Feds fork out $2.5 billion for Tri-State coal retirements, clean energy

CLEAN ENERGY: The Biden administration awards Tri-State Generation $2.5 billion in loans and grants to retire existing coal plants and develop and acquire new clean energy capacity for its member cooperatives in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona. (Colorado Sun)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A nonprofit “green bank” launches a $250 million financing program to purchase about 500 electric trucks for freight companies serving the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports. (Canary Media)

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LITHIUM: The U.S. Energy Department finalizes a $2.26 billion loan to the controversial Thacker Pass lithium mine under development in Nevada as part of the Biden administration’s effort to bolster the domestic battery supply chain. (Reuters)

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UTILITIES:

• Oregon regulators order NW Natural to phase out gas hookup and line extension subsidies by November 2027, saying the move could reduce utility bills and slow gas infrastructure buildout. (OPB)
• A multi-agency electrification program says it has hooked nearly 900 Navajo Nation homes to the grid since launching in 2019, with another 10,400 remaining. (Associated Press)

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OIL & GAS:

• Colorado elected officials urge the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a lower court’s decision to overturn a proposed Utah oil-hauling railway’s federal approval, saying the trains endanger communities along the route. (Colorado Newsline)
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom directs regulators to consider requiring refiners to increase ethanol blending in gasoline, claiming it could lower fuel prices without increasing emissions. (news release)
• Activist and actress Jane Fonda urges Colorado residents and advocates to continue their fight for tighter regulations on a Denver-area petroleum refinery and other polluters. (Colorado Sun)

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COAL:

• Xcel Energy proposes adding 14,000 MW of wind, solar, natural gas and battery storage capacity by 2031 and considers nuclear for the long-term to replace a retiring Colorado coal plant and meet predicted demand growth. (Pueblo Chieftain)
• Colorado regulators seek public input on Xcel Energy’s plan to remediate coal ash repositories and associated groundwater contamination at its shuttered Valmont plant near Boulder. (Daily Camera)

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SOLAR: An Oregon farm launches an agrivoltaics project consisting of a mobile tracking solar-plus-storage array that shades cool-weather crops from climate change-driven heat. (Microgrid Knowledge)

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BATTERIES: A developer brings an 80 MW battery energy storage system online in California’s Central Valley. (news release)

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POLITICS: Observers say Nevada’s debates over clean energy development and lithium mining are not falling along political lines and are unlikely to affect voters’ choice for president. (E&E News)

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NUCLEAR: A mining company’s proposed uranium mill in an economically depressed Utah town shows little progress even though commodity prices remain high. (Salt Lake Tribune)

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