OIL & GAS: Seattle’s gas supplier helped orchestrate a sophisticated “wall of opposition” to a city council plan to ban future gas hookups in new buildings — part of a broader industry pattern of fighting climate action. (The Guardian)
ALSO:
• The Trump administration is under pressure to complete its Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas lease sale before Inauguration Day. (Washington Post)
• Washington joins other states in challenging a Trump administration rule allowing the transport of liquefied natural gas by rail. (Spokesman-Review)
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CARBON: Wyoming senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi hold a field hearing on carbon capture and sequestration in the heart of the state’s coal country. (Casper Star-Tribune)
COAL: Wyoming regulators question a utility’s plan to close some of its coal-fired power plants early, despite evidence that shutting them down will reduce electricity costs. (E&E News, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla asks owners of its electric vehicles to “help relieve heat wave stress on the grid” by reducing Supercharging and home charging. (Mashable)
STORAGE: Nine new battery projects totaling almost 2 gigawatts and up to 7.8 gigawatt-hours of grid storage will target three California coastal cities to provide dispatchable capacity. (Greentech Media)
UTILITIES:
• Nevada Energy’s CEO says when it comes to “load management events” — blackouts — the utility is at the mercy of RC West, which oversees Western power grid operators. (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• Montana regulators want to hear from NorthWestern Energy on the impact of the coronavirus on its rate structuring pilot program. (Montana Public Radio)
• Boulder, Colorado’s city council votes to place its 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy on the November ballot. (Boulder Daily Camera)
WIND: A California wind energy trade group says the state needs to increase its investment in renewables, including wind, to diversify its generation mix beyond solar, storage and gas. (reNEWS)
CALIFORNIA: A PG&E worker clearing utility infrastructure to assist northern California wildfire crews is the first confirmed death associated with the massive LNU Lighting Complex fire. (Los Angeles Times)
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NUCLEAR: More public hearings are scheduled about a proposed temporary nuclear waste storage facility in southeast New Mexico. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
COMMENTARY:
• A California assemblymember says the state should reclassify hydropower, its most affordable and reliable clean power, as renewable energy. (Cal Matters)
• An energy efficiency expert says California needs to regulate its building energy policies in keeping with its housing affordability, public health, and climate goals. (GreenBiz)
• The chairman of Nevada’s Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe says a proposed hydropower project will waste water, further jeopardize endangered species, and harm the sanctity of the lake for tribal members. (Reno Gazette Journal)