Discover the Latest News and Initiatives for a Sustainable Future

GEOTHERMAL: Southern California Edison signs on to purchase 320 MW of power from an enhanced geothermal energy facility under development in Utah, boosting the nascent technology. (KTXL)

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OIL & GAS:

• The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear the case of a contested proposed oil-hauling rail line in Utah following a judge’s cancellation of its federal approval last year. (CPR)
• New Mexico advocates call on regulators to raise oil and gas reclamation bonding rates, saying it will lessen taxpayer spending to clean up abandoned wells. (NM Political Report)

• A federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale garners $34 million in bids on 14 Permian Basin parcels. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• California and Washington state refiners step up purchases of Canada crude oil after the Trans Mountain pipeline extension opens. (Bloomberg)

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CLIMATE: A Colorado judge clears the way for a local governments’ lawsuit looking to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate change-related damages. (CPR)

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HYDROPOWER: Yakama Nation leaders criticize federal regulators for failing to consult with them on a proposed pumped hydropower storage project in Washington state after the tribe refused to reveal ceremonial and religious knowledge. (High Country News)

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SOLAR:

• California nonprofits and government agencies launch an initiative to install rooftop solar on up to 140 homes in South Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Business Journal)
• A California solar group challenges a new state rule banning solar contractors from installing or maintaining battery storage systems, saying it will harm the clean energy industry and climate goals. (Courthouse News)
• Utah officials unveil an 80 MW solar facility near Salt Lake City years later than planned due to supply chain constraints. (KSL)
• A Navajo Nation-owned utility looks to build more utility-scale solar in addition to rooftop installations at off-grid homes. (ABC 15)

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WIND: Wyoming regulators prepare to consider legal snags that have delayed development of a proposed 504 MW wind facility in the southern part of the state. (Cowboy State Daily)

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STORAGE: An Arizona utility brings two battery energy storage systems online with a combined 340 MW capacity. (news release)

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AVIATION: California regulators propose requiring jet fuel suppliers to offset their product’s greenhouse gas pollution by paying for emissions-reduction projects. (E&E News, subscription)

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GRID:

• Analysts urge California’s grid operator to take a larger role in reliability planning as climate change complicates electricity network operations. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Nevada regulators establish a framework for considering a utility’s bid to join the California grid operator’s regional day-ahead power market. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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NUCLEAR:

• California lawmakers agree to loan Pacific Gas & Electric an additional $400 million to keep Diablo Canyon nuclear plant operating after initially rejecting the request. (Fresno Bee)
• Washington state’s Democratic Party narrowly votes to reject resolutions opposing nuclear power. (Spokesman-Review)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A mapping tool finds electric vehicle charging deserts persist even in strong EV markets, including Los Angeles. (Axios)

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COAL: Advocates push back against the proposed sale of Canada coal mines blamed for contaminating Montana waters, saying it could affect remediation efforts. (Montana Free Press)

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GEOTHERMAL: Google agrees to purchase about 112 MW of enhanced geothermal-generated electricity from NV Energy to power its Nevada data centers. (Reuters)

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SOLAR: An Arizona city plans to install 3 MW of solar capacity over 660 parking spaces at municipal facilities. (Mesa Tribune)

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GRID:

• California awards a distributed energy management firm $1.5 million to expand virtual power plant enrollment to include thermostats, electric vehicles and residential battery storage. (Renewable Energy World)
• The California grid operator’s board approves a proposal aimed at streamlining the interconnection process to help address an “unprecedented volume” of connection requests. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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WIND: A developer begins site investigation surveys for its proposed 1,600 MW Canopy offshore wind farm off northern California’s coast. (Windpower)

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UTILITIES:

• Arizona regulators exempt a proposed 200 MW natural gas plant expansion in the western part of the state from a mandatory environmental review. (12 News)
• Los Angeles uses about $253 million in federal funds to help income-qualified residents pay overdue utility bills. (City News Service)

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OIL & GAS:

• Environmental advocates petition the federal government to reconsider the Trans-Alaska crude oil pipeline’s climate impacts and to begin planning for its removal. (Alaska Public Media)
• New Mexico advocates call on a state water quality regulator to recuse herself from decisions related to oil and gas wastewater reuse, alleging a conflict of interest due to her employment at a petroleum firm. (Source NM)  
• Federal analysts predict Permian Basin oil production will climb about 8% this year, leading to record-high domestic outputs. (E&E News, subscription)

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TRANSPORTATION:

• California regulators say a delayed U.S. EPA waiver has forced them to allow over 1,000 diesel trucks to skirt their ban on fossil fuel-powered big rigs serving ports. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Colorado transit district considers asking voters to permanently allow it to keep revenue that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers under state law. (CPR)

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CLIMATE:

• A federal judge sends an Oregon county’s lawsuit against oil companies over their alleged contributions to climate change back to a state court. (Hoodline)
• Montana residents, businesses and advocates petition a court to force utility regulators to formally consider or deny their request to include climate change in decision-making. (Daily Montanan)

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DIVESTMENT: Advocates urge California’s public employee pension fund to limit its investments in ExxonMobil after the company sued climate-advocate shareholders. (E&E News, subscription)

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COAL: Right-wing Wyoming lawmakers call for a special session to fight the Biden administration’s proposal to end new federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. (Cowboy State Daily)

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NUCLEAR: A Wyoming community college receives $2.4 million in state funds to develop a nuclear technology program to support a proposed advanced reactor at a retiring coal plant. (Douglas Budget)

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MINING: Conservation groups prepare to sue the U.S. Forest Service for allegedly violating federal law when approving a copper mine’s expansion in central Arizona. (news release)

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GEOTHERMAL: Eversource will begin operating a unique, $14 million pilot project this week: the nation’s first utility-operated underground thermal energy network connecting buildings around Framingham, Massachusetts. (Canary Media)

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BIOENERGY: A Rhode Island bioenergy facility that was supposed to be providing a Canadian refinery with renewable natural gas by last summer still hasn’t finished construction, leaving both its future and the refinery’s climate goals in jeopardy. (CBC)

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POLICY: Pennsylvania’s House holds a hearing over a bill that would restructure the state board responsible for handling federal energy incentives to let it finance energy projects itself. (Penn Live Patriot-News)

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FOSSIL FUELS:

• New Hampshire’s governor joins several of his Republican counterparts in Louisiana to call on President Biden to deregulate the oil and gas industry, claiming current policies are causing inflation. (WWLTV)
• The Pennsylvania Game Commission plans to invest $500 million from unaccounted gas revenues into the state’s hunting grounds. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

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GRID:

• New England’s grid operator says it should have enough capacity this summer to handle normal peak conditions, but notes “a prolonged heat wave with high humidity could challenge the system.” (InDepthNH)
• A recently introduced bill would prorate the utility bills of New York City public housing residents experiencing lengthy outages. (Pix 11)

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BUILDINGS: New Hampshire is among the roughly two dozen states fighting proposed federal regulations around new energy efficiency standards for stoves, cooktops and ovens. (Nebraska Examiner)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Vermont’s governor signs into law a new annual fee for electric vehicle owners to help plug the funding gap from lower gasoline taxes. (VT Digger)
• A Vermont electric plane startup completes its first full test flight of its vertical takeoff plane prototype, noting that the technology is common in small drones but not “a 7,000-pound aircraft with a 50-foot wingspan.” (WCAX)
• Installing a small fleet of lithium-ion batteries helped the developers of a Weymouth, Massachusetts, electric vehicle fast-charging station get around a lengthy equipment backlog, letting them finish the build in six months. (Boston Globe)

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TECH: Some climate tech experts say Massachusetts has the right combination of innovation and accessible capital to cultivate a successful climate tech hub on a global scale. (ABC News)

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SOLAR: A vertical farming company opens a large strawberry farming warehouse entirely powered by solar energy in New Jersey. (Food Bev Media)

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COMMENTARY: The head of a New York climate justice coalition argues against implementing the Clean Fuel Standard, citing the failure of similar policies in California that he says hurt disadvantaged communities. (City Limits)

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GEOTHERMAL: A new map reveals potential geothermal hotspots across the U.S. where subterranean heat is strong enough to be tapped for electricity generation. (The Hill)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A new poll finds about 40% of U.S. adults say they’re at least somewhat likely to buy an electric vehicle as their next car, though many cite range anxiety and a lack of charging options as hangups. (Associated Press)
• Soon-to-be implemented federal tariffs on e-bikes and batteries from China threaten the industry’s growth, experts say. (Inside Climate News)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Governments around the world need to quadruple their carbon capture efforts, including by planting more trees and deploying capture technology, to meet global climate goals, researchers find. (Reuters)

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STORAGE: Long-duration energy storage technologies like compressed air and pumped hydro have become cheaper to use than lithium-ion batteries for 8-plus-hour discharge durations, a report finds. (Utility Dive)

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OIL & GAS: The U.S. EPA let its criticism of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to build a new gas-fired plant in Tennessee go by the wayside after the federal utility essentially ignored the complaint. (E&E News)

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PIPELINES:

• Eight hours of public hearings over Enbridge’s plan to reroute Line 5 in Wisconsin bring out supporters touting economic benefits and opponents with environmental and Indigenous rights concerns. (Journal Sentinel)
• Residents along the Mountain Valley Pipeline call for more scrutiny of its potential safety risks after records reveal more than 100 potential problems along its 303-mile route. (WVTF)

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SOLAR: Critics say planned fees for Maine solar projects built on “high-value agricultural soils” unfairly single out clean energy based on anecdotal evidence of its impact on farmland. (Energy News Network)

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GRID:

• The market monitor of grid operator PJM claims FirstEnergy and other utilities should be barred from collecting nearly $130 million in revenue for failing to show they are eligible for the energy efficiency capacity payments. (Utility Dive)
• California advocates call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to reverse proposed funding cuts to virtual power plant and demand response programs, saying they support grid reliability and distributed storage. (Canary Media)

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CLIMATE: Scientists find the Earth is warming at a record rate, but don’t see evidence that human-caused global warming is significantly ramping up. (Associated Press)

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POLITICS: Former President Donald Trump indicates he would do away with the Interior Department — which oversees energy development on federal land — if he is elected to another term. (E&E News)

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