Feds plan major Western transmission buildout

GRID: The Biden administration finalizes a transmission permitting streamlining rule and plans to spend $331 million to add more than 2,000 MW of grid capacity in the West. (Heatmap, news release)

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ALSO: California’s grid operator proposes investing $6.1 billion in 26 infrastructure projects aimed at expediting renewable energy project interconnections before 2035. (Reuters)

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STORAGE:

• California regulators approve a rule allowing only licensed electricians to install residential battery storage systems, even when added to existing rooftop solar. (Solar Power World)
• The Puyallup Tribe partners with an Oregon startup to manufacture grid-scale hydrogen and bromide flow batteries. (KNKX)
• California surpasses 10,000 MW of grid-scale battery storage capacity, a 1,250% increase since 2019. (news release)
• NV Energy and a developer begin commercial operation of a 220 MW battery energy storage system at the site of a shuttered Nevada coal plant. (Solar Industry)

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SOLAR: A New Mexico company breaks ground on a $50 million solar tracking equipment manufacturing facility near Albuquerque. (Solar Power World)

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COAL:

• A Montana coal mine operator’s lawsuit accuses the federal Bureau of Land Management’s protracted leasing review process of harming the facility’s viability and imperiling 300 mining jobs. (Daily Montanan)
• Arch Resources says it may have to lay off workers at its Powder River Basin coal mines following first-quarter production declines. (Cowboy State Daily)

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POLLUTION: The American Lung Association finds four New Mexico counties have excessively high levels of ozone pollution, including three in oil and gas producing regions. (NM Political Report)

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OIL & GAS:

• The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes upholding Trump-era oil and gas leases on 6,000 acres in the Permian Basin that have been targeted by an environmental lawsuit. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• The Navajo Nation proposes a system notifying the public of utility line locations after an excavator punctured an oil line, spilling 1,000 barrels of crude. (Fronteras)

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NUCLEAR:

• Nevada advocates and officials prepare to fight federal lawmakers’ push to revive the dormant Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository’s licensing process. (Nevada Independent)
• A Wyoming firm plans to establish a nuclear micro-reactor equipment manufacturing and distribution hub in the Powder River Basin. (Cowboy State Daily)

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HYDROPOWER:

• Western utilities look to adapt to climate change-exacerbated hydropower output variability without relying more on natural gas generation. (Grist)
• A federal court rejects an environmental lawsuit claiming the Biden administration illegally prioritized hydropower production in its 20-year Glen Canyon Dam management plan. (Courthouse News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Washington state plans to launch a $45 million rebate program aimed at helping low-income residents purchase or lease electric vehicles in August. (Spokesman-Review)
• Washington state awards a county $6 million to install about 400 electric vehicle charging ports in the Seattle area. (Crosscut)

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UTILITIES: Oregon regulators reject consumer advocates’ bid to dismiss Portland General Electric’s requested rate increase, saying the proposal must go through the lengthy review process. (Oregonian)

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COMMENTARY: A California columnist celebrates the closure of 21 Western coal plants over the past two decades, but warns that shuttering the 32 remaining facilities may be even more difficult. (Los Angeles Times)

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