GEOTHERMAL: The Summit Lake Paiute Tribe joins Burning Man Project’s lawsuit seeking to overturn federal regulators’ approval of a proposed geothermal power facility in Nevada. (San Francisco Standard)
GRID:
• California’s power grid operator plans to spend $9.3 billion on transmission projects to accommodate clean electricity-powered building and transportation electrification, and to enable deployment of more than 1,700 MW of new solar capacity. (PV Tech)
• Heavy, wet snow topples trees into utility equipment in Utah, leaving 3,600 households without power. (KSL)
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UTILITIES:
• Portland General Electric plans to develop utility-scale solar and wind power projects, upgrade its grid and achieve a net-zero power generation mix by 2040. (PV Magazine)
• Victims of a 2020 Oregon wildfire allegedly sparked by utility equipment ask lawmakers to exempt any legal settlements from state taxation. (Oregonian)
• Hawaiian Electric seeks public input on its proposal to deploy clean energy resources to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• An Alaska city’s voters consider a proposal to sell the municipal utility to a regional electric association after rejecting a similar bid in 2002. (KDLL)
OIL & GAS: Oil and gas companies operating in Colorado begin donating to Democratic state lawmakers — the majority in the legislature — in a bid to influence fossil fuel-related bills. (Capital & Main)
OVERSIGHT: Advocates push back against Montana legislation that would require nonprofits to pay business taxes when suing the state on environmental or natural resource grounds, saying it would quash efforts to hold oil and coal companies accountable. (Daily Montanan)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A poll finds a majority of Utah voters support a new law reducing gasoline taxes and levying a fee on electric vehicle charging stations, even though critics say it subsidizes fossil fuel consumption. (Deseret News)
• A federal jury orders Tesla to pay $3.18 million in damages to a Black employee who suffered racial discrimination and abuse at the company’s Fremont, California, factory. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• California electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian struggles to meet production targets due to supply chain constraints. (Reuters)
BATTERIES: Construction begins on a one-million-square-foot advanced silicon battery technology manufacturing plant in Washington state. (news release)
LITHIUM: California researchers find consuming lithium-contaminated water while pregnant can increase the risk of newborn autism development. (The Hill)
SOLAR: A developer purchases fallow agricultural land in northern Colorado to construct a utility-scale solar installation within three years. (Coloradoan)
MICROGRIDS: The Saboba Band of Luiseño Indians plans to install a solar-powered microgrid with battery backup at a tribal casino, allowing it to serve as a community cooling center during outages. (FOX 5 San Diego)
COAL: Utah communities prepare for the closure of two Rocky Mountain Power coal plants and a loss of up to 300 jobs by 2032. (KUER)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators propose a $70,000 penalty for 2022 accidents at a uranium enrichment facility in southern New Mexico. (KOB)
COMMENTARY: A California columnist says recent legislation rooting out and penalizing oil companies for price gouging signals the industry’s diminishing political power. (Los Angeles Times)
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