UTILITIES: Pacific Gas & Electric unveils a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, but stops short of a full phaseout of natural gas. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs a bill to provide $15 million to the state’s Office of Just Transition to address the impact of mine and power plant closures. (Denver Gazette)
• At a public meeting last month, a Page, Arizona, official said “I don’t think a whole lot of people took advantage” of job retraining services for former workers at a retired coal plant. (Lake Powell Chronicle) 

GRID: PG&E buries two miles of power lines in the footprint of the 2017 Tubbs Fire, part of plan to bury 175 miles of lines this year. (Press Democrat)

SOLAR:
• Solar company employees and clean energy advocates rally to urge Hawaii Gov. David Ige to veto a bill that would require a third of the state’s clean energy to come from hydro, geothermal and biomass. (Hawaii News Now)
• A Utah county grants an $85,000 price break on a permit for a mining company’s proposed 5 MW solar farm. (Salt Lake Tribune)

HYDROGEN: The Department of Energy issues a $504 million loan guarantee for a massive renewable hydrogen energy storage project in Utah. (Power Magazine)

NUCLEAR: Modular reactor developer NuScale Power reported a $23.4 million net loss in the first quarter of 2022, but says its financial outlook is still strong. (Utility Dive)

BIOFUELS: Two environmental groups sue a California county, alleging the review process to convert two crude oil refineries to biofuel production was rushed. (CBS Bay Area)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoes a bill that would have required large developments to set aside parking spaces for electric vehicle charging. (Colorado Sun)
• A study of 657 high-speed EV chargers in the Bay Area found that only 72.5% of them were functional. (Green Car Reports)

CLIMATE:
• At a recent panel discussion in California, a climate scientist says the notion of an individual “carbon footprint” is a construct of the oil industry meant to distract from systemic issues. (Arizona Republic)
• Climate scientist project Colorado will lose more than half of its snowpack by 2080. (CBS 4)

OVERSIGHT: A recount is likely in the Republican primary for a Montana Public Service Commission seat, with only 74 votes separating the top candidates. (Montana Free Press)

COMMENTARY: Leaders of three Colorado rural cooperatives say the generation and transmission model means one fellow member co-op can stand in the way of their clean energy plans. (Utility Dive)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.