A Utah coal town turns to green hydrogen for economic renewal

HYDROGEN: Residents of a small Utah town look to a proposed green hydrogen production and energy storage facility to fill the economic void left when a coal power plant closes. (Associated Press)

ALSO: Southern California Gas Co. begins testing a system that converts organic waste into hydrogen and methane fuel. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• Renewable energy advocates laud a provision in California’s sweeping new energy law aimed at expediting wind and solar development, but some groups worry it will stymie local control. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Portland, Oregon’s city council approves $122 million in clean energy fund grants, with most of them going to projects in low-income communities of color. (Willamette Week)

SOLAR: An Oregon researcher finds that installing solar panels among farm crops can shelter the plants from frost and heat and reduce water use. (OPB)

TRANSPORTATION: California advocates sue the U.S. EPA over the agency’s delayed approval of a state rule that would steer public transit agencies toward zero-emission buses. (E&E News, subscription)

COAL: An upstart energy company continues efforts to keep a New Mexico coal power plant operating beyond its scheduled September retirement, even though the plant’s owner is proceeding with shutdown plans. (Farmington Daily Times)

OIL & GAS: Utah regulators consider penalizing an energy company for botching the ongoing cleanup of an oil spill that occurred last fall. (Salt Lake Tribune)

UTILITIES:
• San Francisco’s board of supervisors urge California Gov. Gavin Newsom to block Pacific Gas & Electric from making customers pay for a wildfire victim compensation fund. (San Francisco Examiner)
• Hawaiian Electric proposes investing $190 million over five years on upgrading its grid to make it more resilient to climate change-exacerbated extreme weather. (Utility Dive)

GRID: A California utility partners with an energy startup on a program allowing electric school buses to send power back to the grid when electricity load is high. (NGT News)

ELECTRIFICATION: A Colorado resort town considers requiring all-electric space and water heating and appliances in new construction. (Crested Butte News)

LITHIUM: Ford Motor Company agrees to purchase lithium from the proposed Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada that still faces numerous permitting hurdles. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• A Colorado journalist proposes establishing a restoration economy that puts displaced miners and oil and gas drillers to work cleaning up abandoned mines and wells. (High Country News)
• A New Mexico editorial board calls on lawmakers to consider paying oil and gas funded dividends to residents annually rather than just during election years. (Albuquerque Journal)