Newsom looks to end some California oil and gas subsidies

OIL & GAS: California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes ending some longstanding tax breaks for oil and gas producers, saying it would save the state up to $22 million annually. (Politico)

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ALSO:

• Washington state lawmakers consider legislation that would create a petroleum market monitoring agency to guard against gasoline price gouging. (KIRO)
• Wyoming’s oil and gas industry claims it could lose $900 million and 3,000 jobs under a proposed federal land management plan, even though it would not cancel existing leases or affect current drilling areas. (Cowboy State Daily)

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SOLAR:

• New Mexico’s Supreme Court rejects utilities’ bid to delay implementation of the state’s new community solar program while judges consider a challenge to the rules. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Commercial operations begin at an 875 MW solar-plus-storage facility partly located on a U.S. Air Force base in southern California. (news release)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management advances four proposed solar installations in Nevada with a combined total of 1,500 MW combined generating capacity and 2,000 MW battery storage. (Nevada Current)
• Hawaii advocates say recent changes to rooftop solar-plus-storage incentives threaten a program that kept the lights on following a coal plant closure. (Canary Media)
• A Hawaii nonprofit proposes an 88-home off-grid solar-plus-storage powered development to house people displaced by last year’s Maui wildfires. (Solar Power World)
• A Washington state island community begins installing a community solar-powered microgrid. (Journal of the San Juan Islands)

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WIND: Washington state regulators are slated next week to consider a proposed 600-1,100 MW wind power facility in the southern part of the state. (Center Square)

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STORAGE: A company breaks ground on a 312-battery energy storage system in Phoenix, Arizona. (Arizona Republic)

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OVERSIGHT: A Utah lawmaker introduces legislation aimed at allowing the state not to comply with federal regulations it doesn’t like, giving the U.S. EPA’s ozone transport rule as an example. (Utah News Dispatch)

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NUCLEAR: A Washington state lawmaker introduces legislation that would provide tax incentives for nuclear power equipment manufacturers. (Center Square)

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UTILITIES: Colorado natural gas utilities plan to rely on energy efficiency, demand response and biofuels to achieve state-mandated greenhouse gas emissions reductions. (S&P Global)

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HYDROPOWER: U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Washington state Republican, looks to use a federal infrastructure bill to block a proposal to breach four Northwest hydropower dams. (Idaho Statesman)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• An Arizona city plans to use $11.8 million in federal funding to increase its public electric vehicle chargers by 40%. (Arizona Republic)
• Utah receives $3.3 million in federal funding to repair or replace about 77 electric vehicle chargers. (KSL)

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TRANSITION: An activated carbon air and water purification manufacturer establishes a facility in northwest New Mexico as part of an effort to diversify the region’s fossil fuel-reliant economy. (Daily Times)

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ELECTRIFICATION: Palo Alto, California, stops enforcing a ban on natural gas hookups in new construction following a court order axing Berkeley’s similar rule. (Daily Post)

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COAL: Montana utility observers ask why the Colstrip coal plant remained offline during a recent cold snap even as utilities had to import power to keep the lights on. (Missoula Current)

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GRID: Another severe winter storm pounds utility equipment in the Northwest, leaving more than 40,000 customers without power in Portland, Oregon. (KGW)

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