California opens the door to a regional grid, day-ahead market

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

GRID

• Advocates say California’s newly signed ​“Pathways Initiative” law authorizing the state’s grid operator to help create an integrated Western day-ahead power market will help move clean energy across the region and save participants up to $1.2 billion annually. (Canary Media)

OVERSIGHT

• Records show Tesla last year successfully pressured Nevada regulators to drop proposed rules that would have affected the firm’s battery production operations at its Gigafactory east of Reno. (Nevada Independent)

FOSSIL FUELS

• NorthWestern Energy proposes a novel accounting scheme to pay the projected $18 million annual operating costs for the Colstrip coal plant in Montana after it takes over Avista’s share of the facility. (Montana Free Press)

• Aerial data show that coal plants in Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico are among the nation’s ten largest emitters of greenhouse gases. (Yale Climate Connections)

• New Mexico advocates and regulators credit state greenhouse gas rules for reducing the methane emissions intensity of Permian Basin oil and gas facilities to less than half of that in neighboring Texas. (NM Political Report)

• An investigation finds New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham may have pressured regulators to reconsider a rule passed in May banning most reuse of oil and gas wastewater. (Capital & Main/​Source NM)

• Wyoming advocates and industry differ over whether reduced federal oil and gas royalty rates will lead to a decrease in revenue for the state, or spur more drilling. (WyoFile)

UTILITIES

• A Colorado court begins hearing arguments in a lawsuit alleging Xcel Energy’s equipment sparked the destructive 2021 Marshall Fire near Boulder. (Boulder Reporting Lab, Colorado Sun)

• The Sierra Club’s annual Dirty Truth Report gives Arizona’s largest three utilities low ratings for their continuing reliance on fossil fuel generation, but commends Public Service Company of New Mexico for replacing a retired coal plant with solar and battery storage. (news release)

BIOFUELS

• Colorado firm South Platte Renew says its system converting wastewater into methane fuel that is injected into Xcel Energy’s natural gas distribution network is now profitable. (Denver 7)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Amazon agrees to purchase electricity from Avangrid’s 57 MW solar project under development in Oregon to power its data centers. (Oregonian)

• A southwest Colorado college program works to install solar arrays at off-grid Navajo Nation households. (Durango Herald)

• California developer KDC Solar Madera files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but plans to continue operating. (What Now San Diego)

LITHIUM

• Falling lithium prices challenge proposed mining projects in Nevada, but state officials still hope for a boom. (Nevada Current)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Colorado advocates worry the state’s plan to slash its rebates on e-bike purchases by half next year will slow the technology’s adoption. (KDVR)

NUCLEAR

• Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little establishes an advanced nuclear energy task force aimed at recommending policies that support the technology, citing the need for ​“scalable, safe nuclear energy” to meet growing power demands. (Idaho Capital Sun)

• California firm Oklo breaks ground on its Aurora sodium-cooled fast nuclear reactor at the Idaho National Laboratories. (Idaho Business Review)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Revolution Wind’s stop-work order has been lifted. What happens next? — Clare Fieseler

• Glassmaking needs lots of heat. Can electric furnaces provide it? — Maria Gallucci

• States get a blueprint to speed up heat-pump adoption — Alison F. Takemura

• Plug-in solar bills are in the works in New Hampshire and Vermont — Sarah Shemkus