California lawmakers look to streamline clean energy permitting

CLEAN ENERGY: California lawmakers work to develop legislation aimed at modernizing the grid and streamlining clean energy project permitting, but have not disclosed details. (CalMatters)

UTILITIES:

• Southern California Edison warns customers it may cut power to a Los Angeles-area neighborhood that recently lost natural gas service, saying accelerating land movement could damage utility lines. (Los Angeles Times)
• Montana regulators vote to order NorthWestern Energy to address allegations it violated state statutes by improperly selecting members to an advisory committee and holding closed meetings. (Daily Montanan)
• A New Mexico advocacy group calls on regulators to reject a utility’s proposed 23% rate increase, saying it is based on misleading or inaccurate information. (NM Political Report)

SOLAR:

• A study calls on California to add solar-plus-storage to 20,000 schools and other public facilities and create community climate-resilience sanctuaries during heat- and wildfire-related power outages. (PV Magazine)
• A developer completes construction on two solar installations in central California designed to provide power to low-income and disadvantaged communities. (Solar Power World)

WIND: A federal lawmaker from Idaho introduces legislation that would block authorization of the Lava Ridge wind project in the southern part of the state until its effects on a historical site can be studied. (Big Country News)

TRANSPORTATION: Oregon’s transportation department says it will have to cut more than 1,000 jobs if lawmakers don’t alleviate budget shortfalls and declining gasoline tax revenues during the next legislative session. (OPB)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Washington state launches a rebate program for low-income residents to lease or purchase electric vehicles. (KATU)

OIL & GAS: 

• Chevron says California’s regulatory regime pushed it to relocate its headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to Houston later this year. (New York Times)
• The U.S. EPA objects to an oil and gas well complex’s air quality permit, saying Colorado regulators failed to ensure the operator would monitor and limit pollution from the facility. (news release)

CLIMATE: An analysis finds the state of Washington would lose $3.8 billion over the next four years if residents vote to revoke its carbon cap-and-invest program in November. (E&E News, subscription)

EMISSIONS: A Washington landfill struggles to limit methane emissions after an advocates’ lawsuit shut down a refinery that converted the greenhouse gas into pipeline-grade fuel. (Crosscut)

COAL: Peabody Energy sees a 16.4% second quarter drop in coal sales over last year from its Powder River Basin mines, citing depressed natural gas prices. (Cowboy State Daily)

COMMENTARY:

• A utility-funded California program says smart panel technology can help homeowners convert to electric appliances without expensive upgrades. (CalNEXT, sponsored)
• A California advocate calls on lawmakers to change state laws to allow clean energy investors to take full advantage of federal incentives. (Sacramento Bee)