NUCLEAR: The Biden administration awards Pacific Gas & Electric $1.1 billion to help the utility keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in central California running beyond its scheduled 2025 retirement. (Los Angeles Times)
ALSO: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham calls on the Biden administration to block an interim spent reactor fuel repository proposed for the southeastern part of the state. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
COAL: Environmental groups slam the U.S. EPA for endorsing a Trump-era decision to let two Utah coal power plants operate with outdated pollution-control equipment. (E&E News)
TRANSITION: A New Mexico official says the state’s energy transition act is moving too slowly to prevent laid off coal workers from leaving their communities. (KUNM)
NATURAL GAS: Two Alaska utilities consider importing liquefied natural gas from Canada after an oil and gas company warns its in-state sources may not be able to meet future demand. (Anchorage Daily News)
SOLAR:
• A solar developer plans to offset its utility-scale installations’ impacts on ecologically sensitive habitat by ending grazing on 215,000 acres of federal land, drawing opposition from California ranchers. (Bakersfield Californian)
• Nevada environmentalists, tribes and some residents push back against the proposed $2 billion Greenlink transmission project that would carry power from utility-scale solar projects throughout the state. (KLAS)
• American Express helps fund a Utah utility’s effort to expand access to its rooftop solar and storage incentive program to underserved communities and people of color. (KSL)
WIND: California researchers develop a framework for minimizing offshore wind power facilities’ impact on seabirds and other marine wildlife. (news release)
GEOTHERMAL: A 1,600-room casino resort in Nevada relies on geothermal energy for all of its heating and cooling, saving it at least $6 million in power costs. (The Bulletin)
TRANSPORTATION:
• An Arizona advocacy group finds the state’s largest cities could together save $80 million by converting municipal fleets to electric vehicles. (East Valley Tribune)
• A California transit agency is set to add 33 hydrogen-powered buses to its fleet over the next three months. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
• Oregon advocates call on regulators to implement indirect-source emission rules to help the state meet its diesel pollution reduction targets. (Oregonian)
UTILITIES:
• California regulators fine Southern California Edison $1 million after finding the utility’s equipment sparked the 2019 Easy Fire. (news release)
• An Arizona utility releases a documentary urging other power companies to join its effort to extend electricity to homes on the Navajo Nation. (Public Power)
GRID: A hot air balloon crashes into power lines in New Mexico, leaving Albuquerque residents without power. (Albuquerque Journal)
COMMENTARY: A California editorial board says state regulators’ new proposal to slash compensation for rooftop solar will hamper adoption even though it removes a burdensome “solar tax.” (Los Angeles Times)
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