California lawmakers take on rising electricity costs

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UTILITIES

• California lawmakers pass a suite of bills aimed at curbing high and rising electricity costs, including relief from high summertime utility bills, public transmission financing, and exempting federal clean energy incentives from state income taxes. (Canary Media, Solar Power World)

• Utah advocates urge utility regulators to order PacifiCorp to open a procurement process for wind, solar, and storage resources soon to take advantage of soon-to-expire federal tax credits. (Utah News Dispatch)

• Nevada regulators approve NV Energy’s proposal to base customers’ bills on their maximum electricity-use during a day, drawing criticism from advocates who say it amounts to a surcharge on rooftop solar. (Nevada Independent)

• Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes calls on regulators to reject APS’ proposed 14% rate hike, saying the monopoly utility is profiting ​“on the backs of struggling families.” (Utility Dive)

FOSSIL FUELS

• New Mexico advocates work to track and highlight the perils of abandoned oil and gas wells and push federal and state regulators to hold responsible firms accountable for the billion-dollar cleanup. (Capital & Main)

• New Mexico brings in $117 million from a state land oil and gas lease auction, the second-highest amount ever. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

• Wyoming’s coal industry anticipates a California Supreme Court ruling on an embattled proposed shipping terminal in Oakland, California, that could expand the fuel’s export markets. (Cowboy State Daily)

• National City, California’s planning commission votes to reject a proposed fuel depot after residents raise concerns over increased oil-hauling train and truck traffic. (Voice of San Diego)

• A federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale in Montana and North Dakota brings in $38 million. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A federal appeals court upholds for the second time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a proposed Broadview solar-plus-storage array in Montana. (E&E News)

• California lawmakers allocate almost $226 million in the current budget bill to support offshore wind development. (offshoreWIND.biz)

GRID

• A California analyst says state lawmakers’ failure to continue funding one of the world’s largest virtual power plants threatens the program and grid reliability. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• California electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian breaks ground on a $5 billion factory in Georgia even though federal EV tax credits are set to expire at the end of this month. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR

• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox looks to lure nuclear energy-related firms to the state, saying it will bring jobs to and heal political divisions in rural areas. (Utah News Dispatch)

• A Colorado city’s proposal to replace the retiring Comanche coal plant with a small modular nuclear reactor runs up against the technology’s cost and long development timeline. (Colorado Sun)

CARBON CAPTURE

• California lawmakers pass a bill that would clear the way for lifting a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines once the state fire marshal adopts rules for them. (E&E News)

POLLUTION

• Colorado regulators attribute this year’s decrease in days violating the U.S. EPA’s ozone standards on the state’s highly populated Front Range to favorable winds and updrafts. (Colorado Sun)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Trump admin tries to sink Maryland’s first offshore wind project — Clare Fieseler

• Majority of Americans want a big power grid and more cheap, clean energy — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• The solar industry threw a party in Vegas and it actually wasn’t sad — Julian Spector

• As data centers go up, North Carolina weighs how to handle energy demand — Elizabeth Ouzts