PUBLIC LANDS: President Biden plans to designate the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada today, permanently blocking a proposed 400 MW wind power facility and other energy development on 450,000 acres of federal land. (E&E News)
OIL & GAS:
• California lawmakers propose establishing an independent watchdog group tasked with monitoring oil company profits and preventing gasoline price gouging. (Fox 5)
• Alaska industry observers predict ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil and gas project’s approval will open the door to further drilling on an additional 200 leases in the area. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Hawaii health officials say residents who consumed water contaminated by jet fuel leaking from a U.S. Navy facility in 2021 were also exposed to antifreeze. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription)
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ELECTRIFICATION:
• A Colorado town’s bid to implement efficiency- and electrification-friendly building codes falters after a natural gas utility launches an opposition campaign. (High Country News)
• Administers of an Oregon electric heat pump installation incentive program say supply chain constraints and labor shortages have delayed its implementation. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
GRID: Oregon’s Supreme Court upholds the state’s approval of a proposed 290-mile high-voltage transmission line that would cross the eastern part of the state. (Boise State Public Radio)
UTILITIES:
• A scandal-plagued southern California community choice power authority looks to improve its operating practices after founding member cities threaten to exit the program. (Los Angeles Times)
• U.S. lawmakers from California introduce legislation that would exempt wildfire victims’ compensation from federal income taxes. (Forbes)
SOLAR: The federal Bureau of Land Management studies a proposal to construct a 500 MW solar facility on 5,000 acres in southern Nevada. (E&E News, subscription)
WIND:
• California energy analysts say a large-scale buildout of high-voltage transmission infrastructure is needed in the northern part of the state to accommodate proposed offshore wind development. (Lost Coast Outpost)
• Japanese Americans in the Northwest protest a proposed wind facility in southern Idaho, saying the turbines would threaten a World War II incarceration camp historic site’s sanctity. (Crosscut)
CARBON CAPTURE: Some Colorado advocates push back on state legislation that would encourage carbon capture and sequestration, citing safety and feasibility concerns. (Big Pivots)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Oregon city begins offering low-income residents $2,000 rebates on electric bicycle purchases. (KTVZ)
NUCLEAR: A Navajo Nation community calls on federal officials to finish cleaning up a uranium mine that last produced ore in the 1960s. (Arizona Republic)
LITHIUM: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says an effort to extract lithium from geothermal brine at the Salton Sea will bring needed jobs while preserving the environment. (Desert Sun)
COMMENTARY: A reporter takes a Ford F-150 Lightning on a 2,888-mile road trip across the Northwest U.S., finding the reliability and availability of chargers hasn’t changed much since a bigger trip in 2019. (E&E News)
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