Feds clear the way for huge Wyoming oil and gas project

FOSSIL FUELS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management says the proposed 5,000-well Converse County oil and gas project in Wyoming would not significantly impact groundwater, and says the Trump administration will work to lift a court’s hold on drilling. (Cowboy State Daily)

• Northeastern Colorado communities use new state financial assurance rules to petition regulators to force violation-plagued petroleum firm KPK to plug and abandon 45 idle oil and gas wells. (Colorado Sun)

• Montana elected officials laud the Trump administration’s approval of Signal Peak Energy’s proposed Bull Mountain coal mine expansion, saying it will ​“unleash” the state’s energy production. (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

• New Mexico’s congressional delegation urges Interior Secretary Doug Burgum not to rescind a Biden-era oil and gas drilling ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, saying it could harm one of the continent’s ​“most sacred landscapes.” (Source NM)

UTILITIES

• Montana environmental and consumer advocates urge regulators to reject NorthWestern Energy’s proposed rate hike, saying captive ratepayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for the utility’s ​“ill-advised” $300 million investment in a gas plant. (Montana Free Press)

NUCLEAR

• California advocates urge regulators to reject Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan for managing a legislature-mandated fee to fund the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant’s continued operations, saying it risks becoming a shareholder-enriching ​“slush fund” without adequate oversight. (CalMatters)

STORAGE

• Tri-State Generation and Transmission proposes a 50 MW battery energy storage system in a western Colorado county where the power wholesaler shut down a coal plant several years ago. (Daily Sentinel)

CLIMATE

• A California bill that would create a ​“Superfund” aimed at holding fossil fuel companies liable for climate change-related damages remains stalled in the state legislature following industry opposition. (CalMatters)

MINING

• A federal judge delays a federal land exchange that would open the door to a proposed copper mine at Oak Flat in Arizona, reviving advocates’ bid to block the project on environmental and religious grounds. (Inside Climate News)

• A Texas firm looks to extract antimony — a mineral used in solar panels — from federal land in Alaska and process it in its newly expanded Montana facility. (Alaska Beacon)

COMMENTARY

• A Utah advocate calls on federal and state officials to block the proposed Uinta Basin railway, saying the increased oil production it would enable would be a pollution and ​“public health nightmare.” (Salt Lake Tribune)

NEW FROM CANARY

• A new Texas law includes $1.8 billion to encourage construction of microgrids that combine gas generators, solar, and batteries into backup power sources, Jeff St. John reports.

• Ohio passes a law to require utilities and regulators to consider how new technology can shore up the state’s electric grid, Kathiann M. Kowalski reports.