Western Energy News is one of five regional services published by the Energy News Network. Today’s edition was compiled by Jonathan Thompson.
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WIND: A NextEra Energy subsidiary is fined over $8 million and sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to killing golden and bald eagles at Wyoming and New Mexico wind facilities. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management pauses oil and gas drilling on 45,000 acres near Chaco Culture National Historical Park while it redoes an environmental analysis for the area. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• West Coast gasoline prices are set to surge due to the increasing cost of Alaskan crude, a key feedstock for California refineries. (Bloomberg)
UTILITIES:
• A San Diego Gas & Electric study says California will need to add huge amounts of solar, wind and battery storage to meet growing demand and hit its target of a carbon-free grid by 2045. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Tri-State Generation & Transmission says it will close an 85 MW natural gas power plant in Colorado and donate $50,000 to seed economic development in the affected community. (Glenwood Post-Independent)
• Tucson Electric Power looks to add up to 250 MW of renewable power and demand response and 300 MW of firm capacity to its system. (Renewables Now)
GRID: California energy analysts predict the ongoing drought and increasingly frequent heat waves will again strain the state’s power grid this summer. (KPIX5)
SOLAR:
• A New Mexico citizens’ planning and zoning commission recommends the county deny a proposal to develop a series of small community solar projects in the southern part of the state. (Roswell Daily Record)
• A New Mexico university plans to construct a 10,000 panel solar installation that officials say will offset 75% of campus power use. (KVII)
STORAGE:
• California’s grid operator explores ways to better integrate long-duration storage after doubling total battery capacity over the last year. (Utility Dive)
• An energy storage company plans to begin construction this summer on a 2-million-square-foot electric vehicle and grid-scale battery manufacturing facility in a Phoenix suburb. (Energy Storage News)
TRANSPORTATION:
• Biden administration officials say Nevada will receive $89 million in federal infrastructure funds to expand and upgrade public transit systems. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• Los Angeles’ city council votes to transition its municipal automotive fleet to electric vehicles. (LAist)
HYDROGEN: A zero-emissions aviation firm partners with a fuel company to develop green hydrogen fueling infrastructure at California airports. (Freight Waves)
HYDROPOWER: A marine energy company plans to test a tidal- and river-current power system in Alaska’s Port Mackenzie. (news release)
COMMENTARY:
• An Oregon writer explains how advocates, landowners and tribes blocked a proposed LNG export terminal along the state’s coast by working together despite their differences. (Writers on the Range)
• A Montana advocate says NorthWestern Energy’s sustainability plan will worsen climate change by continuing to burn fossil fuels for decades. (Montana Standard)
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