Arizona regulator proposes slashing rooftop solar compensation

SOLAR: An Arizona utility regulator proposes slashing net metering compensation for rooftop solar by 37%, saying the incentive is no longer necessary. (12 News)

UTILITIES:
• An Alaska utility’s report finds it can forestall the need to import expensive liquefied natural gas with increased conservation efforts and expedited clean energy development. (Alaska Beacon)
• Victims of the Maui wildfires adopt a legal strategy used against California utilities in their bid to secure compensation from Hawaiian Electric. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• Nevada’s consumer protection agency calls on NV Energy to divulge details of perks it received from ratepayer-funded sponsorship deals. (Nevada Current)

GRID:
• California analyses find wildfire hazard-related public safety power shutoffs are more frequent and last longer in the northern rural parts of the state. (Orange County Register)
• Thousands of utility customers remain without power in northern California as wildfires grow to over 40,000 acres. (East Bay Times)

LITHIUM: Utah lawmakers consider tightening mineral extraction regulations for the Great Salt Lake following a dispute between state regulators and a lithium mining company. (FOX 13)

CARBON CAPTURE:
• California climate advocates say a pro-carbon capture and storage campaign mischaracterizes the groups’ position on the technology. (Politico)
• Washington state advocates and the logging industry spar over whether a forest is more valuable as a carbon sink or harvested for timber. (Crosscut)

TRANSITION: Kern County — California’s leading oil and solar and wind power producer — now looks to become a carbon management industry leader. (Noema)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A coalition plans to launch a first-of-its-kind hybrid battery-diesel-powered fishing vessel in Alaska this fall. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: A Colorado lawmaker proposes increasing public transit funding to expand transportation networks. (CPR)

POLLUTION: Colorado sues the U.S. EPA to block the agency from holding up the state’s air quality plan until it opens pollution records to the public. (Colorado Sun)

OIL & GAS: The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes leasing more than 6,000 acres for oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin and Kansas. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department awards more than $15 million to clean hydrogen production, storage and transport research projects in Western states. (news release)

COMMENTARY: Montana advocates urge regulators to reject NorthWestern Energy’s proposed resource plan, saying it is costly, dirty and aimed at maximizing shareholder profit. (Daily Montanan)