Feds approve contested Utah uranium mine

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OVERSIGHT

• The federal Bureau of Land Management reviews and approves the proposed Velvet-Wood uranium mine in southeastern Utah in 11 days under the Trump administration’s fast-tracked permitting policy, sparking concern over environmental impacts. (Salt Lake Tribune, news release)

NUCLEAR

• California startup Valar Atomics plans to complete and begin operating a test small modular nuclear reactor at a Utah energy research center by next summer. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• Oregon advocates urge lawmakers to reject legislation that would exempt Umatilla County from a state ban on new nuclear reactors, saying it would perpetuate environmental injustice. (Oregon News Service)

• The U.S. Energy Department says it has completed repairs on a uranium mill tailings disposal site in western Colorado that was in danger of failing. (Grand Junction Sentinel)

UTILITIES

• Southern California Edison agrees to pay $82.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that the utility’s equipment sparked the 2020 Bobcat Fire in the Los Angeles National Forest. (Associated Press, news release)

• An Oregon jury orders PacifiCorp to pay victims of the 2020 Labor Day wildfires $50 million, bringing the utility’s liability for the blazes to $385 million so far. (Oregonian)

• Montana Public Service Commission President Brad Molnar says NorthWestern Energy’s bid to use an obscure state law to raise rates without regulatory approval is a ​“very high-risk maneuver.” (Montana Free Press)

• Nevada lawmakers pass a bill that would require utilities to fully refund overcharged energy customers and extend rate case review timelines. (Nevada Current)

POLITICS

• Advocates criticize former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for pivoting away from his record as an environmental champion to support oil and gas drilling in his California gubernatorial campaign after receiving donations from the petroleum industry. (Los Angeles Times, KFIAM)

• Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff says Senate Republicans voted to block California’s electric-vehicle rules out of spite for the state’s environmental leadership, saying ​“their overarching goal was oil dependence.” (New York Times)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Los Angeles advocates call for stricter regulations on oil and gas facilities while the city works to bring its drilling phaseout rules into compliance with a new state law. (LAist)

HYDROPOWER

• Northwest advocates and lawmakers criticize the Trump administration for slashing funding for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program aimed at mitigating Columbia River hydropower dams’ impacts on endangered fish. (Columbian)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Washington state advocates say they will continue to protest Tesla even though CEO Elon Musk has vowed to step away from politics. (Cascade PBS)

SOLAR

• A southern California startup develops an autonomous robotic system to install solar panels on utility-scale arrays. (KABC)

COMMENTARY

• An Alaska analyst says congressional Republicans’ proposal to end federal clean energy tax credits would cost the state more than $450 million and increase power prices. (Alaska Energy Blog)

NEW FROM CANARY

• The U.S. Energy Department orders a Michigan coal plant to stay open past its May 31 retirement date and into at least late August, citing an ​“energy emergency,” Jeff St. John reports.

• After discovering gender disparities in EV adoption, Virginia nonprofit Generation180’s ​“I’ll Drive What She’s Driving” campaign works across the country to show women that EVs are a good choice, Elizabeth Ouzts reports.

• States and environmental groups sue the Trump administration, alleging it unlawfully froze funding for a nationwide EV charger buildout, Lisa Sorg reports for Inside Climate News.

• House Republicans tore apart clean energy incentives in their budget bill, only providing exceptions for nuclear power, Kathryn Krawczyk reports.