Batteries save California’s bacon during heat waves

STORAGE: Analysts say a significant buildup of battery energy storage capacity over the last two years has helped California’s grid weather this summer’s heat wave-driven power demand spikes. (East Bay Times)

ALSO: Rural Washington state residents push back on a proposed 16-acre battery energy storage system, saying it would take land out of farming. (Capital Press)

SOLAR:

• An Alaska utility and developer propose a 45 MW solar installation that would triple the state’s solar generating capacity and mitigate a looming natural gas shortage. (Anchorage Daily News) 
• A Colorado town begins construction on a solar installation designed to power its wastewater treatment plant. (Vail Daily)
• A California city breaks ground on a project to install solar arrays at multiple municipal facilities. (Victor Valley News Group)

GRID:

• A southern California city that could lose power and natural gas service after landslides compromised utility lines appeals to Tesla to provide solar panels and batteries to residents. (Los Angeles Times)
• Frequent power outages imperil the Port of Los Angeles’ quest to electrify its operations and distribution system. (Los Angeles Times)
• A New Mexico advocacy group urges the U.S. Forest Service to reject a proposed transmission line leading to Los Alamos National Laboratory, saying it would damage cultural and ecological sites. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

MICROGRIDS: A developer plans to install a wind and solar powered microgrid in downtown Honolulu. (news release)

OIL & GAS: 

• Advocates criticize Chevron for operating a local news website in the Permian Basin, saying it exists solely to prop up the industry. (Floodlight)
• A California petroleum company seeks to block the state from releasing documents related to the firm’s plan to reopen a pipeline that spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil in 2015, saying it could enable sabotage. (KCBX)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A southern California school district uses $15 million in federal funding to acquire 35 electric buses. (Stockton Record)
• A California startup raises $100 million to finance electric big rig charging station installations. (Canary Media)
• A judge orders a class-action lawsuit accusing Tesla of racism at its California factory to go before a jury next fall. (Mercury News)

UTILITIES:

• Oregon’s largest natural gas utility agrees to reduce its proposed rate hike following pushback from environmental and consumer advocates. (OPB)
• Wyoming rural electric cooperatives push back on Tri-State Generation & Transmission’s plan to phase out coal generation. (Cowboy State Daily)

MINING: An industry-commissioned report finds Alaska’s mining sector supported 11,800 jobs and $1.1 billion in total wages last year. (Alaska Beacon)

COMMENTARY: A retired attorney calls on the Northwest’s congressional delegations to help prepare for rising power demand by reforming a 1980s law that handicaps the Bonneville Power Administration. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)