Arizona’s attorney general sues regulators over gas plant exemption

UTILITIES: Arizona’s attorney general joins environmentalists in a lawsuit challenging state regulators’ decision to exempt a proposed 200 MW natural gas plant from environmental review. (KJZZ)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• California lawmakers pass legislation authorizing regulators to require manufacturers to equip electric vehicles with bidirectional chargers that can send power back to the grid. (E&E News, subscription)
• A California luxury electric boat startup looks to ramp up production and make the crafts available to a wider audience. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIFICATION: California lawmakers pass legislation aimed at encouraging building electrification by increasing gas utilities’ transparency on fossil fuel investments and authorizing zero-emission pilot projects. (news releases)

URANIUM: The Navajo Nation adopts emergency legislation to strengthen radioactive material transportation regulations after an Arizona mine began shipping uranium ore across tribal land to a Utah mill. (Associated Press)

COAL: The Biden administration awards New Mexico $2.4 million to clean up abandoned coal mines. (KUNM)

STORAGE: A startup plans to test its limestone-pellet thermal energy storage technology in Alaska next year. (Northern Journal)

GRID:

• A southern California utility shuts off power to a Los Angeles-area community in an effort to reduce wildfire risk as landslides threaten power lines. (City News Service)
• New Mexico’s largest utilities remain undecided about which of two competing day-ahead regional power markets to join after a study finds they don’t need to follow Arizona’s lead to realize the greatest benefits. (New Mexico Political Report, RTO Insider, subscription)

OIL & GAS: 

• California Democratic lawmakers reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for a special session on a proposal aimed at stabilizing gasoline prices by requiring refineries to maintain minimum fuel reserves. (KCRA)
• A Colorado county considers ways to recover more than $9 million in overdue property and production taxes from an oil and gas company. (Durango Herald)
• A federal judge rejects mineral rights holders’ challenge to taxes on carbon dioxide extracted from underground reservoirs in Colorado and piped to Texas oil fields. (Colorado Politics)
• The Biden administration awards the Navajo Nation nearly $5 million to plug and clean up orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells. (KTAR)

HYDROGEN: The Biden administration awards a Washington state startup $4.24 million to develop its hydrogen-electric aviation engines. (Biofuels Digest)

BIOFUELS: The Biden administration awards a Washington state refinery $26.8 million to begin producing sustainable aviation fuel from biomass feedstocks. (Biofuels Digest)

GEOTHERMAL: California lawmakers pass legislation aimed at streamlining geothermal development by allowing counties to assume the state’s permitting role. (Think Geoenergy)

HYDROPOWER: An Alaska Native village and Democratic state lawmakers look to delay reauthorization of a hydropower dam for two years in the hope of ultimately decommissioning the facility. (Must Read Alaska)