TRANSMISSION: Construction begins on the TransWest Express transmission project that will move electricity from the 3,000 MW Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind facilities in Wyoming to southern California. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• Arizona regulators are set to reconsider Salt River Project’s proposed natural gas plant expansion in a historically Black community after the utility agrees to invest over $23 million in environmental mitigation and local projects. (Arizona Capitol Times)
• A jury’s verdict finding PacifiCorp liable for millions of dollars of damages from 2020 blazes in Oregon prompts other utilities to step up fire prevention efforts. (OPB)
• An Oregon citizens utility board preemptively opposes PacifiCorp’s potential request for a rate hike to pay for damages from 2020 wildfires. (KOIN)
SOLAR:
• A southern California amusement park plans to build a 12 MW solar carport with battery storage that will offset 100% of the park’s energy use. (Los Angeles Daily News)
• U.S. lawmakers from Oregon and New Mexico sponsor bills that would encourage development of agrivoltaics, or integrating solar installations with agricultural uses. (Canary Media)
GRID: California lawmakers advance bills aimed at speeding up grid interconnections for residential solar and storage and electrification. (Inside Climate News)
STORAGE: A state-commissioned study finds California’s energy storage portfolio could yield net grid benefits of up to $1.6 billion annually by 2032. (Utility Dive)
BATTERIES: A California company says it has developed liquefied gas electrolyte technology to make batteries lighter and more temperature resilient and environmentally friendly. (KFMB)
POLLUTION: Utah leaders launch a legal challenge to proposed U.S. EPA regulations targeting power plant pollution that drifts into neighboring states. (Salt Lake Tribune, subscription)
TRANSPORTATION: Construction is nearly complete at an Arizona planned community that devotes no space to parking and where personal cars will be banned. (Yahoo)
OIL & GAS:
• A pair of earthquakes shake an area in southern Colorado where studies have linked seismic activity to oil and gas wastewater injection wells. (Denver Post)
• A group of scientists calls on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to stop permitting new oil and gas drilling, especially in residential neighborhoods. (Common Dreams)
PUBLIC LANDS: The federal Bureau of Land Management extends the comment period for a proposed public lands rule following opposition from the oil and gas industry and Republican lawmakers. (WyoFile)
COAL: California’s attorney general and other Western state officials urge the Biden administration to consider the full social and environmental impacts of the federal coal leasing program. (news release)
COMMENTARY: An energy analyst calls on California and other Western states to establish a regional grid operator to expand access to clean energy, reduce costs and avoid outages. (CalMatters)
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