OIL & GAS: Federal prosecutors sue a Wyoming company, alleging it concealed problems with a pipeline that broke and spilled more than 50,000 gallons of crude into a Montana river in 2015. (Associated Press)
ALSO: The Sinclair oil refinery in southern Wyoming — one of the region’s largest such facilities — lays off 87 workers after its parent company is sold. (Casper Star-Tribune)
SOLAR:
• Experts warn a raft of rooftop solar panels at the end of their life cycles will soon be headed to landfills, where they can leach toxic materials into groundwater. (Los Angeles Times)
• The developer of the 690 MW Gemini solar installation proposed for southern Nevada says it has hired a contractor and secured financing for the project and expects to complete construction by the end of next year. (Engineering News-Record)
• California solar officials say supply chain constraints and pending net metering payment policy changes are stifling the industry’s growth. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• ConEdison proposes constructing a 20 MW solar installation on 100 acres of private land in western Nevada. (Pahrump Valley Times)
GRID: The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights construction of a 125-mile high voltage transmission line expected to carry renewable power between Arizona and California. (E&E News)
UTILITIES:
• Xcel Energy taps the former CEO of its Colorado subsidiary to lead efforts to cut carbon emissions 100% by 2050. (Energy News Network)
• Arizona regulators urge residents to conserve energy and order utilities to pause electricity cutoffs for nonpayment during an ongoing heat wave. (Tucson Sentinel)
• Colorado regulators seek public input on a new law requiring natural gas utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 22% by 2030. (Denver Gazette)
TRANSPORTATION:
• A Colorado city installs two new public electric vehicle chargers and implements a fee for the previously free service to prod residents to invest in home chargers. (CPR)
• An Arizona county lures electric vehicle and battery manufacturers with incentives, affordable power, ample land and low taxes in an effort to position itself as the Detroit of EVs. (AZ Big Media)
COAL: Texas’ attorney general joins a coalition petitioning a federal court to reverse its decision blocking a Montana coal mine’s expansion. (Texas Insider)
HYDROPOWER: Representatives from Northwest tribes call on Congress to breach hydropower dams in Washington state to help restore salmon runs. (Spokesman-Review)
CLIMATE: New Mexico launches a climate change bureau to coordinate policies aimed at meeting the state’s goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. (news release)
COMMENTARY: A Wyoming hunter praises the Biden administration’s decision not to lease important wildlife habitat at its June oil and gas auction. (Sweetwater Now)
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