Arizona regulators vote to rescind clean energy, efficiency standards

CLEAN ENERGY: Arizona regulators vote to repeal the state’s energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards, saying the market should guide corporations. (12 News)

UTILITIES:

• Montana regulators resume a court-ordered environmental review of a proposed natural gas plant, but will only consider light pollution now that a state law banning regulation of carbon dioxide emissions is in effect. (Montana Standard)
• Colorado researchers find the nation’s utilities are decarbonizing faster than regulations require them to, and are transitioning to clean energy even in states without renewable portfolio standards. (Daily Camera)

OIL & GAS: New Mexico Democratic lawmakers introduce legislation urging regulators to study the risks for people living near oil and gas facilities after well-setback language was stripped from another bill. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

POLLUTION: California officials expect about half of California’s counties to be out of compliance with the new U.S. EPA standards for fine particulate matter, or soot. (Mercury News)

SOLAR:

• A Nevada solar-plus-storage installation is set to supply all of the power for this year’s Super Bowl. (CBS News)
• Hawaii lawmakers advance a bill that would reverse regulators’ decision to slash compensation for rooftop solar and battery storage sold back to the grid. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• A Utah lawmaker introduces legislation that would increase compensation for rooftop solar exported back to the grid, saying current credits are ​“too low and complex.” (KSL)

ELECTRIFICATION: California, Colorado and Oregon sign an agreement with six other states to promote electric heat pump sales. (Verge)

TRANSPORTATION: Colorado lawmakers propose overhauling the state’s largest transit agency to better align it with broader housing and climate initiatives. (Daily Camera)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A company prepares to open an indoor electric vehicle charging station and lounge in downtown San Francisco. (Washington Post)
• Sacramento’s city council proposes requiring new gas stations to provide at least one high-voltage direct-current fast electric vehicle charger for every fuel nozzle. (CStoreDecisions)

GRID:

• A Colorado regulator pushes Xcel Energy to develop a 50 MW virtual power plant with a ​“prosumer” tariff by the end of this year. (Utility Dive)
• Some California residents criticize Pacific Gas & Electric and other utilities for failing to restore service for several days after a bomb cyclone storm left hundreds of thousands of households without power. (Mercury News)
• Tribal nations in Arizona call on state utility regulators to block further construction on the SunZia transmission line in the southern part of the state, saying it will damage cultural sites. (Gila Herald)

NUCLEAR: Industry observers predict a slight uptick in domestic uranium mining could give a proposed advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming a boost. (Wyoming Public Radio)

MINING: Federal wildlife officials consider extending endangered species protections to a snail found only in springs near the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. (news release)

CLIMATE: Conservationists challenge the federal government’s 2016 management plan for Glen Canyon Dam, saying it failed to consider climate change’s impacts on water levels and hydropower production. (Courthouse News)