California falls short on utility bill containment legislation

UTILITIES: California advocates criticize lawmakers for failing to pass bills aimed at containing rising utility rates while continuing to fund grid upgrades and wildfire-hazard mitigation efforts. (Canary Media)

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ALSO: Six candidates for Arizona’s utility regulatory commission are split down party lines on policy stances, with Democrats favoring clean energy and Republicans looking to keep fossil fuels in the mix. (Arizona Daily Star)

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SOLAR:

• Oregon nonprofits develop a community solar array in Portland aimed at providing power and reducing utility bills for about 150 low-income households. (OPB)
• Tribal nations in Nevada worry the federal Bureau of Land Management’s Western solar plan will lead to utility-scale development on the site of the proposed Basahwahbee national monument. (Nevada Current)
• California researchers look to develop solar arrays that benefit pollinators and ecosystems. (New York Times, subscription)

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OIL & GAS: Observers say a northern California city leveraging a ballot initiative to extract a $550 million payout from Chevron over damages from its oil refinery could provide a model for other communities. (Politico)

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ELECTRIFICATION: California legislation awaiting the governor’s signature would allow natural gas utilities to pilot up to 30 neighborhood-scale building electrification and decarbonization projects. (Utility Dive)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Colorado allocates $1.3 million to fund an additional round of electric bicycle purchase rebates, saying residents have redeemed more than 6,700 of the incentives so far. (news release)

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CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. Energy Department awards a Wyoming research center $5 million to launch the first phase of a pilot project aimed at capturing carbon from a 450 MW coal plant. (Power)

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CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Department awards New Mexico $2 million to install heat pumps, solar panels and other efficiency upgrades on 85 homes in disadvantaged communities. (news release)

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GRID:

• California officials say load-growth forecasts account for AI-processing data centers’ projected energy demand, but they do not know how it may affect residents’ utility bills. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Bonneville Power Administration continues to object to California’s governance of a proposed day-ahead regional power market and leans toward joining a competing proposal. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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NUCLEAR: Idaho National Laboratory brings online a hot cell facility for researching and testing materials used in nuclear reactors. (East Idaho News)

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CLIMATE:

• Oregon regulators extend the public comment period on restarting its climate protection program aimed at cutting oil and gas companies’ emissions after a court invalidated a previous iteration of the plan. (OPB)
• Phoenix hits 100 consecutive days of triple digit maximum temperatures, leading to record-high power demand and hundreds of heat-related fatalities. (Washington Post)

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MINING: A company begins construction at a contested battery metals mine in southern Arizona after state regulators approve its air quality permit. (Arizona Republic)

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