Alaska gas provider says it could run out of fuel this winter

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UTILITIES

• Southcentral Alaska natural gas utility Enstar says it could run out of the fuel this winter after regulators deny its bid to use a depleted oil and gas reservoir as a storage facility. (Alaska Public Media)

• Victims of this summer’s Aspen Acres Fire in Colorado file a lawsuit accusing San Isabel Electric Association of sparking the blaze, which is still burning and ranks as one of the largest wildfires in the state’s history. (CPR)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management advances its proposal to roll back a 20-year oil and gas leasing ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, drawing advocates’ and tribal nations’ concerns. (Source NM, news release)

• Alaska lawmakers vote down a bill that would have exempted Glenfarne LLC’s proposed natural gas pipeline project from certain taxes after Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) criticized a provision that raised taxes on other oil and gas companies. (Alaska Beacon)

• New Mexico regulators propose establishing limits on contaminants in produced oil and gas wastewater in advance of the state water quality commission’s rulemaking on reusing the substance. (Source NM)

• Officials plan to plug a historic abandoned oil and gas well in Glacier National Park in Montana after detecting a methane leak. (NBC Montana)

DATA CENTERS

• California firm Sunrun plans to a ​“distributed data center” pilot that will place computing hardware in homes outfitted with its rooftop solar and battery systems, saying it will benefit rather than strain the grid by using existing infrastructure. (Utility Dive)

• New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard again rejects a proposed natural gas pipeline that would serve the contested Project Jupiter data center. (Source NM)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Colorado’s State Land Board approves the proposed 120-MW Mirasol solar project on state land near Pueblo. (Colorado Sun)

• California Attorney General Rob Banta files a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s June deal to pay off Invenergy to abandon its federal offshore wind leases along the state’s coast. (KRCR)

GRID

• A gold-mining company files a lawsuit seeking to force Idaho Power to reroute its Boardman-to-Hemingway high-voltage transmission project around its mining claims. (OPB)

• Federal regulators order the California Independent System Operator and the Southwest Power Pool to report on coordination along their respective day-ahead markets’ seams. (E&E News, news release)

HYDROPOWER

• A southern California water district strikes a deal with federal officials to cut water consumption to bolster Lake Mead’s levels and shore up Hoover Dam’s hydropower production. (Los Angeles Times)

• Federal officials predict ongoing drought and low streamflows will diminish and in some cases halt hydropower output at dams across Colorado before the end of the summer. (Colorado Newsline, Aspen Times)

GEOTHERMAL

• Sonoma Clean Power seeks advanced geothermal developers to help tap up to 600 MW of new generating capacity at the Geysers geothermal field in northern California. (Mercury News)