Colorado regulators boot oil and gas company out of the state

OIL & GAS: Colorado regulators waive an oil and gas company’s $1.7 million fine for dozens of violations while revoking its right to operate in the state and ordering it to clean up its facilities. (Colorado Sun)

ALSO:

• Advocates criticize a New Mexico gas processing plant for seeking federal carbon capture incentives, saying the facility has a poor safety record and is not appreciably reducing emissions. (DeSmog)
• The Biden administration allocates about $346 million to Western states to clean up and plug abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells. (news release)
• Federal officials begin the final phase of decommissioning a natural gas pipeline in a national preserve in New Mexico. (news release)

STORAGE: Tucson Electric Power plans a second 200 MW battery energy storage system in the southeastern part of the city to match another one under construction. (Arizona Daily Star)

GRID:

• Advocates accuse the SunZia transmission project’s developer of failing to control erosion and damaging the environment on its southern Arizona construction sites. (Tucson Sentinel)
• Oregon researchers complete a 20-year effort to map the Earth’s electrical properties as part of an effort to protect the power grid from solar storms and electromagnetic impulses. (KATU)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California officials call on the U.S. EPA to approve the state’s rule aimed at replacing diesel big rigs and other heavy trucks with electric or hydrogen vehicles. (CalMatters)

SOLAR: A California appeals court blocks a Los Angeles-area city from forcing a mobile home park to remove solar panels due to neighbors’ complaints. (Signal)

MINING:

• The U.S. EPA urges Arizona regulators to tighten air quality regulations on a battery metals mine under development in the southern part of the state. (Arizona Republic)
• A mining firm becomes the second in Wyoming to restart long-idled uranium extraction operations to take advantage of rising commodity prices. (Cowboy State Daily)

MICROGRIDS: The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians hires a firm to develop a 1.8 MW solar-plus-storage microgrid to power its tribal facilities in southern California. (Valley Roadrunner)

GEOTHERMAL: A Nevada city greenlights a proposed pipeline upgrade that would extend geothermal heating to a recreation center under development. (Elko Daily Free Press)

COMMENTARY:

• A California editorial board warns the proliferation of energy-intensive AI data centers could lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions and strain the grid if tech firms don’t make operations more sustainable. (Los Angeles Times)
• An Arizona union member says Republicans’ plans to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy incentives would ​“pull the rug out from American workers. (AZ Mirror)