GEOTHERMAL: Ormat Technologies plans to sue the Biden administration over its decision to protect an endangered toad and potentially derail the company’s proposed geothermal plant in Nevada. (Los Angeles Times)
OIL & GAS:
• A peer-reviewed study finds Black, Latinx and low-income California residents are disproportionately exposed to oil and gas drilling pollution, increasing their risk of developing health problems. (news release)
• The U.S. EPA fines an oil and gas company $440,000 for allegedly violating federal air pollution laws at eight facilities in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• California lawmakers advance a bill that would authorize regulators to penalize oil companies for price-gouging. (Los Angeles Times)
• New Mexico advocates call on federal policymakers to finalize rules aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas facilities. (Carlsbad Current-Argus, subscription)
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ELECTRIFICATION: A utility-backed effort to overturn an Oregon city’s natural gas hookup ban makes it onto the ballot, delaying the rule’s implementation until after the November election. (Register-Guard)
UTILITIES:
• An Oregon judge rules PacifiCorp can face punitive damages in a class action lawsuit alleging the utility’s equipment sparked the 2020 Labor Day fires in the southern part of the state. (Statesman-Journal)
• San Diego Gas & Electric customers urge regulators to reject the utility’s proposed rate increase that would fund wildfire-risk mitigation and grid reliability and decarbonization projects. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
GRID:
• Federal regulators approve incentives for the controversial Greenlink Nevada transmission project, dismissing consumer advocates’ arguments that they would raise costs. (Utility Dive)
• A California city is set to begin undergrounding one neighborhood’s utility lines three decades after the effort was launched. (Berkeleyside)
BATTERIES: LG Energy plans to build a $5.6-billion complex in Arizona to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems. (Marketwatch)
WIND: Idaho lawmakers advance a resolution urging federal land managers to reject the proposed Lava Ridge wind power project in the southern part of the state. (NCW Life)
SOLAR: The federal Bureau of Land Management announces plans to auction 1,064 acres in central Colorado for solar energy development. (news release)
CLEAN ENERGY: A report finds Wyoming could benefit from federal clean energy tax incentives if it aims to meet national climate targets. (Wyoming Public Media)
HYDROPOWER: U.S. lawmakers from the Northwest introduce legislation that would block a proposal to remove four hydropower dams on the lower Snake River, saying the dams provide clean energy and benefit agriculture. (news release)
TRANSPORTATION: Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, supports the state’s bid for a federal grant to fund a proposed high-speed rail line from Las Vegas to southern California. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
POLLUTION: Colorado regulators withdraw a tanker truck repair shop’s air quality permit after environmental justice groups allege it was issued after only 10 minutes of review. (Colorado Sun)
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COAL: Wyoming receives nearly $26 million in federal funding to clean up abandoned coal mines. (KOTA)
COMMENTARY: A Nevada editor calls on lawmakers to tax lithium production at the same rate as silver and gold and prevent the industry from treating the state like an economic colony. (Nevada Current)
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