WIND: Wyoming regulators are working out the details of a new law that allows decommissioned wind turbine blades to be used as backfill in coal mine reclamation. (Casper Star-Tribune)
ALSO: PacifiCorp says its 114-turbine 240 MW wind farm project in Montana is on track to be completed by the end of the year. (Billings Gazette)
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CALIFORNIA: A federal judge imposes new wildfire prevention requirements on PG&E’s probation resulting from the deadly San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010. (San Francisco Chronicle)
HYDROPOWER: A new study reveals the decline of hydropower in California due to drought and the resulting energy shortfall and increased utility costs. (Mercury News)
COAL:
• A New Mexico lawmaker says investment and economic planning to reinvigorate areas hit by coal retirements are as important as buying clean energy to support communities in transition. (Greentech Media)
• A landowner group challenges a permit by a coal technology company to revive a Wyoming mine. (Casper Star-Tribune)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Colorado official says they expect the state will continue to be one of the places where electric vehicle adoption will grow rapidly. (Colorado Politics)
SOLAR: City officials in Laramie, Wyoming approve a plan for a 160 MW solar project backed by battery storage. (Laramie Boomerang)
NUCLEAR:
• Former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden opposes uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, citing its importance to Native American tribes. (Arizona Republic)
• The transfer of dozens of canisters filled with nuclear waste from wet storage pools to a newly constructed dry storage facility at California’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is complete. (Los Angeles Times)
OIL & GAS:
• Environmentalists raise concerns about a proposed exemption for low-emitting wells in New Mexico with emissions of less than 15 tons per year as Permian Basin regulators want more regulations for oil and gas air pollution. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• New research shows that a handful of oil and gas companies are responsible for 74% of natural gas flaring in New Mexico. (E&E News, subscription)
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PUBLIC LANDS:
• The BLM announces approval for the development of up to 4,250 oil and gas wells for a Wyoming project that could generate $375.5 million in royalties and taxes annually. (Oil City News)
• Current and former Interior Department staffers question the status of the BLM’s promised oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (E&E News, subscription)
COMMENTARY:
• A California editorial board says the state should require new homes to have batteries as well as solar panels. (Santa Barbara Independent)
• An Arizona columnist questions the authority of state regulators in the wake of their stalemate on tougher clean energy requirements. (Arizona Republic)
• A Colorado lawmaker and a former New Mexico regulator say the West needs its own regional transmission operator. (Utility Dive)