Navajo Nation allows uranium ore shipments across tribal lands

NUCLEAR: The Navajo Nation agrees to allow Energy Fuels to transport uranium ore across tribal land from the company’s Grand Canyon-area mine to its Utah mill. (AZ Mirror)

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ALSO: Wyoming lawmakers kill legislation that would have encouraged the federal government to establish an interim nuclear waste repository in the state, citing concerns it would end up being permanent. (WyoFile)

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UTILITIES:

• More details come to light regarding electrical faults on Southern California Edison’s Los Angeles-area grid in the moments before the deadly Eaton Fire broke out. (New York Times)
• Southern California Edison proposes a customer surcharge to pay for about $7 billion in damages relating to power equipment-sparked wildfires in 2017 and 2018, even as the utility faces scrutiny over its role in the deadly Los Angeles-area Eaton Fire. (Los Angeles Times)
• Federal analysts expect higher natural gas costs to drive up wholesale power prices in California and the Southwest by as much as 35% this year. (Utility Dive)
• Oregon advocates and officials push back on a utility’s plan to cut down 400 mature trees in a Portland urban forest to make way for new transmission lines. (OPB)

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COAL:

• The operator of the Colstrip coal plant in Montana joins other power companies urging U.S. EPA chief Lee Zeldin to roll back federal toxic coal ash regulations and rescind recent enforcement actions. (Canary Media)
• Wyoming and federal researchers begin testing a pilot-scale facility designed to extract rare earth elements from coal fly ash. (news release)

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SOLAR:

• The federal Bureau of Land Management cancels a public-input forum on the proposed Taurus wind and Snake River solar projects in Idaho after the Trump administration paused clean energy permitting on public lands. (KIVI)
• Washington state lawmakers introduce legislation that would establish a community solar program. (Solar Power World)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signs an order aimed at accelerating clean energy targets and setting a goal of 50,000 distributed solar and battery installations by 2030. (Maui Now)

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‍STORAGE: A Utah utility and a firm look to develop 70 MW of demand response capacity using flywheel energy storage systems. (news release)OIL & GAS: The U.S. EPA reports seven methane super-emission events over one week near oil fields and refineries in a southern California county. (KBAK, news release)

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‍BIOFUELS:

• Calumet pauses its Montana biofuel refinery expansion plans after the Trump administration froze disbursement of a $782 million Biden-era federal loan. (Montana Free Press)
• The U.S. Navy contracts with a biofuels firm to develop a facility in Hawaii to produce synthetic jet fuel from carbon dioxide extracted from seawater. (Biofuels Digest)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Northwestern New Mexico officials hope a direct air carbon capture hub proposed for the area will replace declining coal industry jobs. (New Mexico Political Report)

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‍COMMENTARY: Colorado labor advocates say a new pro-clean energy union coalition aims to tackle the climate crisis while ensuring green jobs also prioritize workers. (Colorado Newsline)

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