Defunct New Mexico coal plant carbon capture scheme reborn

CARBON CAPTURE: A Navajo Nation-owned energy company proposes installing carbon capture equipment on the Four Corners coal plant in New Mexico even though the facility’s majority owners plan to close it by 2031. (Albuquerque Journal)

TRANSITION:

• A small western Colorado town turns to medical tourism to help fill the economic hole left by the decline of the fossil fuel industries. (Big Pivots)
• A new study explores how federal policies can help New Mexico oil and gas-reliant communities transition away from fossil fuels. (news release)

OIL & GAS: 

• California regulators begin implementing the state’s new gasoline price gouging and transparency law. (CalMatters)
• New Mexico’s oil and gas industry opposes the Biden administration’s proposed drilling restrictions, claiming they would harm the state’s economy. (NPR)
• A California county plans to spend $3.72 million to repair a leak-prone, 140-year-old oil-water separator system. (Noozhawk)

TRANSPORTATION: Colorado’s transportation department considers reviving passenger rail service between Denver and northwestern Colorado. (Trains)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Public Service Company of New Mexico asks state regulators to increase the number of participants in an overnight electric vehicle-charging pilot program aimed at reducing grid strain. (NM Political Report)
• Tesla discloses that federal prosecutors are investigating the company and its self-driving systems, vehicle range and personnel matters. (CNBC)
• A private company installs a rural Wyoming community’s first electric vehicle fast-charging station. (Wyoming Public Radio)

HYDROGEN: California regulators approve $8.5 million in grants for aviation and marine hydrogen fueling projects. (S&P Global)

GRID: Federal regulators approve the SunZia transmission project’s open access tariff governing rates on the under-construction New Mexico-to-Arizona line. (RTO Insider, subscription)

SOLAR:

• Advocates say changes to rooftop solar compensation rates in Arizona and California imperil the industry. (E&E News)
• Fresno, California, breaks ground on three solar-plus-storage installations with a combined 27 MW capacity at water treatment plants. (PV Magazine)

CLIMATE:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes his state’s climate policies overseas as he positions himself for a future presidential run. (New York Times)
• Washington considers linking its new carbon market with California’s, which would lower emission allowance prices. (E&E News)

BIOFUELS: A Washington county launches a pilot program using sewage heat recovery to warm buildings. (KIRO)

POLLUTION: Some Denver-area nonprofits choose not to participate in or struggle implementing air quality monitoring programs due to lack of support or an unwillingness to remain on a ​“treadmill of data collection.” (Denver Post)

UTILITIES: Wyoming residents pack public hearings to urge regulators to reject Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed 21.6% rate increase, claiming it would force businesses to close and push households to seek public assistance. (WyoFile)