Lack of transmission stifles Northwest decarbonization goals

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

GRID

• Washington and Oregon officials say a lack of transmission capacity and long Bonneville Power Administration grid interconnection times have stifled efforts to decarbonize the power sector and slowed clean energy development. (OPB/​ProPublica)

• The Bonneville Power Administration votes to join SPP’s day-ahead energy market, drawing criticism from advocates who say California’s regional market would lead to lower costs and a more reliable grid. (Oregonian)

• NV Energy begins construction on a substation in northern Nevada that will become a critical component in its Greenlink West transmission project designed to facilitate solar development. (Nevada Appeal)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Washington state and California lead a 15-state lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s ​“energy emergency” order that aims to expand oil and gas drilling by bypassing and relaxing environmental regulations. (Associated Press)

• Researchers find an oil and gas well blowout in northeastern Colorado last month exposed residents up to two miles from the facility to dangerous levels of carcinogens and other harmful chemicals. (Colorado Sun)

• Local Colorado governments step up oil and gas development oversight as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations on the industry. (Daily Camera)

• The U.S. Interior Department plans to greenlight oil and gas exploration on reinstated contested leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge later this year. (Sitka Sentinel)

• California advocates laud state regulators for issuing fewer oil and gas drilling permits, but worry Kern County may undermine the gains by issuing thousands of approvals under a blanket environmental review. (news release)

• A University of Southern California report predicts planned refinery closures will spur the state’s gas prices to climb as high as $8 per gallon by the end of next year. (KUSI)

OVERSIGHT

• The Trump administration asks a federal court to overturn a 2022 decision to extend Endangered Species Act protections to the lesser prairie chicken, which has habitat in the Permian Basin’s oil and gas fields. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

DATA CENTERS

• Wyoming air quality regulators seek public comment on their plan to issue Microsoft an emissions permit for 128 proposed diesel generators that would provide backup power for the firm’s data center near Cheyenne. (WyoFile)

UTILITIES

• Montana’s Public Service Commission urges Gov. Greg Gianforte to veto legislation that would limit utilities’ wildfire-related liability, saying it may foist the cost onto consumers. (KTVQ)

BIOFUELS

• Washington State University researchers develop a low-cost method of producing sugar for biofuels from corn stalks and other crop waste. (news release)