Arizona retirement community opposes natural gas peaker plant

OIL & GAS: Arizona residents push back on a proposed 98 MW natural gas peaker plant in the western part of the state, saying it would harm air quality and property values. (Arizona Republic)

ALSO: California regulators reject advocates’ proposal to tighten gas flaring regulations at petroleum refineries and to livestream the burnoffs. (E&E News, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• New Mexico regulators reject an auto industry bid to delay implementing state electric vehicle rules while a legal challenge winds through the courts. (Associated Press)
• Apple lays off more than 600 employees in California after canceling its electric vehicle development project. (Bloomberg)

UTILITIES: A Hawaii lawyer alleges a termite-damaged utility pole sparked last year’s deadly Maui wildfires after it was toppled by high winds. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

CARBON CAPTURE:

• A developer withdraws its application for a proposed biomass and carbon capture project in California’s Central Valley after the U.S. EPA scrutinized inconsistencies in its environmental reviews. (Courthouse News)
• A New Mexico county votes to support a university’s effort to develop a carbon capture and geologic storage industry in the northwestern part of the state. (Tri-City Record)
• A Wyoming direct-air carbon capture project seeks proposals for providing clean energy to the facility. (news release)

BIOFUELS: Oregon advocates push back on a proposal to store biofuels instead of crude oil at a Portland facility, saying the conversion won’t reduce air pollution or safety risks. (Oregonian)

SOLAR: California grid operators predict today’s solar eclipse will diminish solar power output in the state for a short period, but say utility customers will not be affected. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

HYDROPOWER: Hawaii advocates drop a lawsuit seeking to block a proposed hydropower project over potential environmental impacts after developers scale back plans. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

CLEAN ENERGY: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says policy decisions have put her state at the ​“epicenter” of the clean energy transition. (NM Political Report)

WIND:

• Wyoming researchers paint turbine blades black in an experimental effort aimed at reducing bird collisions with wind power facilities. (Wyoming Public Radio)
• Eastern Washington counties fashion clean energy-development regulations in anticipation of a predicted slew of wind power proposals. (Spokesman-Review)

GRID: An unusually severe wind storm raises wildfire hazard and batters utility equipment in Colorado, leaving more than 150,000 customers without power. (Boulder Reporting Lab)

COMMENTARY: A Utah editorial board says the state’s misguided fossil fuel-friendly policies paved the way for a utility to keep burning coal at the expense of ratepayers and air quality. (Salt Lake Tribune)