Biden moves to ban drilling on 28 million acres in Alaska

OIL & GAS: The Biden administration finalizes plans to ban oil and gas drilling, mining and other development on 28 million acres of federal land in Alaska. (Washington Post)

ALSO:

• A California law banning new oil and gas wells near homes and schools takes effect after an industry group withdrew its ballot referendum seeking to overturn it. (Associated Press)
• Advocacy groups file a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of skirting federal environmental laws when renewing offshore oil and gas leases along California’s coast. (news release)
• A federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming nets about $5 million in bids, far lower than historic levels. (E&E News, subscription)
• Washington state regulators fine a commercial fisherman nearly $650,000 for spilling diesel fuel off the state’s coast when his boat sank in 2022. (KUOW)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• An analysis finds Nevada’s electric vehicle and battery industries have created more than 12,000 jobs and brought in $15 billion of private investment to the state. (Nevada Current)
• California launches a rebate program incentivizing income-qualified residents to scrap older gasoline-powered cars and replace them with electric vehicles. (CleanTechnica)

WIND: California and Colorado researchers find a significant increase in employment rates and income within 20 miles of wind power facilities during and after construction. (news release)

TRANSITION:

• Tri-State Generation and Transmission proposes providing northwest Colorado communities about $60 million in aid and investments to help them weather the planned retirement of a coal plant and mine. (Power)
• New Mexico regulators reject lawmakers’ request to order a utility to locate new generating resources in the school district most affected by the 2022 San Juan coal plant closure. (NM Political Report)

MICROGRIDS: A study finds California solar-plus-battery storage emergency microgrids, or resilience hubs, could generate up to 8,000 MW of power and lower the state’s carbon emissions by 5 million tons per year. (news release)

CLIMATE:

• California advocates slam state lawmakers for slashing a proposed climate data hub’s funding as part of an effort to close a $46.8 billion budget deficit. (Los Angeles Times)
• A California university rejects students’ calls to stop accepting fossil fuel company funding, saying it needs to work with industry to find climate solutions. (E&E News)

UTILITIES: Xcel Energy files a $1.9 billion plan with Colorado regulators aimed at reducing wildfire hazard by updating equipment, increasing line inspections and refining planned outages. (Colorado Sun)

GEOTHERMAL: Colorado and Iceland companies partner to develop a proposed geothermal power facility in the central part of the state. (Think Geoenergy)

COMMENTARY:

• An advocate says Arizona regulators’ decision to exempt a proposed natural gas plant expansion from environmental review could diminish oversight for similar projects in the future. (Arizona Republic)
• A California editorial board says a campaign to replace San Diego Gas & Electric with a municipal utility may have fallen short of its goal, but it succeeded in elevating the issue into the public eye. (Times of San Diego)