California virtual power plants on budget chopping block

GRID: 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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ALSO:

• A report predicts expanding use of energy-intensive generative AI will more than double Arizona data centers’ share of the state’s overall electricity use by 2030. (Axios)
• The developer of the Boardman-Hemingway transmission project in Oregon and Idaho proposes expanding the project’s site boundaries. (Capital Press, subscription)
• A California agency brings online three new natural gas peaker plants designed to provide backup during peak demand. (Modesto Bee)

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CLIMATE: A California city votes to block testing of an experimental cloud brightening technology aimed at slowing climate warming, even though a study found it posed no health risks. (New York Times)

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OIL & GAS:

• The U.S. Energy Department awards a Colorado university $20 million to research ways to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure. (CBS News)
• A developer advances a proposed natural gas pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope to the south-central part of the state by inking a supply agreement with an oil and gas company. (Alaska Public Media)

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UTILITIES:

• Puget Sound Energy plans to ramp up overdue bill collection efforts in Washington state, raising concerns that thousands of low-income families may lose electricity and natural gas service. (Washington State Standard)
• A campaign to replace San Diego Gas & Electric with a municipal utility collects enough signatures to force a city council vote on whether to put the issue on the ballot. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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STORAGE: Pacific Gas & Electric agrees to purchase power from a 112.5 MW battery energy storage system under construction in southwestern Arizona. (Solar Industry)

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SOLAR:

• The San Carlos Apache Tribe seeks a firm or organization to develop, operate and finance a proposed 500 MW solar project on the tribe’s land in Arizona. (news release)
• Tri-State Generation and Transmission purchases two solar installations in western Colorado with a combined 255 MW capacity. (Power)
• A dispute over funding for a county road expansion delays progress on a proposed 771 MW solar installation in Wyoming. (Cowboy State Daily)  
• An Arizona megachurch completes construction on a rooftop solar array expected to cut its energy costs by a third. (Solar Quarter)

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CLEAN ENERGY: A U.S. courthouse in Montana is awarded $24 million in federal funding to upgrade the structure’s efficiency and install electric heat pumps. (Missoulian)

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BIOFUELS: Montana residents and advocates push back on an aviation biofuel producer’s plans to inject wastewater into spent oil and gas wells. (Montana Public Radio)

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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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