FOSSIL FUELS: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says he sees no way for a Democratic bill aiming to remove a state tax exemption for energy companies and industrial manufacturing companies to become law. (Colorado Politics, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla says there have been no workplace transmissions of the coronavirus at the company’s California facility. (San Francisco Chronicle)
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CALIFORNIA: California regulators will allow PG&E to use diesel-powered mobile generators to keep electricity flowing during the utility’s public safety power shutoffs. (E&E News, subscription)
OIL & GAS:
• A Wyoming legislative committee votes to draft a bill that would authorize state regulators to increase funding for the cleanup of orphan wells. (Wyoming News Exchange)
• Colorado environmental activists say they are pushing ahead with their own effort to qualify six anti-fracking measures for this fall’s statewide ballot. (Denver Business Journal)
• A Colorado drilling company is paying $6.7 million in bonuses to its top executives ahead of defaulting on its bond payments. (Bloomberg)
STORAGE:
• California regulators are considering an energy storage industry request to modify a state program that reserved more than $600 million in battery incentives for customers at the highest risk of being harmed by wildfire-prevention blackouts. (Greentech Media)
• An energy software company is taking over operation of a 345 MW portfolio of distributed batteries in Southern California Edison utility territory. (Greentech Media)
PUBLIC LANDS: Wyoming’s congressional delegation continues to urge Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to ease drilling demands on some oil and gas producers. (E&E News, subscription)
WIND: Laramie, Wyoming officials are set to consider backing a contentious 504 MW wind energy development stretching across state and private land next month. (Laramie Boomerang)
SOLAR:
• A Navajo Nation citizen partners with companies to assemble and deliver off-grid solar kits to the reservation to help youth with limited electricity access remote learning. (The Journal)
• An Oregon nonprofit that trains helper dogs for deaf and autistic people unveils a new solar array to reduce its carbon “paw print.” (KTVL)
TRANSPORTATION: A California-based clean transportation consortium expects there to be 169 zero-emission commercial vehicles available for purchase, or soon to be available, in North America by the end of 2020 despite the coronavirus crisis. (GreenBiz)
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NUCLEAR: As utilities like Arizona Public Service experiment with hydrogen production at nuclear plants, they still face numerous obstacles in the marketplace, experts say. (Power Magazine)
COMMENTARY: A Colorado editorial board says a state bill that would eliminate tax breaks on energy purchases for business and industrial uses is bad for business and long-term economic growth. (Colorado Springs Gazette)