California allows Diablo Canyon to run until 2030

NUCLEAR: California regulators vote to allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant to continue operating for five years beyond its scheduled 2025 retirement date. (Associated Press)

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OIL & GAS:

• Colorado advocates push back on a proposal to limit oil and gas facilities’ nitrogen oxide emissions, saying an intensity cap would be difficult to enforce and would not reduce pollution. (Colorado Sun)
• New Mexico extends an oil and gas drilling ban on state lands around Chaco Culture National Historical Park for another 20 years. (KRQE)
• Oil and gas-related jobs in Wyoming decrease by about 6% from a year ago due to lower commodity prices. (Cap City News)

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CLIMATE:

• Seattle’s city council votes to require large buildings to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050, affecting about 4,100 structures. (KNKX)
• Washington state raises $370 million from its final carbon auction of 2023, bringing the cap-and-invest program’s first-year revenues to just over $2 billion. (Crosscut)
• Portland, Oregon’s clean energy fund brings in $540 million more than expected, prompting officials to expand spending to additional city climate projects. (OPB)

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SOLAR: An Arizona solar panel installation firm ceases operations, lays off dozens of employees and files for bankruptcy. (Phoenix Business Journal, subscription)

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TRANSPORTATION: An analysis finds California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandates and other climate programs could lead to a nearly $6 billion decrease in gasoline tax revenues and a shortage of highway repair funds. (CalMatters)

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HYDROPOWER: Northwest tribal nations and environmentalists say their $1 billion salmon recovery deal with the Biden administration is a road map for dismantling hydropower dams. (Associated Press)

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STORAGE: California’s energy commission awards a firm $30 million to build a long duration iron-air battery storage project near Mendocino. (news release)

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UTILITIES:

• New Mexico regulatory examiners find the state’s largest utility made “imprudent” investments in the Four Corners coal plant and Palo Verde nuclear plant and should not be allowed to recoup those expenditures through a customer rate hike. (Albuquerque Journal)
• An Arizona utility regulator calls for a stronger ethics code after her colleague meets with utility investors and the American Gas Association. (12 News)

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WIND: A Washington state advisory council will decide next month whether to recommend approval of a controversial proposed 200-turbine wind facility near Kennewick. (Tri Cities Area Journal of Business)

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COMMENTARY: California needs to stop bickering over the minutiae of net metering policy and cost-shifting and wholeheartedly embrace rooftop solar to tackle climate change, an energy journalist argues. (Los Angeles Times)

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