GRID: New modeling suggests California can achieve an 85% carbon-free grid in 2030 by ramping up offshore wind and geothermal power and avoiding overreliance on utility scale-solar and storage. (Canary Media)
UTILITIES:
• A Montana judge strikes down a pre-approval law allowing NorthWestern Energy to secure ratepayer reimbursement for new assets before building them. (Montana Free Press)
• First Amendment advocates say the California Public Utilities Commission lacks transparency and systematically undermines state public records laws. (San Francisco Public Press)
OIL & GAS:
• Publicly traded oil and gas corporations with net-zero commitments are increasingly selling assets to private firms without such goals, raising concerns that the transfers may increase pollution, research finds. (New York Times)
• Wyoming officials appeal a March federal court order that rescinded a Trump-era oil and gas lease sale in greater sage grouse habitat. (E&E News, subscription)
• Colorado’s oil and gas industry withdraws ballot measures that would have limited local governments’ ability to restrict drilling and capped well cleanup bond amounts. (CPR)
• Officials expect repairs from a March fire at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Montana to continue at least three more weeks. (Reuters)
HYDROPOWER: California river rafters oppose San Francisco’s plan to curb hydroelectric dam releases during peak solar output times, thereby diminishing daytime river flows. (San Francisco Examiner)
HYDROGEN: A proposed project in central Utah that would produce green hydrogen, store it in subterranean salt caverns and use it to fuel a power plant would be the world’s largest such facility. (Deseret News)
SOLAR: California regulators seek public comment on a proposal to reform rooftop solar net metering policy. (Reuters)
LITHIUM: An Obama-era Interior Department official registers to lobby on behalf of the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada. (E&E News, subscription)
TRANSPORTATION:
• Oregon’s transportation department commits $100 million over five years to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (KTVZ)
• A California study finds a quarter of the Bay Area’s electric vehicle charging stations are not functioning properly. (Fox Business)
ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado lawmakers consider a bill that would require new buildings to be wired for solar panels and electric vehicle chargers. (The Denver Channel)
COAL: Environmental justice advocates call on Tucson Electric Power to support Arizona and New Mexico communities affected by the company’s coal power plant closures. (Salt Wire)
GEOTHERMAL: Nevada’s U.S. Senators urge their colleagues to support the Biden administration’s request to allocate $200 million for geothermal power research and development. (news release)
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