Another Colorado utility ditches Tri-State

UTILITIES: A southwestern Colorado electric cooperative votes to fully withdraw from its wholesale power contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission to pursue more local clean energy generation. (Durango Herald)

ALSO: Montana utility regulators accuse NorthWestern Energy of undermining the commission’s oversight duties by withholding critical information about rising rates. (Daily Montanan)

HYDROPOWER:

• The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe formally opposes a proposed pumped hydropower energy storage project in Nevada, testing federal regulators’ new policy on tribal input. (Western Water Notes)
• Federal data show hydropower generation in the Western U.S. fell to a 22-year low last year after drought depleted reservoir levels in Washington and Oregon. (news release)

SOLAR:

• The U.S. Agriculture Department plans to invest $76.5 million to expand a tribal-owned solar facility on the Navajo Nation. (ABC 4)
• Walmart invests in 19 solar projects nationwide, including 41 MW of community installations in Colorado designed to serve low and moderate-income households. (news release)
• A Washington state utility breaks ground on a community solar project in the Seattle area. (My Everett News)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• An Idaho county votes to ban large-scale wind and solar projects on private land, drawing criticism from landowners who have signed leases with energy companies. (East Idaho News)
• Oregon begins accepting applications from tribal nations and public entities for $18 million in grants to support clean energy development. (news release)

WIND: The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed 600 MW wind facility in the southwestern part of the state. (news release)

OIL & GAS: 

• Colorado regulators add 358 sites to their orphaned oil and gas well program after two operators abandon the state and leave taxpayers to foot most of the cleanup bill. (Colorado Sun)
• Colorado’s oil and gas industry files a ballot proposal to ban drilling, acknowledging it is a tactic aimed at forcing state officials to deem a similar initiative forwarded by advocates unconstitutional. (CPR)

CLIMATE: Hawaii lawmakers kill a bill that would have levied a ​“green fee” on tourists to help the state address climate change’s effects. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

ELECTRIFICATION: Republican Arizona lawmakers propose a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban local governments from restricting the sale and use of fossil fuel powered appliances and equipment. (AZ Mirror)

MINING: A study finds uranium mining near the Grand Canyon could contaminate complex, interconnected groundwater systems, raising the risk for humans and ecosystems. (news release)

NUCLEAR: California lawmakers worry Pacific Gas & Electric won’t be able to fully pay back a $1.4 billion state loan to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant running, leaving taxpayers to foot part of the bill. (Sacramento Bee)

TRANSPORTATION: Democratic Colorado lawmakers propose eliminating 10 elected positions from a transportation district’s board to give the governor more control over the state’s largest public transit system. (CPR)