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NUCLEAR: California lawmakers pass a bill to lend Pacific Gas & Electric $1.4 billion and otherwise support the utility’s bid to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant running beyond its planned 2025 retirement date. (Los Angeles Times)
COAL: Hawaii’s only coal plant shuts down, forcing utilities to rely on oil-fired power until solar and wind facilities delayed by supply chain constraints come online. (Los Angeles Times)
OIL & GAS: • California lawmakers pass a bill banning new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of houses, schools or other “sensitive receptors,” while requiring emissions monitoring of existing wells in the buffer zone. (Los Angeles Times) • Hawaii families sue the federal government for allegedly failing to warn residents that drinking water had been contaminated by leaks from a U.S. Navy fuel storage facility. (USA Today) • The Biden administration asks a federal court to review its ban on new oil and gas permitting off the coast of California, after a court previously blocked the ban. (Reuters) • More than 1,000 oil and gas wells in New Mexico remain idle under a state program allowing companies to temporarily stop running pumps during the pandemic. (KUNM) • A watchdog group finds oil and gas companies flared or vented nearly $1 billion worth of natural gas from operations on public lands over the last decade, depriving federal coffers of some $76 million in royalties. (E&E News, subscription)
TRANSPORTATION: California lawmakers pass a bill that would offer a $1,000 tax credit to lower-income households that don’t own a car. (Bloomberg)
GRID: California Gov. Gavin Newsom declares a state of emergency and grid operators call for statewide electricity conservation measures as a prolonged heat wave moves into the region. (Mt. Shasta News)
UTILITIES: • California lawmakers pass a bill aiming to speed up a review of Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to bury 10,000 miles of power lines to reduce wildfire risk. (Bloomberg) • San Diego Gas & Electric funds a California college’s tuition-free program training arborists to clear trees away from utility lines to reduce wildfire risk. (Times of San Diego)
CLIMATE: Irvine, California, climate activists say the city is not doing enough to achieve its goal of becoming a zero-carbon economy by 2030. (Los Angeles Times)
STORAGE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill aimed at expediting energy storage deployment by ending a requirement that land be subdivided when it’s leased for storage. (Energy Storage News)
SOLAR: • A Colorado utility completes construction of a 4.5 MW solar-plus-storage installation on a college campus in the western part of the state. (9News) • A Hawaii university completes construction of one of the nation’s largest solar parking canopies. (news release) • California lawmakers pass a bill requiring large utilities to create community solar programs for lower-income customers. (news release)
EFFICIENCY: Generators installed on a California gym’s stationary workout bikes send human power back to the grid. (Spectrum News)
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Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.
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