Energy council: Northwest utilities need 3,500 MW of renewables

GRID: An energy advisory council recommends Northwest utilities acquire at least 3,500 MW of renewable power in the next five years to offset growing demand and coal plant closures. (Utility Dive)

LITHIUM: A California lawmaker representing the poverty-stricken and polluted Salton Sea region becomes a leading advocate for lithium development in his district. (Politico)

STORAGE: Nevada regulators approve NV Energy’s plan to build a 220 MW battery system at the shuttered Reid Gardner coal plant. (RTO Insider, subscription)

ELECTRIFICATION: Washington state regulators consider requiring electric heat pumps for space and water heating in new residential buildings after implementing a similar rule for commercial structures. (Center Square)

UTILITIES:
• An Oregon utility develops a machine-learning weather forecasting system to help it avoid sparking wildfires with its equipment. (KGW8)
• San Diego Gas & Electric begins offering incentives to customers for reducing energy use during times of high power demand. (City News Service)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: A Washington state hearing examiner greenlights a plan to convert a shuttered northeast Washington paper mill into a 100 MW cryptocurrency mining operation. (Spokesman-Review)

OIL & GAS:
• A Permian Basin oil and gas operator agrees to pay $150,000 in fines, spend $500,000 to improve regional air quality and reduce flaring to settle a lawsuit from environmentalists. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• New Mexico environmentalists say federal agencies are undercounting orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells in the state, thereby hampering efforts to clean them up. (Source NM)
• The only company to bid in the Trump administration’s oil and gas auction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge last year relinquishes its lease.
(Anchorage Daily News, subscription)
• Colorado analysts predict investor demands and supply constraints, not federal policy, will limit oil production growth in the state this year. (Colorado Newsline)
• A national environmental group launches a $75,000 advertising campaign urging the Biden administration to reject ConocoPhillips’ Willow drilling project in the Arctic. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:
• Renewable energy developers plan to build a 42 MW solar-plus-storage installation on a U.S. Navy base in Hawaii. (news release)
• California solar advocates plan to protest state regulators’ proposal to slash net metering payments for rooftop solar at today’s public utilities commission meeting. (news release)

CLIMATE: Hawaii children sue the state for failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and protect them from climate change’s effects. (Grist)

COMMENTARY: A California county official calls on the state to invest in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in rural areas that have so far been left behind. (Sacramento Bee)