COAL:
• PacifiCorp continues to operate a unit at Wyoming’s Jim Bridger coal power plant even though it was expected to shut down Jan. 1 after continually violating federal regional haze rules. (WyoFile)
• Arizona Indigenous leaders from coal-dependent communities call on state regulators to direct utilities to use ratepayer funds to pay for a just transition away from coal. (ABC15)

OIL & GAS:
• As oil and gas companies make major discoveries in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, environmentalists call on the Biden administration to curb drilling there to avoid releasing a “carbon bomb.” (E&E News)
• Texas oil and gas company Hilcorp Energy agrees to pay $932,500 to settle violations relating to remediation plans at six of its New Mexico facilities. (news release)
• Oil and gas industry officials say there may not be enough skilled workers to carry out the Biden administration’s abandoned well plugging program. (NM Political Report)
• The oil and gas producing hub of Weld County, Colorado, sues the EPA for determining the whole county exceeds ozone pollution standards. (E&E News, subscription)

WIND: Pattern Energy Group brings central New Mexico’s 1,050 MW Western Spirit Wind complex — the nation’s largest single-phase renewable energy project — online. (news release)

GRID:
• A California lawmaker introduces a bill to help governments develop clean energy infrastructure so they can weather power outages without needing to rely on diesel generators. (KPIX)
• Pacific Gas & Electric provides mobile showers and laundry facilities to northern California residents who have been without power for nearly two weeks. (KCRA)
• A California grid working group begins designing key elements of a proposed Western day-ahead power market. (RTO Insider, subscription) 

UTILITIES:
• San Diego Gas & Electric plans to suspend its EcoChoice program allowing customers to acquire a larger percentage of their power from renewable sources because of high costs and low enrollment. (San Diego Union-Tribune, subscription)
• New Mexico lawmakers ask regulators to explore options for creating government-owned electric utilities. (NM Political Report)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators dismiss a California company’s application to license a 1.5 MW advanced nuclear reactor because the developer failed to provide adequate safety information. (E&E News)   

SOLAR:
• An Alaska community considers exempting an energy company from property taxes to encourage the development of what would be the state’s largest solar project. (KDLL)
• New Mexico regulators work to finalize rules for the state’s new community solar program. (Associated Press)
• A California bill requiring large counties to implement instant online solar permitting advances in the state senate. (Solar Power World)
• University of Hawaii researchers recommend strategies to mitigate utility-scale solar installations’ harm to the state’s native and endangered birds. (news release)
• A German company plans to establish a solar module manufacturing facility in Goodyear, Arizona. (news release)

COMMENTARY: A New Mexico editorial board urges state lawmakers to fund updates and repairs to the state’s aging rural power grid. (Taos News)

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Jonathan P. Thompson

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.