SOLAR: Advocates, industry and federal land managers work to balance ecosystem protection with needed clean energy generation when siting and developing utility-scale solar installations in the desert Southwest. (Los Angeles Times)
ALSO:
• Colorado advocates push back on a utility’s plan to slash net metering compensation for rooftop solar, saying it would violate state law. (Big Pivots)
• San Diego Community Power agrees to purchase 77 MW of power from solar-plus-storage facilities being developed in Nevada and California. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• A California firm plans to establish a solar-equipment recycling facility in the Coachella Valley in the southern part of the state. (PV Magazine)
• A developer proposes a 200 MW solar-plus-storage installation on state land in southern New Mexico. (news release)
UTILITIES:
• Arizona regulators approve a rule barring utilities from shutting off customers’ electricity for nonpayment during extreme heat or cold. (Arizona Daily Star)
• Eastern Montana residents oppose Montana-Dakota Utilities’ proposed 19.2% rate increase, citing utility executives’ multi-million dollar salaries. (Daily Montanan)
OIL & GAS:
• A Colorado media outlet traces the path — and potential impacts — of oil-hauling trains that would cross the state if a proposed Utah railroad is constructed. (Colorado Newsline)
• California oil and gas lobbyists step up efforts to kill state legislation that would require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and information regarding carbon offsets. (Capital & Main)
TRANSPORTATION:
• The U.S. Transportation Department awards a Colorado city $10.7 million to help construct a bus rapid transit line. (Coloradoan, subscription)
• A firm plans to establish a commercial-scale facility in Washington that would use clean energy to produce sustainable aviation fuel from carbon dioxide. (news release)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A western Colorado city offers free electric bicycles to 40 income-qualifying residents who live in or commute to downtown. (Grand Junction Sentinel)
• Boulder, Colorado, launches an electric bicycle voucher program for residents. (news release)
BATTERIES:
• South Korean firm LG gears up to construct a battery manufacturing facility in Queen Creek, Arizona, as part of an effort to significantly up U.S. production capacity by 2027. (Canary Media)
• Construction begins in Buckeye, Arizona, on a KORE Power battery manufacturing facility expected to employ about 3,000 people. (Arizona Republic, subscription)
STORAGE: Washington researchers suggest grid operators consider both daily and seasonal energy storage needs when looking to bridge gaps between generation and loads. (news release)
COAL: Federal regulators issue 41 citations for safety violations to the Emery coal mine in Utah. (KUNC)
HYDROPOWER: Demolition begins on four hydropower dams on the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California. (East Bay Times)
CLIMATE: A consumer advocacy organization ranks Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho among the nation’s seven “greenest states” based on carbon emissions and other measures, while Wyoming is dead last. (KUNR)
BIOFUELS: A California man is sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding investors out of $9 million with a cow manure-to-energy Ponzi scheme. (CBS News)
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