SOLAR: MGM Resorts plans to use a solar array to provide 90 percent of the daytime power used by its 13 Las Vegas casinos, a project the company says wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t cut ties with its utility. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
ALSO: A Boulder-based solar industry lender raises $112 million in equity amid strong growth in the renewable energy sector. (Greentech Media)
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RENEWABLE ENERGY:
• A report from Nevada regulators predicts higher energy bills for 10 years if a clean energy ballot measure is approved; critics say the report lacks supporting evidence. (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a clean-energy advocate, is joining a Boulder venture capital firm as a strategy partner. (BizWest)
CLIMATE:
• Legal experts anticipate the two Colorado counties that recently sued the oil industry over climate change damages will try to move the case to federal court. (Boulder Daily Camera)
• The head of a Colorado oil industry group calls the lawsuit “misguided” and “a political stunt.” (Inside Sources)
WIND:
• Oklahoma is among four states where wind energy supplies more than 30 percent of all electricity. (CleanTechnica)
• San Antonio’s city-owned utility ranks 13th in the nation for wind power purchases, but still lags behind Austin. (San Antonio Express-News)
TRANSMISSION: An Oklahoma landowner will benefit from being on both ends of a proposed wind energy transmission project. (The Oklahoman)
UTILITIES:
• In an awkward moment at a board meeting, an outgoing Colorado Springs utility executive is presented with a marijuana plant as a gift from a local clean air advocate. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
• Xcel Energy gets permission from the FAA to fly drones beyond the operator’s line of sight to inspect power lines. (Power Engineering)
OIL AND GAS:
• Dallas city officials say the utility involved in a deadly house explosion is taking too long to replace old gas lines. (NBC DFW)
• A Texas oil and gas regulator says the biggest threat to the industry is millennials’ acceptance of “politically-correct-driven environmental anti-oil and gas science.” (Texas Tribune)
• With the land rush over in the Permian Basin, the oil and gas producers there face a new era of consolidation. (Houston Chronicle)
• Oil and gas production in Colorado is surging as prices hit a three-year high. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Colorado residents live with uncertainty over whether the oil and gas industry is making people sick. (KUNC)
• The chairman of the board of an Oklahoma energy company embroiled in a proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn has retired. (The Oklahoman)
• Texas regulators tell state lawmakers that oil spills are hard to track during floods like Hurricane Harvey. (Houston Public Media)
COAL: Some Colorado Springs officials are angry the city council approved a $425,000 lawsuit settlement over air quality violations from a municipal coal-fired power plant without a public vote. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
EFFICIENCY:
• A 24-story Arizona building undergoes an energy efficiency retrofit and now saves about 160,000 KWH a year. (Energy Manager Today)
• A classroom building at Colorado State University-Pueblo gains LEED platinum certification. (American School & University)