WIND: Wyoming’s Supreme Court upholds a county’s 2021 approval of a proposed 500 MW wind facility, rejecting a landowners’ bid to block the project. (Casper Star-Tribune)
OVERSIGHT:
• Colorado lawmakers propose renaming and broadening the scope of the state oil and gas regulatory commission to include oversight of geothermal drilling and natural gas and hydrogen storage. (CPR)
• An Oregon rural electric co-op urges federal lawmakers to loosen endangered species laws, saying they impede development and drive up costs. (news release)
OIL & GAS:
• Industry pushback drives Colorado lawmakers to pull legislation that would reform “forced pooling” laws allowing oil and gas companies to take landowners’ mineral rights without consent. (Capital & Main)
• An environmental group’s report finds a program meant to certify natural gas as responsibly sourced is failing to find and repair oil and gas facility methane leaks in Colorado. (The Hill)
POLLUTION: An American Lung Association report finds harmful air pollution disproportionately affects residents of Western cities and people of color. (CNN)
TRANSPORTATION: The U.S. EPA quietly proposes allowing California to implement stricter emissions limits than the federal government on diesel-powered trains. (Washington Post)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A California lawmaker proposes requiring all new electric vehicles be equipped with bidirectional charging by 2027. (Government Technology)
• Domino’s adds 50 electric vehicles to its Los Angeles pizza delivery fleet. (KTLA)
HYDROGEN:
• Hawaii applies for $1.2 billion in federal funds to establish a hydrogen hub that would use solar and geothermal power to produce the fuel. (Hawaii Public Radio)
• Xcel Energy proposes modifying a Colorado coal power plant to run on hydrogen and natural gas as part of a multi-state bid to establish a hydrogen hub. (Big Pivots)
GEOTHERMAL: Oil producer Devon Energy invests $10 million into a geothermal startup that is building a 5 MW power facility in Nevada. (Axios)
CLEAN ENERGY: Wind and solar power generation in Oregon dropped between 2021 to 2022 even though the state added about 250 MW of generating capacity during the same time period. (Corvallis Advocate)
SOLAR: A California startup says its earth-mounted solar panels cost less to install, use less land and can be built more quickly than conventional photovoltaics. (Canary Media)
STORAGE: California regulators make Redflow’s non-lithium, zinc-bromine flow batteries eligible for the state’s self-generation incentive program. (PV Magazine)
BIOFUELS: A renewable fuel firm acquires a failed biofuel power project in Oregon with plans to develop a facility that converts forest waste into methane fuel and hydrogen. (Biofuels Digest)
GRID: Federal regulators reject Southwest Power Pool’s proposal that would clear a path for transmission developers to profit off grid upgrades, saying it could increase generators’ costs. (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES: Idaho Power proposes a price increase to offset lower than expected hydropower generation and rising natural gas costs. (Hydro Review)
COAL: Navajo Transitional Energy Co. files a complaint with federal regulators claiming BNSF Railway failed to carry the obligated amount of coal from the company’s Powder River Basin mines. (Trains)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West