California launches $80 million electrification rebate program

ELECTRIFICATION: California launches an $80 million program aimed at electrifying low and moderate-income households with rebates for heat pumps, appliances and efficiency upgrades. (Sacramento Bee)

CLIMATE:

• A national green bank awards an Alaska Native economic development nonprofit $10 million for climate-related initiatives including heat pump installation and building out electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (KTOO)
• The Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho launches a federally funded climate-resiliency program that includes installing solar arrays, deploying electric vehicles, upgrading building efficiency and planting hundreds of thousands of trees. (ICT)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Washington state allocates $100 million for 575 new electric vehicle charging sites, but an expert says the private sector must build thousands more to meet future demand. (Cascade PBS)

OIL & GAS: 

• California lawmakers advance legislation aimed at managing high fuel prices by requiring refiners to maintain minimum reserves, but shelve a proposal to increase ethanol blends in gasoline. (CalMatters)
• Conservationists look to defend the federal Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas leasing rule raising royalty rates and reclamation bonds from an industry lawsuit seeking to overturn it. (news release)

SOLAR:

• Researchers successfully test a solar-powered water desalination system in New Mexico that follows the rhythm of the sun, eliminating the need for batteries. (news release)
• A developer plans to build a 1.6 MW solar installation on a logistics warehouse in southern California. (news release)

UTILITIES: The upcoming election for two seats on Montana’s utility regulatory commission comes as the state’s energy industry reckons with the federal push toward clean power and a court decision mandating climate be considered in energy permitting. (Montana Free Press)

NUCLEAR: Wyoming lawmakers advance legislation that would enable firms to establish temporary high-level radioactive waste storage facilities in the state. (WyoFile)

HYDROPOWER: An Oregon city brings an in-conduit hydropower installation online that is integrated into its drinking water system. (Hydro Review)

MINING: Arizona regulators advance a proposed copper mine in the southern part of the state by approving a tailings pipeline through state land. (Arizona Daily Star)

COMMENTARY:

• An Arizona solar industry official urges residents to vote in the state utility regulatory commissioner election, saying it is one of the most consequential races on the ballot. (Arizona Capitol Times)
• A Colorado energy journalist mulls ways Xcel Energy might replace generation and economic benefits lost after the Comanche coal plant closes in 2030. (Colorado Newsline)