a major victory for free speech. Boasberg had applied the wrong standard to kill the case, holding that the group could not challenge the selective enforcement of the laws. In reaching that conclusion, Boasberg applied the wrong standard, imposing the heavy burden of proving that the city was engaged in “invidious enforcement.” While that standard was used correctly to dismiss an equal protection claim, it is not the standard for a free speech challenge.

The Court did not hide its dissatisfaction with the thrust of Boasberg’s opinion in dismissing the First Amendment claim:

“The First Amendment prohibits government discrimination on the basis of viewpoint. ‘To permit one side … to have a monopoly in expressing its views … is the antithesis of constitutional guarantees.’ The protection for freedom of speech applies not only to legislation, but also to enforcement of the laws.”

The appellate court sent the case back to Boasberg with the opportunity to apply the correct standard and to create a substantive record before issuing a ruling on the free speech claim.

Boasberg took the case and ruled again that the groups would not be allowed a trial. The new dismissal was issued despite the standard that, in seeking such a dismissal before a trial, the court must accept all material facts in favor of the nonmoving party or, in this case, the pro-life and pro-free speech litigants.

Boasberg rejected the factual claim that they were “similarly situated” to the BLM protesters. The litigants presented the results of discovery on the point, but Boasberg dismissed the claim on his own subjective view of the evidence.

They have now filed again with the appellate court to appeal his order.

Some of Boasberg’s factual findings are baffling.

For example, he maintains that the groups did not show that MPD officers “even witnessed any specific defacement during [Black Lives Matter] protests.” However, the groups presented such evidence as bodycam video of officers watching as a protester spray-painted ‘I can’t breathe’ on the street near the White House two weeks after the arrests of the pro-life protesters. They submitted other video evidence of officers watching protesters spray-painting BLM messages outside of the Department of Justice.

Moreover, they presented what they claimed is guidance from Assistant Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll, in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division, in the application of different treatment for graffiti.

Carroll reportedly admitted to being “present” at BLM protests featuring “defacement” of property, public and private and Lt. Jason Bagshaw admitted that he also saw defacement “related to” BLM protests.

This does not mean that a jury would rule for these litigants but rather that court cannot substitute its judgment for a jury when a credible and supported claim has been made by litigants.

Boasberg declares that no such credible evidence was presented. The fact is that a reasonable jury could conclude that there was a different treatment shown in the enforcement of these laws based on the content of the speech.

The biased enforcement of laws is a common reality in other countries where courts enable such selective enforcement. In countries such as Iran and China, no level of evidence is sufficient to overcome the bias of courts in showing a preference for one side.

Judge Boasberg has had a distinguished career that is now being undone by a lack of restraint in these decisions. Again, I believe that the judge has been on solid ground in some of these conflicts, including criticizing the use of “intemperate and disrespectful” language in filings and demanding compliance with his orders. However, while Chief Judge Boasberg has described the President’s claim of expansive powers as “awfully frightening,” the same can be said about a judge who substitutes his own judgment for juries and disregards legal standards for disfavored groups.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.” 

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:30

SpaceX Meltdown Vaporizes $1 Trillion In Market Cap As Stock, Bonds Crater

SpaceX's Tuesday rebound was short-lived, with shares sliding to a new low of $110.85 late Thursday morning and extending their brutal post-IPO selloff.

At a current market capitalization of roughly $1.479 trillion, SpaceX has erased about $1.16 trillion, or 44%, since its valuation peaked at $2.639 trillion on June 23.

Shares are also trading well below the company's $135 IPO price, underscoring how quickly investor enthusiasm has evaporated.

The chart shows  a selloff across SpaceX's capital structure:

• Black line, right axis: SpaceX shares, down from $157.68 on June 29 to about $111.39, a decline of roughly 29%.
• Blue line, left axis: SpaceX's 6.65% senior unsecured bonds due 2056, down from roughly 97 cents on the dollar to 87.6 cents.

The bond is part of SpaceX's $25 billion inaugural debt offering, including $3.5 billion of 2056 notes. Despite attracting about $89 billion of initial orders, the long-dated bonds have sold off sharply since issuance.

Part of the bond decline reflects the broader surge in Treasury yields as soaring oil prices revive inflation concerns and rate hike fears.

Reuters noted:

Ortex estimates SpaceX short sellers have earned $15.5 billion on paper since the June IPO as shares fell below the $135 offer price to a record $115.26. About 360 million shares, or 56% of free float, were on loan through Tuesday.

Earlier Thursday, Gregory Miller, managing director and equity research analyst at Citizens JMP Securities, told clients that despite the broad selloff across the AI complex, his outlook remains constructive and investor concerns appear overdone.

What Set Off the Latest Downdraft

Why We Think the Fear is Overdone

"The End of the AI Trade" — Eight Times in Two Years

Why We Remain Constructive

Hyperscale Capital Spending — Line of Sight to One Trillion Next Year

Looking ahead, the next major catalyst for SpaceX will be the launch of its massive Starship rocket later this evening.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:10

This American Drone-Motor Company Is Positioned For "Massive Procurement Tailwind"

Looking at the state of modern warfare, H.C. Wainwright analyst Amit Dayal initiated Unusual Machines with a "Buy" rating, telling clients the drone-part maker is emerging as a key player in "anchoring the US drone industry's sovereign supply chain."

Dayal called UMAC a "pure-play, American-made, NDAA-compliant drone-component manufacturer" that is perfectly positioned for a "massive procurement tailwind" across the US drone industry as the US government races to stockpile everything from one-way attack drones to interceptor drones.

What's key about UMAC is that it makes NDAA-compliant parts for drones. Its product portfolio spans flight controllers, electronic speed controllers (ESCs), analog video systems, FPV headsets, drone motors, and, pending the Upgrade Energy acquisition, batteries, with multiple products approved on the Blue UAS Framework.

Dayal estimates the US-made drone parts market could reach $3 billion to $5 billion as the Department of Defense and US drone manufacturers seek secure alternatives to Chinese suppliers.

US Drone Parts Market Forecasted to Boom 

Six UMAC components, including its Brave F7 flight controller, Brave 55A speed controller, and Aura FPV camera, have been approved for the Defense Innovation Unit's Blue UAS Framework.

The top catalyst is the DoD's roughly $1 billion Drone Dominance program, which is intended to rapidly expand the US inventory of small, inexpensive, and attritable drones.

The first procurement phase covers about 30,000 drones, while the next phase is expected to order roughly 60,000 systems during the second half of 2026. Additional phases could drive demand for approximately 250,000 drones in fiscal 2027. More than half of the initial vendors selected for Drone Dominance were already UMAC customers in some capacity, according to Dayal.

"A massive procurement tailwind underpins a multi-year unmanned-systems cycle," the analyst said, adding that UMAC is "building a vertically integrated, 'Made in the USA' component platform."

Cost to Buld a FPV

UMAC operates across 62,500 square feet at five manufacturing sites and its Orlando headquarters. The company's 17,000-square-foot motor facility began operating in October 2025 and was producing about 15,000 motors per month by March, with production forecasted to reach 100,000 motors per month later this year.

Global Drone Market Forecast 

Global Drone Parts Market Forecast

Dayal has a 12-month price target of $42 on UMAC. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg have an average target of $36.

Shares were trading around $20 on Wednesday morning.

In the previous report, we focused on AeroVironment, Ondas, Red Cat, AEVEX, Redwire, Insitu and Teledyne FLIR. Private companies covered included Anduril, Skydio, Shield AI, Quantum Systems, Performance Drone Works, DZYNE, Firestorm Labs, and Neros.

Read the full report here.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 11:30

"Closing Time" On The AI Bubble Is Sooner Than Most Think; Ed Dowd Warns Iran War Brings Global Recession Closer

Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com warned at the end of May we could see “$250 a barrel oil and 11% inflation as a worst-case scenario in 2026.” 

That didn’t happen... yet.  Dowd explains, “We had two scenarios when we talked last..."

" One was the conflict would get resolved in the April – May time frame. 

Oil would peak out around $125 (per barrel), and inflation would peak out in May and go lower. 

That’s what happened, but recently, MOU (Memorandum of Understanding with Iran) has been torn up and oil is back on the rise. 

Oil collapsed to around the low $70s to high $60s after the MOU.  It’s now $80 and change. 

So, unless this is resolved quickly, the other scenario is on the table...

If the conflict continues and gets worse, and you want to watch it progress, if we break out technically, meaningfully to $100 to $125, and back test and hold support, then the next level is $200 to $250 a barrel. 

All we are talking about here is my thesis that we are going into a global recession, and it gets pulled forward that much quicker.  We will have a burst of inflation and massive demand destruction.”

The Iran/US war is not the only headwind Dowd sees. 

AI (artificial intelligence) investment is in bubble territory according to Dowd, and the lights are about to go out on that trade.  Dowd says:

“The stock market is 45% AI and AI adjacent. 

When the equity market figures out the party may be slowing or it’s over, that will affect the stock market. 

It’s a feedback loop that I think is beginning.  Let’s call it the AI summer of discontent...

Closing time is closer than most people think.  The party has been going on for a while. 

We had this huge impulse in semiconductor stocks in April and May.  The indices have 17% to 19% of the S&P 500, the semiconductor index. 

That is a warning sign in and of itself.  This is a notoriously cyclical boom and bust industry... There is inflation going on in this... AI build. 

All the projections of return on investment are going the way of the dodo bird because they are now paying exorbitant prices for commodity memory chips.  Also, power costs are going up, and they have to build power plants.  The whole math does not work with the AI infrastructure in the credit driven AI complex. 

So, the math kind of implodes on itself at some point...

I think the party is closer to the end than the beginning, and closing time will be upon us soon.”

When the AI bubble pops, Dowd expect a “nasty pullback in the stock market.” 

This is why Dowd is telling investors to raise cash levels just like famed investor Warren Buffett is doing by holding record amounts of cash in his fund.  Dowd says, “Cash is dry powder.” 

And for those who think the US dollar is going to tank, Dowd thinks just the opposite and says, “The dollar looks quite bullish.”

Dowd still likes gold as a core asset, and his target price is unchanged at $10,000 per ounce in the next few years.

There is much more in the 34-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog as he goes One-on-One with money manager and investment expert Ed Dowd as he explains why he is still seeing big trouble for the US economy.   Dowd predicted this was coming in January with his report called “US Economy Outlook 2026.”

To get Dowd’s latest red-hot reporting, go to his new Substack called “Ed Dowd: Beyond the Narrative,” by clicking here.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 11:10