SOLAR: A global steel company breaks ground on a $500 million rail mill in Colorado and plans to power its manufacturing side entirely by solar after scrap has been melted by other means. (Pueblo Chieftain)
UTILITIES:
• California regulators are still letting utilities invest in new ratepayer-funded natural gas infrastructure, even as the state works to decarbonize its energy mix. (Canary Media)
• A growing population and rising temperatures increase electricity demand on Idaho Power’s grid, an executive says. (KMVT)
CLIMATE:
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declares a drought emergency for a majority of the state during what he calls “the summer of climate change.” (Spokesman-Review)
• Eugene, Oregon, spent $52,000 on a Washington forest project to offset carbon emissions the city produced in 2020. (Register-Guard)
COAL:
• New Mexico regulators seek more information about a major coal plant’s cooling tower collapse while chiding the plant’s operator for its lack of transparency. (Farmington Daily Times)
• U.S. coal production fell last year to its lowest level since 1965, with Powder River Basin output declining 21% from 2019. (Reuters)
CLEAN ENERGY: Ogden, Utah’s city council votes to join a statewide program to help it transition to 100% net renewable energy. (Standard-Examiner)
BIOFUEL: A California county approves a proposal to build a processing plant and pipeline that will convert landfill methane into transportation fuel. (East Bay Times)
TRANSPORTATION:
• A Boulder, Colorado, nonprofit distributes 50 electric bikes to low-income essential workers. (Daily Camera)
• Bend, Oregon, revives a defunct bikeshare program using bikes donated by Portland’s transportation bureau. (OPB)
• Arizona mayors line up behind a proposal to bring passenger rail to Phoenix. (Arizona Republic, subscription)
LITHIUM: A Kansas-based mineral company finds a major lithium deposit in the brine of the Great Salt Lake. (Reuters)
NUCLEAR: California-based energy startup Oklo announces a deal to provide power to a bitcoin mining company from its still-in-development advanced nuclear reactors. (Bloomberg)
OIL & GAS:
• Colorado regulators delay finalizing new bonding and orphaned-well cleanup rules until 2022. (Colorado Newsline)
• Wyoming regulators require a bankrupt natural gas operator to forfeit $2.25 million in bonds so the state can plug and reclaim its abandoned wells. (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle)
• A California city with a stake in 2,400 oil wells halted drilling operations as prices sunk, but plans to resume as prices rise again. (Long Beach Business Journal)
• Despite rising oil prices, sales tax revenues plummet in Wyoming’s oil and gas-rich counties. (Rawlins Times)
• California oil lobbyists ask regulators to remove environmental protections on groundwater reserves. (Capital & Main)
• New Mexico regulators consider making new rules governing the reuse of oil and gas wastewater for non-industry purposes. (Carlsbad Current-Argus
COMMENTARY:
• Two university professors say electrifying all Navajo Nation homes would help ensure a sustainable future for Indian Country. (Brookings)
• A Colorado pulmonologist says electrifying the transportation system would help clean the Denver area’s polluted air. (Colorado Sun)
• A Colorado editorial board supports a senate bill establishing guidelines for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells because “we are against taxpayers being forced to pick up the bill for pollution.” (Durango Herald)
• Hawaii must speed up the transition to electric vehicles in order to meet its clean energy goals, a Honolulu editorial board says. (Star-Advertiser)
• A Montana climate advocate argues a federal carbon fee is the fastest way to reduce emissions. (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)