California county greenlights the state’s first carbon sequestration project

CARBON CAPTURE: A southern California county greenlights a firm’s proposal to store up to 48 million tons of captured carbon in an old oil and gas field, but advocates say the project is a ​“convoluted scheme” that incentivizes pollution. (CalMatters)

COAL:

• Montana coal country residents and local and tribal governments grapple with the industry’s decline and propose competing visions for their energy future. (Montana Free Press)
• New Mexico officials extinguish two underground coal seam fires that had smoldered in abandoned mines and emitted pollutants for at least 13 years. (KRQE)

GRID:

• The federal Bureau of Land Management releases its final review of a proposed high-voltage transmission project in Utah and Nevada that would link to California’s grid. (Public Power)
• A western Colorado electric cooperative says transmission constraints have kept it from fully utilizing its new wind power facility in the eastern part of the state. (Big Pivots)
• The U.S. Energy Department awards Avista and Idaho Power nearly $86 million for a high-voltage transmission line upgrade aimed at enhancing grid flexibility and wildfire resilience. (KHQ)
• An Arizona utility proposes a new substation and transmission line to serve planned Phoenix-area development. (news release)

WIND: A federal historic preservation agency urges the Bureau of Land Management to require the proposed Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho to avoid impacts to a World War II incarceration facility. (E&E News, subscription)

BATTERIES: A Colorado firm plans to use a $50 million federal grant to scale up production of sulfide electrolytes designed to increase batteries’ energy density and stability. (Big Pivots)

SOLAR:

• A Colorado firm secures $10 million in financing to expand its business model of renting multi-tenant commercial buildings’ rooftops or parking lots, installing solar arrays and selling the power to tenants and the grid. (Utility Dive)
• Alaska’s transportation department considers installing 10 MW solar arrays at state-run airports in Anchorage and Fairbanks. (Northern Journal)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. Labor Department awards Nevada $2 million for clean energy and lithium battery supply chain job training. (News 4)
• A New Mexico nonprofit urges the state to establish clean energy workforce training programs to help oil and gas workers transition to new careers. (Yale Climate Connections)

UTILITIES: Advocates criticize California regulators for approving two utilities’ double-digit rate hikes, saying it will inflame an affordability crisis and slow the energy transition. (E&E News, subscription)