Interior Department rescinds Obama-era rule on coal royalties

COAL: The Interior Department rescinds an Obama-era rule that reformed how energy companies value coal extracted from federal and tribal lands. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS:
• In a win for the oil industry, the Interior Department is overhauling rules to protect the sage grouse, saying the new plan will conserve the birds’ habitat ​“while also ensuring conservation efforts do not impede local economic opportunities.” (Reuters)
• BP says it has hit one of the most productive natural gas wells that the San Juan Basin in New Mexico has seen in more than a decade. (Associated Press)

PIPELINES:
• Attorneys representing Nebraska landowners question company officials looking to build the Keystone XL pipeline during the opening day of public hearings. (Lincoln Journal Star)
• As Keystone XL hearings proceed, ​“the question of how the pipeline could affect the famed Ogallala Aquifer looms large.” (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The troubled electric car start-up Faraday Future says it will build vehicles at an existing factory 200 miles north of Los Angeles. (Associated Press)
• Tesla says it’s planning to raise $1.5 billion in a first-ever debt offering in order to fund production of its Model 3 electric car and its battery Gigafactory in Nevada. (Greentech Media)

RENEWABLES: The utility arm of Berkshire Hathaway has been pushing back against a federal law that requires utilities in states to purchase renewable energy from independent producers. (Bloomberg)

WIND:
• The developer of a $865 million wind project in New Mexico says it is expected to create 600 jobs, both temporary and full time. (Albuquerque Business First)
• GE is suing turbine-maker Vestas in a U.S. District Court for allegedly infringing on one of its patents, and the results could impact the U.S. wind industry. (Greentech Media)

SOLAR:
• The upcoming solar eclipse will affect hundreds of solar plants, with California expected to lose nearly half its solar capacity. (E&E News)
• Utah utility regulators will consider raising rates for rooftop solar customers, despite criticism from solar companies. (Associated Press)

HYDRO: A private company wants to turn an abandoned iron mine in the California desert into a $2 billion hydropower project, but some fear it would deplete local groundwater levels and harm wildlife. (Los Angeles Times)

NUCLEAR: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is seeking ways to get at least one nuclear reactor completed at the troubled Summer plant, including selling the state-owned electric utility Santee Cooper. (Post and Courier)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Ameren Illinois’ request to scale back energy efficiency targets under a sweeping energy law passed last year is rooted, in part, in the longstanding divide between the Chicago area and ​“downstate“ Illinois. (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE:
• Scrapping Obama-era climate rules would waste nearly $300 billion a year by 2030, according to a new study. (InsideClimate News)
• A draft of a federal climate change report concludes that the average temperature in the U.S. has risen drastically since 1980, contradicting claims by the Trump administration that man-made climate change is uncertain. (New York Times)
• Officials at a U.S. Department of Agriculture office told staffers to avoid the term ​“climate change” in their communications and use language like ​“weather extremes” instead, according to email records. (The Guardian)
• Experts say ​“Exxon wrote a very deceptive report” for investors on its climate risk calculations by using two different accounting methods. (Climate Liability News)

COMMENTARY:
• If California regulators accept a proposal by utilities to shift their peak time-of-use periods, it will set a worrisome standard and could hurt solar customers, says a Solar Energy Industries Association representative. (Utility Dive)
• With nearly 37 percent of its power provided by wind, Iowa is a red state with a blueprint for energy innovation, says the state’s Republican governor. (The Hill)