After reaching 80% renewables, Colorado utility looks to slash demand

UTILITIES: A Colorado utility begins pushing customers to reduce power demand to help it meet climate goals after reaching its 2030 goal of acquiring 80% of its energy from renewable sources six years early. (Colorado Sun)

ALSO: Nevada regulators approve NV Energy’s plan to spend $1.75 billion to build a 400 MW solar-plus-storage facility, convert a coal plant to run on natural gas and other projects. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

MINING: Southern Arizona advocates and residents push back on a proposed manganese mine fast-tracked by the Biden administration, saying mining for the battery component could harm the fragile ecosystem. (Guardian)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Indigenous advocates and tribal governments push back on some Biden administration-backed clean energy development on federal land in Arizona and Nevada, saying it could harm culturally significant sites. (Washington Post)
• The U.S. Energy Department seeks clean energy development proposals at the Idaho National Laboratory. (KIFI)

HYDROPOWER: The Biden administration awards $27 million to a proposed Alaska run-of-river hydropower project in the works since the 1980s. (KTOO)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• California startups and utilities look to develop tools to manage and modulate electric vehicle charging schedules to reduce grid strain. (Canary Media)
• A conservative-led Washington state ballot initiative to repeal the state’s cap-and-invest program could endanger funding for converting diesel ferries to electric-diesel hybrids. (Crosscut)

POLLUTION:

• A southern California man is arrested on suspicion of smuggling refrigerants in violation of regulations intended to curb the use of the potent greenhouse gasses. (Associated Press)
• Republican Arizona lawmakers advance a bill that would weaken ozone pollution rules by exempting vehicles manufactured after 2018 from emissions testing, prompting critics to dub it the ​“Dirty Air Act.” (AZ Mirror)

OIL & GAS: Colorado climate advocates rally in support of proposed legislation that would ban new oil and gas drilling beginning in 2030. (Colorado Newsline)

CLIMATE:

• A southern California community launches a shade equity master plan aimed at mitigating severe heat’s impacts on residents and farmworkers. (Associated Press)
• An Arizona utility looks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 82% by 2035 and reach net-zero carbon by 2050. (news release)

POLITICS: U.S. Rep. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, works to make a conservative case for tackling climate change, but experts say his GOP colleagues are unlikely to take the issue seriously. (Sierra)

CARBON CAPTURE: Wyoming lawmakers pass legislation that would push back the deadline to install carbon capture on coal plants and allow utilities to recoup the costs from ratepayers. (Cowboy State Daily)

BIOFUELS: A Colorado startup launches a project aiming to produce methane by injecting sugar beet byproducts into microorganism-rich coal formations. (Buffalo Bulletin)