NUCLEAR: Federal regulators reject environmentalists’ bid to immediately shut down one of two reactors for safety reasons at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in central California. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE:
- A climate-focused research group finds at least 20 California public university board members have direct ties to the fossil fuel industry, raising concerns among advocates. (Guardian)
- Arizona clean air advocates call on the U.S. EPA to implement stringent greenhouse gas emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks, saying doing otherwise would harm young people’s health. (Arizona Mirror)
- A Colorado church says installing solar panels and a geothermal heat pump system to reduce its carbon footprint has increased attendance, especially among younger people. (Westword)
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SOLAR:
- Agrivoltaics — co-locating solar power installations with farm crops or livestock grazing — gains favor in California as a way to reduce clean energy land-use conflicts and save water. (Civil Eats)
- Colorado offers farmers and ranchers grants to fund agrivoltaic projects on their land. (news release)
- California clean energy advocates urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill aimed at expediting solar, storage and transmission development along highways. (Canary Media)
- A southern Colorado rural electric cooperative installs a solar array aimed at reducing customers’ power costs and carbon emissions. (Crestone Eagle)
GRID: A utilities consortium proposes creating a Western states coalition aimed at developing an “actionable transmission plan to address regional and interregional needs.” (RTO Insider, subscription)
BATTERIES: A California startup looks to scale up production of grid-scale sodium-ion batteries. (CNBC)
HYDROPOWER: Analysts predict last winter’s heavy snows will double California’s hydropower output compared to 2022, but ongoing drought will reduce Northwest production by 19%. (Canary Media)
OIL & GAS:
- Colorado regulators reject a rancher’s bid to increase an oil and gas operator’s fines related to a 2021 spill that poisoned his cattle, saying the nearly $200,000 penalty was adequate. (Colorado Sun)
- The Biden administration cancels a planned 2026 offshore oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, citing a lack of industry interest. (Alaska Beacon)
BIOFUELS:
- California regulators renew an idle biomass plant’s federal air quality permit, clearing the way for a firm to convert it to a synthetic gas production facility with carbon capture. (Bakersfield Californian)
- Shell begins selling biodiesel at 75 Los Angeles gas stations. (MarketWatch)
HYDROGEN: University of Wyoming researchers receive nearly $700,000 in state funding to advance methane-derived blue hydrogen production and transport infrastructure. (news release)
COMMENTARY:
- A Colorado advocate calls on state lawmakers to eliminate minimum parking requirements for new construction, saying it would reduce sprawl and automobile emissions. (Colorado Newsline)
- A California energy journalist urges state regulators to develop a coherent, consistent and equitable policy for compensating rooftop and community solar that will encourage more clean energy development. (Los Angeles Times)
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