UK Energy Tax Cut Clash: Consumer finance expert Martin Lewis says Andy Burnham’s VAT cut on electricity bills will be largely wiped out by a higher Ofgem price cap from October, leaving households with little net relief. Cybersecurity: Australia’s Origin Energy is urgently investigating an alleged breach after a hacker claimed access to data of 2 million customers, with Origin saying it doesn’t believe credit card or bank details were involved. Geopolitics & Power: Russian drone strikes hit Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, damaging energy infrastructure and wounding two women, while Middle East tensions continue to rattle global energy markets. Grid Reliability: Imperial Valley utilities issue a voluntary conserve alert ahead of a triple-digit heat wave to ease strain on the Western grid without resorting to outages. Energy Transition & Storage: Australia’s battery and solar momentum continues as grants target consumer-led flexibility, while LG Energy Solution prepares to restart its Ohio battery plant with GM amid signs of EV demand recovery. Nuclear for AI: Oklo and X-Energy are set to join a $200m US push to speed new nuclear reactors for AI data centers. Water Stress for Clean Metals: A new ICMM analysis finds nearly two-thirds of mining and metals facilities sit in areas with significant physical water risk, with water competition emerging as a key transition bottleneck.