The Western Energy News digest will not be published tomorrow, June 18, for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back on Monday.
CLEAN ENERGY: A giant new Las Vegas casino and the state’s largest utility ask regulators to approve a market-based deal aimed at powering the casino with all renewable energy. (Nevada Independent)
ALSO: PacifiCorp proposes adding 1,641 megawatts of Wyoming wind power and 1,243 megawatts of Utah solar-plus-storage to its generation portfolio. (Portland Business Journal)
OIL & GAS:
• Colorado regulators propose upping financial guarantees for oil and gas wells to ensure operators don’t leave cleanups to the state. (Colorado Sun)
• A new report finds the methane mitigation industry has doubled in size since 2017 and that new New Mexico emissions rules could encourage even further growth. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• New Mexico regulators fine an oil and gas company $204,300 for alleged violations connected to a natural gas facility fire. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon praises a judge’s ruling that put a hold on the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing freeze. (Cheyenne Post)
LITHIUM: The CEO of a lithium mining company says its proposed Nevada project is on schedule, despite a court-ordered pause while an environmental lawsuit is considered. (AMM)
GEOTHERMAL: An Alaska Native corporation teams up with the City of Unalaska to develop a 30-megawatt geothermal plant at the base of a volcano. (Alaska Journal)
GRID:
• The Nevada Public Utilities Commission urges Western utilities to form a regional grid to boost reliability. (Nevada Appeal)
• Thousands lose power in southeastern New Mexico due to heat-related strains on El Paso Electric’s grid. (El Paso Matters)
• California’s grid operator asks customers to conserve electricity today for the first time during June’s heat wave. (KGTV)
NUCLEAR: A Los Angeles judge rules against an advocacy group looking to halt the dismantling of the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station over environmental safety concerns. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
UTILITIES:
• A Southern California community power provider begins shutting down after going into bankruptcy. (Press Enterprise)
• Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians risk losing power when a moratorium on cut-offs for delinquent payments ends on July 31. (Salem Reporter)
CLIMATE: Flagstaff, Arizona’s city council adopts a plan for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, and Boise, Idaho, pledges to go carbon-neutral by 2050. (Arizona Daily Sun, Spokesman-Review)
WIND: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepts Avangrid’s condor conservation plan for its 189-megawatt Manzana wind farm in California. (Renewables Now)
SOLAR:
• Hawaiian Electric hopes to make up for power shortages when a coal plant closes by subsidizing rooftop solar, storage, and demand response technology for customers. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Applications pour in for a newly created community solar program in New Mexico even though regulations for the program have yet to be developed. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
COMMENTARY:
• A California union leader and manufacturing industry advocate say the state’s electric vehicle push must support American workers by including domestic manufacturing requirements. (CalMatters)
• A Wyoming editorial board welcomes a proposed “clean, safe, and dependable” advanced nuclear reactor to the state. (Cody Enterprise)