COAL: Persistent belief in coal’s longevity has led to fiscal policies that have made it harder to diversify economies in Wyoming and other states. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Oil and gas revenue is not proving to be a panacea for Wyoming as the industry continues to experience a volatile downturn. (Casper Star-Tribune)
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STORAGE: Investigations into a 2019 explosion at a utility-scale storage system in Arizona reach contradictory conclusions about the cause. (IEEE Spectrum)
PUBLIC LANDS: The BLM finalizes its move to Grand Junction, Colorado despite congressional objections and the loss of almost 70% of the agency’s Washington, D.C. employees. (The Hill)
NATURAL GAS:
• A lawsuit alleges that a California agency misused conservation funds to help destroy wetlands for expansion of natural gas facilities (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• SoCalGas is part of a $100 million utility effort to research alternatives to natural gas. (E&E News)
OIL & GAS: A group of Colorado landowners sue Occidental Petroleum in a dispute over royalty payments. (Greeley Tribune)
SOLAR:
• Arizona manufacturer First Solar agrees to sell its North American operations and maintenance business in a bid to streamline and focus on manufacturing thin-film solar modules. (Greentech Media)
• Arizona utility Salt River Project reports 21 additional businesses, cities, and education organizations signed with the utility to get some of their power from solar sources. (KJZZ)
GRID:
• A bipartisan bill in Congress would authorize $89 million to revive electrification efforts on the Navajo Nation. (Ripon Advance)
• A California startup uses artificial intelligence to help utilities identify power line hazards. (Silicon Valley Business Journal, subscription)
MICROGRIDS: PG&E is set to bring a multi-customer microgrid to a northern California county that will help support critical facilities. (KIEM)
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EFFICIENCY: California’s attorney general delivers a notice of intent to sue the Department of Energy for failing to review and amend energy efficiency standards for 25 categories of products. (news release)
COMMENTARY: Three Republican New Mexico leaders criticize the state’s oil and gas trade association as a “highly charged political organization that seems more interested in creating political power.” (Albuquerque Journal)