“Clean Energy Team” wins control of Arizona utility

UTILITIES

• A slate of candidates calling themselves the Clean Energy Team win control of Arizona utility Salt River Project’s board in a hotly contested election that drew national attention and outside spending. (New York Times)

• An Oregon appeals court sides with PacifiCorp and reverses a jury’s previous ruling against the utility in a class-action lawsuit related to its role in the 2020 Labor Day fires. (OPB)

• Survivors of last year’s Los Angeles-area Eaton fire call for an audit of Southern California Edison’s wildfire spending, saying the utility failed to do necessary hazard mitigation work. (Los Angeles Times)

STORAGE

• AES Corp. cancels its proposed 320 MW Seguro battery energy storage system north of San Diego following widespread local opposition over fire hazards. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California continues work to transform a historic logging port in the Humboldt Bay into a floating offshore wind turbine assembly and transportation hub. (Los Angeles Times)

• Origis Energy secures $118 million in tax equity financing for its 90 MW Chalan solar-plus-storage project under development in Kern County, California. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL

• Fervo Energy signs a three-year deal to obtain Turboden turbines for its Cape Station enhanced geothermal facility in Beaver County, Utah, and other projects. (Canary Media)

DATA CENTERS

• Nevada utility NV Energy says forecasted data center-driven demand growth could hamper its ability to reach state-mandated clean energy targets by 2030. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR

• University of California climate policy experts accuse Pacific Gas & Electric of overcharging ratepayers to fund continued operations at its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. (Los Angeles Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• California lawmakers advance legislation that would legalize conversion kits that allow vehicles to use 85% ethanol fuel blends, saying the fuel is less expensive and emits less carbon than gasoline or diesel. (CBS News)

GRID

• A research firm finds increasing grid-scale battery charging demand is increasing mid-day wholesale electricity prices on California’s grid. (PV Magazine)

• A California legislative committee advances a bill aimed at bolstering virtual power plants by crediting distributed batteries and other devices for exporting power to the grid. (Solar Power World)

CRITICAL MINERALS

• Environmental and Indigenous advocates appeal a federal court’s ruling upholding the federal Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada. (Nevada Current, news release)

COAL

• Federal data show coal plants in Washington state and Colorado were idle in January, defying Trump administration orders to keep operating beyond their scheduled December retirement dates, though the Colorado facility temporarily restarted this month. (E&E News, Big Pivots)

• Arizona utilities award coal plant communities $110,000 in grants to fund economic development projects. (news release)

CLIMATE

• California’s construction industry pushes back against proposed state legislation that would require local land-use decisions to align with emissions reduction plans in disadvantaged communities. (E&E News)

• Alaska tribal nations and advocacy groups join a lawsuit challenging the U.S. EPA’s move to repeal the 2009 endangerment finding and eliminate vehicle emissions standards, saying climate change poses an ​“existential threat” to the state’s communities and tribes. (E&E News)