Alaska borough plans to install heat pumps in every home

ELECTRIFICATION: The Biden administration awards a northwest Alaska borough $50 million to install electric heat pumps in every home and to build solar installations to power them. (Northern Journal)

OIL & GAS: 

• The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to spend $2.9 million to clean up nine orphaned oil and gas wells around Wyoming. (Wyoming News Exchange)
• A Wyoming energy fund panel recommends spending $11 million on a project aimed at pulling more oil from aging wells and an evaluation of rare earths mineral potential. (Cowboy State Daily)

MINING:

• A federal appeals court rejects Apache advocates’ bid to block a land swap that would allow copper mining at Oak Flat in Arizona. (Arizona Republic)
• Utah lawmakers pass legislation that would tighten restrictions on lithium extraction from the Great Salt Lake. (High Country News)
• Soaring uranium prices and a global supply squeeze spur companies to revive at least five idled mines in Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and Texas. (Bloomberg)

POLLUTION: Dozens of oil and gas industry and environmental group lobbyists work to influence Colorado lawmakers as they consider legislation aimed at reducing ground-level ozone pollution. (CPR)

SOLAR:

• Washington state lawmakers pass a bill establishing consumer protections for rooftop solar customers. (Washington State Standard)
• A New Mexico county agrees to purchase 170 MW from a solar-plus-storage installation under development in the northwestern part of the state. (Los Alamos Daily Post)
• Los Angeles launches a demonstration solar street light project aimed at making the equipment less vulnerable to copper wire theft. (Los Angeles Daily News)
• The Biden administration awards Taos Pueblo in New Mexico $10 million to help build a 5 MW solar-plus-battery storage system. (news release)

UTILITIES:

• Alaska regulators reject advocates’ request for an electric cooperative’s usage data, saying it would invade customers’ privacy. (Northern Journal)
• Nevada’s Supreme Court is set to hear a case regarding a utility’s ability to use the power of eminent domain to build a natural gas pipeline across private property. (Western Water Notes)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California says it has surpassed 100,000 public or shared private electric vehicle chargers throughout the state. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: The Biden administration pours funding into a proposed high-speed passenger rail line linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles in hopes it will spark a national rail revolution. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE:

• Researchers find a ​“cool pavement” project in a Los Angeles neighborhood has significantly reduced surface temperatures in areas the reflective paint was installed. (NBC News)
• An unusually severe snowstorm pounds northern California and Nevada, shutting down ski areas and freeways and leaving at least 50,000 households without power. (New York Times)

BIOFUELS: The Biden administration awards $30 million to a cluster of California projects aimed at converting forest cuttings into biofuels. (Bioenergy Insight)