Could hydrogen-blending test harm a California farm community?

UTILITIES: California advocates raise concerns about a utility’s proposal to blend hydrogen into its natural gas lines in a Latino farmworker town, saying it amounts to experimenting on a low-income community and will have minimal climate benefits. (Capital & Main)

ALSO:

• Idaho regulators follow Oregon and deny Rocky Mountain Power’s request to limit utilities’ wildfire damage payouts. (Idaho Capital Sun)
• An Oregon citizens’ board finds utilities cut off electricity or natural gas service for nonpayment to more residents in April than at any other time during the last six years. (OPB)

OIL & GAS: 

• A company proposes piping produced water pumped from Wyoming coalbed methane wells to the drought-depleted Colorado River, saying water is becoming more valuable than natural gas. (WyoFile)
• Alaska natural gas producers say they won’t step up drilling in the Cook Inlet to offset a looming fuel shortage unless the state slashes royalty rates. (Anchorage Daily News)
• U.S. congress members from Colorado and Wyoming introduce legislation that would block the Biden administration’s new oil and gas leasing rules, claiming they will devastate the industry. (news release)

COAL:

• Wyoming files a third lawsuit seeking to block new U.S. EPA rules limiting power plant emissions, saying they threaten the state’s coal industry. (Cowboy State Daily)
• Western Republican lawmakers attack Biden administration rules on power plant emissions and a proposal to end federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, claiming they amount to a ​“war on coal.” (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Wyoming transportation officials won’t pursue more federal electric vehicle charger funds, saying there aren’t enough EVs in the state to justify expanding the network. (Cowboy State Daily)

SOLAR: New Mexico researchers look into utility-scale solar development’s effects on wildlife and explore ways to mitigate its impacts. (High Country News)

GRID:

• An independent advisory group proposes a governing framework for the California grid operator’s planned regional day-ahead power market. (E&E News, subscription)
• NV Energy announces plans to join the California grid operator’s extended day-ahead power market. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. Energy Department awards seven Western local governments nearly $3 million to upgrade efficiency and install solar arrays on public buildings and low-income households. (news release)
• The Biden administration and a New Mexico agency team up to expedite utility-scale clean energy permitting in the state. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL: A western Colorado nonprofit looks to use federal funds to harness geothermal energy to heat and cool public buildings. (Post-Independent)

TRANSPORTATION: A Colorado rule requiring state and local agencies to show how proposed transportation projects would affect greenhouse gas emissions has helped shift funding from highways to transit and multimodal projects. (New York Times)

COMMENTARY: A Colorado energy journalist predicts falling demand will end Powder River Basin coal production long before the Biden administration’s proposed leasing freeze kicks in. (Big Pivots)