NUCLEAR: Pacific Gas & Electric applies to renew the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant’s federal license and postpone the facility’s planned 2025 retirement by five years. (Sacramento Bee)
ALSO: Utah researchers say a molten salt nuclear reactor they developed cannot melt down and produces waste that can be harvested for valuable elements. (KSL)
SOLAR:
• Colorado advocates call on regulators to require Xcel Energy to expedite smart meter installation for rooftop solar customers so homeowners can be fairly compensated for power they send back to the grid. (Colorado Sun)
• A developer prepares to begin construction on a utility-scale solar installation in a western Wyoming coal community. (Wyoming Business Report)
GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management publishes a finding of “no significant impact” for a proposed geothermal power facility in western Nevada. (Elko Daily Free Press)
POLITICS: A New Mexico race to represent the Permian Basin in the U.S. House pits an incumbent who sees no link between fossil fuel combustion and climate change against a clean energy-supporting Democrat. (Reuters)
OIL & GAS: Colorado communities seek to join a lawsuit to block a proposed Utah railway that would send oil trains across Colorado. (Colorado Sun)
COAL: Xcel Energy pushes up the retirement of a Texas coal power plant to 2028, meaning the utility will exit coal altogether when it closes its Comanche plant in Colorado in 2030. (news release)
UTILITIES:
• California researchers find low-income households are more likely to have their power disconnected for nonpayment in the months after extreme heat events. (news release)
• A California county considers forming a public utility as a solution to what it calls Pacific Gas & Electric’s ongoing failures. (KFSN)
ELECTRIFICATION: Washington state officials consider backing off from a proposal to require all-electric heat pumps for water and space heating in new homes amid construction industry opposition. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
LITHIUM: A Nevada startup works to make lithium extraction more efficient and environmentally friendly with ion-exchange beads that extract the mineral from brine. (GreenBiz)
STORAGE: California awards the Viejas Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians $31 million to install a 60 MWh long-duration energy storage battery system. (news release)
HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department awards a Hawaii startup $1.6 million to develop a method to produce hydrogen fuel from organic construction waste. (Hydrogen Fuel News)
COMMENTARY: A Wyoming analyst praises the fossil fuel-producing state for branching out into renewable energy, hydrogen and nuclear power. (WyoFile)
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