HYDROPOWER: A report commissioned by Washington state Democratic leaders finds four fish-harming hydropower dams should not be removed until their electricity generating capacity is replaced. (Spokesman-Review)
ALSO: An Xcel Energy proposal to construct a pumped hydropower storage facility in western Colorado draws opposition from nearby landowners. (Grand Junction Sentinel)
OIL & GAS:
• More than 2 million Californians, mostly poor people of color, live within one mile of an oil and gas well, putting them at risk of suffering related health problems. (Inside Climate News)
• A recently finalized federal biological assessment of ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil and gas project in Alaska indicates the Biden administration is leaning toward approving the controversial plan. (E&E News, subscription)
• New Mexico receives $25 million in federal infrastructure funds to plug and reclaim 200 orphaned oil and gas wells in the Permian and San Juan Basins. (KOB4)
• Cryptocurrency mining operations on Colorado oil and gas well sites use waste natural gas to generate power while helping companies comply with state methane emissions limits. (Colorado Sun)
CARBON CAPTURE: The federal Bureau of Land Management approves the first carbon dioxide sequestration project on public land at an ExxonMobil natural gas field in Wyoming. (Billings Gazette)
WIND:
• An investigation finds an incident in which an Oregon wind turbine lost one of its blades is part of a wider pattern of maintenance problems and equipment failures at the PGE wind facility. (Oregonian)
• Indigenous and environmental groups urge the Biden administration to establish the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument on southwestern Nevada land targeted by wind power developers. (Los Angeles Times)
SOLAR: An Arizona startup partners with university researchers to develop economically feasible methods of repurposing and recycling old solar panels. (Arizona Daily Sun)
STORAGE:
• A startup selects a contractor to design a 500 MW compressed air energy storage facility in California. (PV Magazine)
• Xcel Energy begins testing a liquid metal battery at a solar research laboratory in Colorado. (Energy Storage News)
ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado and Xcel Energy offer incentives to replace the 1,100 homes destroyed in last year’s Marshall Fire with all-electric, energy efficient structures. (E&E News, subscription)
TRANSPORTATION:
• A California port plans to replace its medium- and heavy-duty truck fleet with hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2035. (CBSLA)
• Business owners in a California city worry about losing parking spaces to a proposed 14-unit electric vehicle charging station. (Monterey Herald)
NUCLEAR: Water sampling finds elevated levels of a radioactive isotope in ocean water near the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, but in concentrations well within legal drinking water limits. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
GEOTHERMAL: A Utah startup maps potential geothermal energy output to guide potential developers. (Bloomberg)
COMMENTARY: A New Mexico public health expert urges the oil and gas industry to work with regulators to improve the state’s deteriorating air quality. (Las Cruces Sun-News)
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