California town sues SoCal Edison over alleged role in fatal fire

UTILITIES: A California town sues Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked last year’s Fairview Fire that killed two residents and damaged city property. (Press-Enterprise)

ALSO:
• Alaska utilities consider importing liquefied natural gas to offset predicted future shortages of the fuel from the Cook Inlet area. (Anchorage Daily News)
• California utility officials tell regulators a lack of natural gas storage on the West Coast has contributed to high fuel prices. (CalMatters)

OIL & GAS:
• Navajo Nation residents accuse an oil and gas company of illegally irrigating grass with wastewater, sparking a debate about how to recycle contaminated ​“produced water” that accompanies crude pumped from wells. (Capital & Main)
• The U.S. Energy Department offers $18 million for research and development on managing produced wastewater from oil and gas facilities. (news release)
• New Mexico lawmakers advance a bill that would increase oil and gas royalty rates on future leases on state lands. (NM Political Report)
• A leak shut down a gasoline and diesel pipeline that supplies the Las Vegas area, prompting Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo to declare a state of emergency until repairs were completed. (CBS News)

BATTERIES: An Oregon startup works to develop long-duration, grid-scale iron-flow batteries for backing up wind and solar power. (OPB)

LITHIUM: Environmental advocates say proposed lithium mines along the Oregon-Nevada border threaten the imperiled greater sage grouse and other wildlife. (Counterpunch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An automotive industry group finds California’s electric vehicle adoption rate is five years ahead of most other states because of incentives and the high cost of gasoline. (Utility Dive)

GRID: New Mexico utilities don’t expect power shortages this summer despite construction delays on solar projects to replace the retired San Juan coal power plant. (NM Political Report)

ELECTRIFICATION:
• Some California residents push back on a Bay Area proposal to require electric space and water heating in new construction and when replacing old appliances, saying it would be too costly and unreliable. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A poll finds 39% of Nevada voters think the state is doing too little about climate change, but 54% oppose banning natural gas stoves. (Nevada Independent)

SOLAR:
• Hawaii solar installers say high power prices spurred a jump in residential solar permit applications on the Big Island last year. (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)
• A conservation group urges solar developers and land managers in Wyoming to site installations on areas where they would have the least impact on land and wildlife. (WyoFile)

CLIMATE: Utah advocates propose a ballot initiative that would levy a tax on carbon emissions, with revenues going to local air quality programs and rural economic development. (Daily Herald)

COAL: A Colorado court rejects a landowner’s bid to force a coal company to conduct further reclamation on a closed mine beneath his land. (Daily Sentinel)