NUCLEAR: Federal regulators are set to certify NuScale’s small modular nuclear reactor design slated for use at a 462 MW power plant proposed for construction in Idaho. (Power)
ALSO: A bipartisan group of Western state governors calls on federal regulators to reject proposals to store radioactive waste in member states without their consent. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
OIL & GAS:
• California regulators don’t include methane leaking from idle wells in their emissions inventory, raising questions about the state’s ability to meet its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. (Associated Press)
• Oil and gas industry officials call a California county’s proposal to substantially increase reclamation bonds a “company killer.” (Ventura County Star)
• A New Mexico county in the Permian Basin collects more than twice the oil and gas tax revenues it anticipated at the beginning of the fiscal year. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• An ethics watchdog’s report finds New Mexico’s oil and gas industry spent millions of dollars on primary campaigns for governor and other state offices. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
ELECTRIFICATION:
• Fossil fuel industry groups spend record amounts to oust a Washington state lawmaker who has led efforts to ban natural gas hookups and electrify buildings. (HuffPost)
• Eugene, Oregon, advances a proposal to ban natural gas hookups in new homes beginning in June 2023 and considers ways to electrify new commercial buildings and existing homes. (Register-Guard)
COAL: Arch Resources continues to prepare to close its Powder River Basin coal mines even though they are generating significant profits. (WyoFile)
SOLAR:
• A Montana judge upholds a zoning board’s 2021 rejection of a proposed utility-scale solar project near Butte that would have powered a cryptocurrency mining operation. (Montana Standard)
• Developers break ground on a 60 MW solar-plus-storage facility, Hawaii’s largest, on 450 acres in Maui. (Maui News)
• A renewable energy developer proposes constructing an 800 MW solar facility in southwestern Arizona near the recently approved Ten West Link transmission line. (Phoenix New Times)
UTILITIES: A Colorado utility plans to raze several businesses and two homes to build a $40 million substation in a mixed-use neighborhood. (The Gazette)
HYDROGEN: An Oregon utility plans to launch a turquoise hydrogen production pilot program next year and eventually inject the fuel — made by splitting methane into solid carbon and hydrogen — into its natural gas lines. (Natural Gas Intelligence)
TRANSPORTATION: A Hawaii shipping firm receives the state’s first liquefied natural gas-powered container ship. (Maui Now)
BIOFUELS: A proposed biomass-to-power project in California is stalled when a landowner refuses to allow the developer to store captured carbon under his property. (Bakersfield Californian)
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