GRID: California’s grid operator says the state reached a record 95% renewable energy on April 24, for a brief four seconds. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE: Portland General Electric endorses a proposed federal bill aiming to combat climate change, create jobs, and overhaul the federal energy tax code. (Daily Energy Insider)

DIVESTMENT: University of Utah faculty members vote 69 to 22 in favor of the university selling its holdings in oil and gas companies, and reinvesting in environmentally sustainable interests. (Salt Lake Tribune)

EMISSIONS: Attorneys general for Alaska, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming are among 19 Republican state leaders asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision they say gives the EPA too much power to regulate utility power plant emissions. (The Hill)

OIL & GAS: The chair of Colorado’s oil and gas regulator is encouraged that the state’s strict well setback rules are in keeping with a new study’s recommendations. (Denver Post) 

PUBLIC LANDS: More than 30 conservation groups oppose the nomination of an Alaskan attorney for deputy Interior secretary, with one saying “he has too many conflicts of interest and is too beholden to the fossil fuel industry.” (news release)

UTILITIES:
• The federal judge overseeing PG&E’s probation issues a series of court filings to make the utility improve its wildfire mitigation efforts. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Southern California Edison says its public safety power shutoffs could be significantly decreased during this year’s wildfire season. (KCLU)
• A Wyoming city faces a planned blackout May 8, which Rocky Mountain Power says is necessary to maintain system reliability, equipment, and safety. (Laramie Boomerang)

SOLAR:
• Local California agencies are starting to use a federally funded web application that creates an automated solar permitting process, aiming to make residential solar panel and battery installations easier. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Utah State University researchers are working on a process to convert old electric vehicle batteries into solar energy storage. (KSTU)

MICROGRIDS: An Idaho Falls Power project manager is hopeful its recent tests of a local water-powered microgrid meant to be used in the event of a blackout or regional emergency will be promising for other communities with small hydro systems. (Water Power Magazine)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A Powder River Basin clean technology company plans to construct 100 scalable waste-to-hydrogen hubs globally, starting with an expected San Francisco commission in 2022. (CleanTechnica)   

COMMENTARY:
• An activist says a new study opposing the City of San Diego’s plan to create its own municipal utility consists of biased evaluations of other municipalities trying to create public utilities. (Ocean Beach Rag)
• A power utility official says his company’s 100% carbon-free energy portfolio will help advance Washington state’s clean energy future. (Tri-City Herald)

Lisa Ellwood

Lisa is a Lenape and Nanticoke Native American freelance journalist, editor and writer currently based in the U.K. She has more than two decades’ experience working in corporate communications and print and digital media. She compiles the Western Energy News daily email digest. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University; her specializations include data journalism and visualization. She is a member of the Native American Journalists Association, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Union of Journalists (U.K.).