Avangrid drops bid to acquire New Mexico’s largest utility

UTILITIES: Avangrid terminates its bid to acquire PNM, New Mexico’s largest electric utility, citing a lack of ​“clear timing” on a court review of regulators’ 2021 rejection of the proposed merger. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Pattern Energy secures $11 billion in financing for its 3,500 MW SuZia wind farm in New Mexico and transmission line to carry the power to Arizona, the nation’s largest clean energy project so far. (Fortune)
• Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo partners with Denmark to explore establishing a clean energy industrial park in a rural part of the state. (News 4)

SOLAR: New California net metering policies have gutted the state’s solar industry, but experts say high retail electricity rates may still push customers to install rooftop arrays. (Utility Dive)

CARBON CAPTURE: A direct-air carbon capture facility proposed for Wyoming would rely on small modular nuclear reactors — another unproven technology — for power. (E&E News)

WIND:

• Federal analysts say Montana’s wind power generation capacity is likely to surpass the state’s coal capacity after two projects under construction come online later this year. (Montana Free Press)
• The developer of a planned southern Washington wind project proposes installing fewer, taller turbines to lessen potential impacts on views and wildlife. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

STORAGE: New Mexico regulators approve two proposed grid-scale battery energy storage projects aimed at expanding overloaded feeder capacity. (Energy Storage News)

GRID:

• Xcel Energy’s plan to build a substation in a low-income and industrialized Denver neighborhood raises concerns about environmental injustice. (Denver Post)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management encourages developers to co-locate transmission lines in Wyoming to avoid disturbing undeveloped land. (WyoFile)

ELECTRIFICATION: A federal appeals court says it will not reconsider its 2023 decision to overturn Berkeley, California’s ban on natural gas hookups in new construction. (Smart Cities Dive)

CRITICAL MATERIALS: Nez Perce fishermen and advocates raise concerns about a proposed gold and antimony mine’s impacts on salmon fisheries. (Arizona Republic)

URANIUM: Energy Fuels says it will resume operations at three of its idled uranium mines in Arizona and Utah, including the controversial Pinyon Plain facility near the Grand Canyon. (World Nuclear News)

COAL: Wyoming economists predict Powder River Basin coal production will resume its long-term decline in 2024 following a slight rebound during the past three years. (WyoFile)

CLIMATE:

• Washington state lawmakers look to fine-tune a new carbon cap-and-invest law this legislative session to fend off conservative efforts to kill the program altogether. (Crosscut)
• California mountain snowpack levels are at or near all-time record lows for early January, potentially jeopardizing hydropower production this summer. (Los Angeles Times)

COMMENTARY: A California editorial board praises Biden administration rules requiring that hydrogen projects meet life-cycle emissions standards to qualify for federal tax credits. (Los Angeles Times)