Arizona utility backs away from climate commitments

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UTILITIES

• Arizona Public Service walks back previous climate commitments and trades a ​“zero-carbon” target by 2050 for a ​“carbon-neutral” one as it delays a planned coal plant closure and looks to gas-generation to meet growing power demand. (Arizona Central)

• Idaho Power plans to add new transmission lines and buy more energy to meet ​“unprecedented” levels of demand growth. (Idaho Capital Sun)

SOLAR

• California’s Supreme Court orders a lower court to reconsider the state’s policy slashing net-metering compensation for rooftop solar, handing the clean energy industry and advocates a victory. (CalMatters, New York Times)

• Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, calls on the Trump administration to drop a policy requiring heightened reviews of proposed wind and solar projects, saying it has already blocked developments on federal and private land. (Solar Power World)

• Exus Renewables completes construction on its 190 MW solar-plus-storage system in central New Mexico. (Albuquerque Journal)

• A survey finds Washington state ranchers and farmers are evenly divided over solar development on agricultural land and that many of them are unfamiliar with agrivoltaics. (PV Magazine)

WIND

• The U.S. Interior Department rescinds the Biden-era approval of the proposed Lava Ridge wind facility in southern Oregon, saying the original permit had ​“crucial legal deficiencies.” (Idaho Capital Sun, news release)

ELECTRIFICATION

• San Francisco county and city supervisors vote to approve an ordinance requiring substantial renovations in existing buildings to be all-electric, adding to an existing, similar mandate for new construction. (Canary Media)

GRID

• California lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at lowering utility rates by using state-issued bond revenues to expand the power grid and make it less vulnerable to wildfires. (Canary Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Energy Transfer proposes a 516-mile natural gas pipeline from the Permian Basin to Arizona, saying it is needed to serve demand from a growing population and expanding data centers. (Utility Dive, E&E News)

• Colorado advocates say a utility’s plan to delay its coal plant closure could undermine the state’s energy transition. (CPR)

• Montana regulators reissue approval of NorthWestern Energy’s contested Laurel gas plant following a court-ordered review. (Billings Gazette)

• An appliance industry group files a lawsuit seeking to block Colorado’s newly implemented law requiring health warning labels on gas stoves and cooktops. (CPR)

• The U.S. Interior Department issues an expedited environmental review of Canyon Fuel Company’s proposed federal coal leases in Utah. (Utah News Dispatch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• California’s Energy Commission launches a $55 million incentive program to fund EV fast chargers at qualifying businesses and public sites. (news release)

NUCLEAR

• The Denver International Airport considers installing a small modular nuclear reactor to meet growing power needs, sparking Colorado advocates’ concerns. (Colorado Sun)

DATA CENTERS

• Tucson, Arizona’s city council votes to halt discussions with a proposed data center’s developers following widespread concerns over its forecasted water and electricity consumption. (Tucson Sentinel)

GEOTHERMAL

• Imperial County, California’s supervisors approve Ormat’s proposed 25 MW Dogwood geothermal energy project within the existing Heber complex. (Think Geoenergy)

STORAGE

• Portland General Electric brings online 475 MW of battery energy storage system capacity in Oregon. (news release)