December 11, 2025 - This week we’ve been focusing on permitting-related legislation being considered in Congress in the final run up to the holidays. In addition to the SPEED Act and the PERMIT Act that we’ve already discussed, lawmakers are also considering the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act and the Electric Supply Chain Act, two bills that address grid reliability and risks tied to foreign mineral and material supply chains.

And turning to the markets after yesterday’s fed rate cut announcement, gold prices are up.  silver prices are up,  with both heading for their strongest annual performance since 1979, with gold up more than 60% and silver doubling. And don’t forget about copper – it also continues to push its record highs.

Finally the Wall Street Journal has a piece om The U.S.-China “electron gap.” While the U.S. invented the most powerful artificial-intelligence models and controls access to the most advanced computer chips, China’s “trump card, if you will, is the fact that it now has the biggest power grid the world has ever seen. Last year, China generated 2x as much electricity as the U.S. and its data centers are paying less than half what American ones pay for electricity.