UTILITIES: NV Energy says it will shut down its last coal power plant by 2025 and replace the lost generation with two new solar installations totaling 600 MW planned for Humboldt County, Nevada. (KVVU)

ALSO: 
• The federal judge overseeing Pacific Gas & Electric’s probation owns a ranch in a fire-prone area of Northern California, giving him a personal stake in curbing the utility’s penchant for sparking wildfires. (San Francisco Chronicle)  
• A California federal court finds Pacific Gas & Electric liable for contamination in the land surrounding a former San Francisco manufactured gas plant. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)

SOLAR: Nonprofits partner to bring solar power to 300 Navajo Nation off-grid homes. (Denver Channel)

GRID: Approximately 1,000 Utah homes are enrolled so far in a Rocky Mountain Power program incentivizing customers to add battery storage to rooftop solar installations. (Fox13)

COAL: Energy experts say the uptick in Wyoming coal production over the last two years is due to high natural gas prices and is temporary. (Wyoming Public Radio)

OIL & GAS:
• Kinder Morgan drops plans to build a Texas-to-California oil pipeline due to a lack of interest from refineries. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
• Alaska officials launch a campaign to counter activists’ opposition to oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. (S&P Global)
• Washington state lawmakers consider a bill requiring owners and operators of oil vessels and facilities to demonstrate their ability to pay for spill-related damages. (The Chronicle)

• New Mexico Democratic lawmakers propose a Green Amendment making a clean environment a constitutional right, but the state’s oil and gas industry says it would give regulators too much power. (Santa Fe New Mexican) 

CLIMATE:
• With President Biden’s climate bill stalled in Congress, Hawaii enacts a “carrot and stick approach” to wean utilities from fossil fuels. (National Public Radio)
• Environmental advocates in the West say President Biden’s first year has been a “mixed bag” when it comes to climate and energy issues. (High Country News)

BIOFUELS: A California project begins piping methane captured at 15 Merced County dairies to Pacific Gas & Electric’s gas distribution system. (news release) 

HYDROGEN: New Mexico lawmakers consider two bills incentivizing hydrogen extraction from natural gas that environmentalists say would slow the energy transition and increase carbon emissions. (Albuquerque Journal)

TRANSPORTATION: California environmental advocates propose a ballot initiative that would tax corporations and the wealthy to fund electric vehicle incentives and charging infrastructure construction.. (Times-Herald) 

LITHIUM: A rare earth mining company begins exploratory drilling at its Solar Lithium Project in western Nevada. (Resource World Magazine)

NUCLEAR: Residents of Kemmerer, a tiny Wyoming coal town, are eager to host a Bill Gates-backed nontraditional, sodium-cooled nuclear reactor and the jobs it will bring. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• A California editorial board says state lawmakers must combine Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $37 billion climate initiative with steep, broad emissions reductions mandates. (Los Angeles Times)
• A California editorial board says the state should take over Pacific Gas & Electric for its dismal safety record and find an alternative to deliver power to the utility’s 16 million customers. (Marin Independent Journal)
• Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger argues the state utility commission’s proposed changes to rooftop solar incentives will discourage new installations and must be stopped. (New York Times)

 

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.