“The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion-dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power,” the Washington Post reports.

“The aim of fusion research is to replicate the nuclear reaction through which energy is created on the sun. It is a “holy grail” of carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s. It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use, but the latest development is likely to be touted by the Biden administration as an affirmation of a massive investment by the government over the years.”

“Gasoline has fallen to the point where the national average is now cheaper than it was a year ago, even with the war in Ukraine and OPEC+ production cutbacks,” CNBC reports.

“GasBuddy says there’s a good chance the price could fall below $3 nationally as soon as Christmas.”

Wall Street Journal: “The average cost of regular unleaded gasoline fell to $3.45 a gallon on Thursday…That is among the lowest levels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and a more than 30% drop from a record above $5 in June.”

“The cost of gasoline is falling so fast that it is beginning to put real money back in the pockets of drivers, defying earlier projections and offering an unexpected gift for the holidays,” the Washington Post reports.

“Filling up is now as cheap as it was in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine touched off a global energy crisis.”

“In the most densely populated corner of the US, temperatures are about to drop after a stretch of unusually warm weather. And the signs of a winter crisis are already multiplying,” Bloomberg reports.

“Heating oil delivered to New York is the priciest ever. Retailers in Connecticut are rationing it to prevent panic buying. New England’s stockpiles of diesel and heating oil — the same product, taxed differently — are a third of normal levels. Natural gas inventories are also below average. A Massachusetts-based utility is imploring President Joe Biden to prepare emergency measures to prevent a gas shortage.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Saturday slammed President Biden after he called for coal plants across the US to be shuttered, saying Biden’s remarks are “outrageous and divorced from reality” and suggesting it’s “time he learn a lesson,” CNN reports.

Associated Press: “Manchin’s stinging rebuke of his party’s leader comes at precarious time for Democrats on the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday’s elections that could put Republicans back in power in Congress.”

“President Biden’s top aide wakes up almost every morning at around 3:30 a.m. in his suburban Maryland home, rolls over in bed and pulls out his iPhone to check a number critical to the fate of the presidency,” the Washington Post reports.

“The information sought by Biden’s chief of staff is not covert intelligence from a foreign government nor a top-secret national security assessment, but a publicly available tracker on AAA.com — the average national gas price, which updates in the early morning…”

“Klain’s fixation on gas prices reflects a wider sense inside the Biden administration that the president’s popularity is, to a remarkable degree, tied up in that single indicator — one that many economists regard as not nearly as important as the attention it gets. With some incredulity, White House economic officials have watched for months as the president’s approval rating moves in almost exact relation to the average national gas price.”

“President Joe Biden on Monday will raise the possibility of imposing a ‘windfall tax’ on energy companies if they don’t boost domestic production, as his administration aims to combat high gas prices just days before the midterm elections,” the AP reports.

“The good times continue at Shell. The London-based energy giant reported adjusted earnings for the third quarter of $9.45 billion, its second-highest profit on record and more than double the $4.1 billion it made in the same period a year earlier,” the New York Times reports.

“Shell is mainly benefiting from high oil and natural gas prices partly stoked by the war in Ukraine, as Russia squeezes gas flows to Europe.”

Gas Buddy forecasts declining gas prices across the country over the next couple of weeks.

CNN: “The national average stood at $3.85 a gallon Wednesday, down 2 cents from Tuesday and 7 cents in the last week. Much of that decline was driven by a steep price drop in western states, where prices had shot up to near record levels earlier this month.”