Biden scraps Trump-era Alaska drilling plan

OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration tosses out a Trump-era plan to expand oil and gas development and leasing in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, but will still allow drilling on about half of the 23 million-acre area. (Reuters)
• Wyoming regulators cancel a planned meeting with a watchdog group after a news story cited the group’s criticism of a pending oil and gas company’s waste discharge permit. (WyoFile)

COAL:
• Environmental groups blast the Biden administration’s defense of a Trump-era public lands coal leasing plan that a court found did not adequately consider impacts of coal mining in the Powder River Basin. (The Hill)
• New Mexico’s supreme court rejects a challenge to a state Energy Transition Act provision allowing utilities to fund coal power plant abandonment with low-interest bonds. (NM Political Report)

CLIMATE:
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget would spend $22.5 billion on fighting climate change and includes funds for electric vehicle incentives and charging infrastructure, high-speed rail, renewable energy and storage, and assisting displaced oil industry workers. (Associated Press)
• Hawaii lawmakers plan to propose several measures to fight climate change this legislative session, including a green fee on tourists to fund environmental projects. (Honolulu Civil Beat) 

STORAGE:
• PacifiCorp files for a preliminary permit to build a 1,460 GWh/​year pumped hydropower storage project in eastern Oregon. (OPB)
• Oregon researchers improve the efficiency of compressed air energy storage technology by chemically harnessing heat given off during the process to generate additional power. (news release)

SOLAR:
• Two state-approved utility-scale solar projects planned for Oahu, Hawaii, may be delayed or canceled, one due to cultural site impacts and the other because of supply chain constraints. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• A Colorado renewable energy company and a nonprofit raise $43,900 to pay for low-income families’ community solar program subscriptions. (Denver Post)

GEOTHERMAL:
• Burning Man organizers oppose a developer’s plan to build a 48 MW geothermal project near Gerlach, Nevada, which is near the site of the 80,000-person annual festival. (Reno Gazette Journal)
• A northern California community choice aggregation utility proposes developing several small, low-water-usage geothermal power plants across three counties. (North Bay Business Journal)

TRANSPORTATION: Public Service Company of New Mexico plans to launch its transportation electrification plan this spring that would include incentives for building electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Utility Dive)

HYDROPOWER: Federal lawmakers from Montana introduce a bill authorizing the U.S. Interior Department to install a hydroelectric power plant on an existing dam. (Billings Gazette)

NUCLEAR: Climate advocates adopt 1970s-era No Nuke activists’ methods to rally for the continued operation of California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. (Grist)

UTILITIES: Southern California Gas launches a pilot program using hydrogen-powered drones to monitor its distribution network. (Smart Energy International)