Judge axes Los Angeles drilling ban

OIL & GAS: A California judge strikes down Los Angeles’ oil and gas drilling ban, saying the state has jurisdiction over most of the industry’s operations. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:

• New Mexico local officials in the Permian Basin urge state regulators to allow industry to recycle oil and gas wastewater, saying it will help combat drought. (Reuters)
• Denver’s city council considers limiting new gasoline station construction in an effort to keep developable land available for affordable housing. (Colorado Sun)

POLLUTION: Researchers find air pollution in California disproportionately affects people of color and overburdened communities even though the state has reduced overall exposure to vehicle exhaust threefold over two decades. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES:

• Colorado regulators plan to investigate an apparent increase in power outages on Xcel Energy’s grid, saying they want to find the causes of and solutions to the issue. (CPR)
• Pacific Gas & Electric officials say increased battery energy storage capacity has avoided the need to ask customers to conserve during this year’s extreme heat events. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)

GRID: The U.S. Forest Service finds a proposed transmission line that would service the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico would have no significant impact on the federal lands it crosses. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

SOLAR:

• Colorado counties work on crafting balanced utility-scale solar siting rules for private lands to prepare for a flurry of proposed projects. (Big Pivots)
• A developer brings a 364 MW solar-plus-battery storage project online near Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Solar Quarter)

BATTERIES: A developer breaks ground on a 75 MW battery energy storage system in Cut Bank, Montana. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Portland, Oregon’s clean energy fund allocates $92 million for community-led programs and projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing racial and social justice. (OPB)
• A study finds a complex and uncertain permitting process hampers clean energy development on tribal lands. (news release)
• A study finds the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado contributed $1.3 billion to the state’s economy in 2023. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A study urges California policymakers to come up with new funding sources for public fast electric vehicle charging stations, saying electricity sales alone are not recouping initial investments. (E&E News, subscription) 
• A Washington state bank begins installing public electric vehicle chargers at several of its facilities. (news release)

HYDROPOWER: Puget Sound Energy signs on to purchase hydropower from a dam in central Washington. (Daily Energy Insider)

PUBLIC LANDS: A Nevada county joins Utah’s lawsuit seeking to seize control of 18.5 million acres of federal land as part of an effort to expedite energy and other development. (Elko Daily Free Press)