GRID:
• California regulators may require a natural gas power plant originally slated to retire at the end of 2020 to remain open for another two years to prevent power outages, despite residents’ and officials’ opposition. (Daily Breeze)
• Rain falling on Bay Area power lines where dust and salt had accumulated during the dry spell triggers electrical flashovers and fires, leaving 28,000 without power. (KPIX) 

OIL & GAS:
• High oil and gas prices spur an industry recovery in Wyoming, where the natural resources and mining sector added 300 jobs over the last year. (WyoFile)
• Oil from the southern California spill was kept away from the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, but 102 onshore oil and gas wells within the reserve may pose a bigger threat. (Press-Enterprise)
• Hundreds of people gather at Laguna Beach to call for a ban on offshore oil drilling. (Los Angeles Times)
• In a U.S. House hearing, Democratic lawmakers accuse the owner of the pipeline that ruptured off southern California’s coast of delayed spill reporting and criticize the company for receiving $31 million in federal royalty relief. (E&E News, subscription, Los Angeles Times)  

UTILITIES:
• Southern California Edison plans to file a building electrification plan to regulators later this year to help the state hit aggressive emissions reduction targets. (Utility Dive)
• Puget Sound Energy submits plans to Washington state regulators to acquire 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. (news release)
• Hawaiian Electric seeks proposals to procure 95 MW of renewable power generation and up to 206 GWh of storage. (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)

SOLAR: California chapters of a national progressive group call on California regulators to preserve rooftop solar net metering policies. (Solar Builder)

STORAGE: A California company has successfully spent a year storing solar power in used Nissan Leaf batteries and selling the electricity when prices rise at night. (Canary Media) 

CLIMATE: A New Mexico university receives U.S. Department of Energy funding to study geologic storage of captured carbon. (Power Engineering)

COAL:
• Utah’s population is booming, but fossil fuel-dependent counties are shrinking as coal mines downsize or shut down. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Replacing a Colorado coal plant set for 2040 retirement with a modular nuclear reactor is the most feasible low-carbon means to retain the plant’s economic benefits, Pueblo County officials say. (Colorado Public Radio)
• A northern New Mexico coal mine begins seasonally providing free coal to Navajo Nation residents to heat their homes. (Farmington Daily Times)

TRANSPORTATION: Portland General Electric awards funds to several Oregon school districts to purchase electric buses and install charging infrastructure. (Portland Tribune)

COMMENTARY: A Wyoming columnist says state lawmakers’ attempts to keep coal plants from retiring are short-sighted and will cost ratepayers dearly. (WyoFile)

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Jonathan P. Thompson

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.