NUCLEAR: A coalition of Utah utilities and an Oregon startup cancel their proposed small modular nuclear reactor power plant in Idaho after failing to gain enough subscribers to make the increasingly expensive project financially viable. (Deseret News)

ALSO: Pacific Gas & Electric applies to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant running for up to 20 years after its scheduled 2025 retirement. (KCBX)

OIL & GAS: 

  • Satellite data show oil and gas fields on the Texas side of the Permian Basin emit methane at higher rates than their more regulated New Mexico counterparts, prompting calls for a federal crackdown on “super emitters” of the greenhouse gas. (Guardian)
  • Chevron agrees to pay a California county $1.25 million for removing oil that leaked from a ruptured pipeline last year. (Los Angeles Times)
  • A New Mexico county votes to issue a $500 industrial revenue bond to finance a proposed natural gas processing plant in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
  • Research indicates a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that shook the Permian Basin Wednesday could be tied to underground oil and gas wastewater injection. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
  • Oil companies begin exploration work on state land on Alaska’s North Slope after conservationists push back on federal land drilling. (Alaska Beacon)

SOLAR: 

ELECTRIFICATION: A Washington nonprofit uses innovative financing to help lower-income households install heat pumps, possibly serving as a model for larger cities. (Bloomberg) 

BATTERIES: A Nevada company signs on to decommission and recycle an aging battery energy storage facility in Hawaii. (Energy Storage News)

CLIMATE: An analysis finds Colorado must speed up climate policies to meet its 2030 carbon emissions reduction goals. (Colorado Sun) 

UTILITIES: High fire hazard and Santa Ana winds prompt southern California utilities to warn customers of potential public safety power shutoffs. (Los Angeles Times)

COMMENTARY: A California energy journalist says U.S. Republican Party-pushed disinformation on climate change and clean energy is a significant obstacle to cutting carbon pollution. (Los Angeles Times)

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Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.