ELECTRIFICATION: San Francisco officials vote unanimously to ban natural gas connections in new buildings starting next year. (San Francisco Chronicle)
POLLUTION: The EPA says large portions of Utah’s Wasatch Front are set to be in compliance with federal standards for fine-particulate pollution after more than a decade of not meeting the standard. (Deseret News)
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UTILITIES: A former California public utility regulator says the state’s attorney general should investigate what led to the state’s grid operator ordering rolling blackouts this summer. (S&P Global)
NUCLEAR: The Oregon-based developers of a small modular nuclear reactor say it will generate more power than initially projected, which could lower overall costs. (Portland Business Journal)
SOLAR:
• Colorado researchers are finding that solar panels in fields can improve growing conditions for some types of crops, while also protecting them from hail. (Ag Journal)
• A residential community solar developer is constructing three new community solar systems totaling 12 MW in Colorado by 2021. (Solar Power World)
TRANSPORTATION:
• While hydrogen has struggled to advance as a viable transportation fuel, a policy push in California could help overcome lingering skepticism. (New York Times)
• California legislators are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to look beyond battery-electric vehicles as the state seeks to decarbonize its transportation sector. (Green Car Congress)
OIL & GAS:
• New Mexico’s Environment Department Secretary says there is still work to do on two contentious exemptions baked into the state’s draft methane emissions rule. (New Mexico Political Report)
• Colorado’s third-largest oil and gas producer says it is in a position to bring dozens of new wells into production while paying down debt. (Denver Business Journal)
• New Mexico State Representative Angelica Rubio says taking oil and gas money limits lawmakers’ ability to legislate proactively. (Santa Fe Reporter)
• Wyoming regulators are considering an energy company’s request to dump its produced water into an underground reservoir conservationists say is a valuable drinking water resource. (WyoFile)
PIPELINES: Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker announces the formation of a new pipeline venture aiming to capitalize on the state’s North Slope natural gas resources. (Anchorage Daily News)
PUBLIC LANDS:
• State and local Colorado officials want the Bureau of Land Management to give the public more time to comment on plans to drill near Chimney Rock National Monument. (Denver Post)
• Any of the potential New Mexico nominees pegged to lead the Interior Department could shift its focus away from oil and gas leases to conservation. (The Hill)
COAL:
• Xcel Energy may have to explain why its idling Comanche 3 coal plant in Colorado shouldn’t cease operations far sooner than 2069. (Mountain Town News)
• Output from 10 Uinta Basin coal mines increased 6.6% in the third quarter of 2020, but was still lower than prior-year figures. (S&P Global)
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POLITICS: President-elect Joe Biden’s expected policy changes are worrying Wyoming businesses servicing the state’s fossil fuels industries. (Wyoming Public Media)
COMMENTARY: The CEOs of a Northern California utility and energy software company say the state needs the right regulations to meet challenges caused by climate change. (Utility Dive)