Arizona regulators to repeal renewable mandates

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Arizona regulators vote to repeal rules requiring utilities to obtain 15% of their electricity from renewable sources, drawing fire from advocates. (KJZZ)

• Wyoming regulators vote to approve Enbridge’s proposal to increase the battery storage capacity of its planned solar project near Laramie by 50%. (Cowboy State Daily)

• An investor withdraws from Cowboy Energy’s planned 163 MW agrivoltaics solar installation in Wyoming after failing to secure transmission space, but developers say the project is not dead. (Cowboy State Daily)

• Native-led nonprofit Indigenized Energy completes an off-grid solar installation at a remote buffalo caretaker site on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. (Solar Power World)

• Oregon nonprofits help a Portland-area houseless community install solar panels on 43 of its off-grid tiny homes, helping residents weather extreme heat. (KPTV)

• Pivot Energy breaks ground on a 5 MW solar-plus-storage that will provide power to the University of Colorado via the state’s virtual net metering program. (PV Magazine)

OVERSIGHT

• An Oregon activist wields a 1970s law aimed at discouraging nuclear power developments to challenge wind facilities and associated transmission projects. (ProPublica/​OPB)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Colorado regulators allocate up to $14 million in federal and state funds to plug 142 low-producing or idle oil and gas wells to slash emissions and keep the sites off the state’s orphaned well list. (Colorado Sun)

• A Texas firm rushes to build a $5 billion oil pipeline from Canada to Toole County, Montana, before the end of the Trump administration. (Billings Gazette)

• California regulators delay a vote on a proposal to postpone new petroleum refinery rules, saying they need to gather more information. (E&E News)

• A northeastern Colorado county seeks public input on a proposed 20-well oil and gas drilling project. (Denver Gazette)

• Montana advocates push back on a proposal to weaken limits on selenium pollution from Canada coal mines contaminating a reservoir in the state. (Daily Montanan)

NUCLEAR

• Utah advocates and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe call for the closure of the White Mesa uranium mill in the southeastern part of the state, citing health and environmental concerns. (ABC4)

UTILITIES

• Southern California Edison considers suing nine public agencies the utility says may be responsible for some of the damage from January’s deadly Los Angeles-area blazes. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

CLIMATE

• Regulators seek public input on the draft Oregon Energy Strategy Report that proposes policies aimed at achieving climate goals. (OPB)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A survey finds one-third of Colorado’s e-bike rebate recipients are replacing two to three car trips weekly with the vehicles, but struggle with adverse weather and unprotected bike lanes. (Colorado Sun)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• China is winning on renewables. Will it win on green steel, too? — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Heat pumps can help clean up factories — and save lives — Alison F. Takemura

• Chart: Trump’s war on wind energy will hit these states hardest — Dan McCarthy

• Forcing dirty power plants to stay open would cost Americans billions — Jeff St. John

• In Appalachia, fracking is not the job creator the industry claims — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• Massachusetts residents no longer have to subsidize new gas hookups — Sarah Shemkus