Momentum builds for beleaguered Alaska LNG export project

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FOSSIL FUELS

• Alaska Gasline Development Corp. asks state lawmakers to allocate $800 million toward a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal, and the Trump administration steps up pressure on Japan and South Korea to invest in the $44 billion project. (Anchorage Daily News, Reuters)

• A 1,000-gallon diesel spill near the Yukon River in Alaska raises concerns about Hilcorp’s proposed oil and gas drilling project in the region. (Northern Journal)

• Wyoming regulators cite a hydraulic fracturing sand operation for air quality violations after dust and carbon monoxide waft over a small town. (Cowboy State Daily)

CLIMATE

• Republican Montana lawmakers introduce bills aimed at gutting greenhouse gas emissions regulations after a court rules the state’s fossil fuel-friendly policies violate its constitution. (Inside Climate News)

GRID

• Hawaii officials say the Trump administration’s tariffs, federal regulatory uncertainty and Hawaiian Electric’s financial troubles hamper plans to produce all of its own power by 2045. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

• Bonneville Power Administration officials say the Trump administration’s firings have exacerbated the entity’s existing line worker shortage, harming its ability to respond to grid emergencies. (Latitude Media)

• Federal prosecutors charge a Washington man with sabotaging six substations the western part of the state in 2022, but found no link to neo-Nazi or other extremist organizations. (KUOW)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California nonprofit Bright Saver uses an innovative approach to deploy balcony solar panels without running afoul of local permitting laws. (PV Magazine)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management approves the proposed 270 MW Elisabeth solar-plus-storage project in southwestern Arizona. (news release)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on the proposed 300 MW Pinyon solar-plus-storage project and gen-tie transmission line in central Arizona. (news release)

• Affordable Solar breaks ground on the first community solar project on New Mexico state land. (New Mexico Political Report)

UTILITIES

• Pacific Gas & Electric says expected increased demand from data centers should help the utility reduce residential rates. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR

• Hawaii lawmakers advance legislation that would create a task force charged with studying proposals to rescind a nuclear energy ban and deploy small modular reactors in the state. (HawaiiNewsNow)

• EnergySolutions explores the feasibility of installing an advanced nuclear reactor at the Intermountain coal plant in central Utah. (Deseret News)

• Colorado advocates push back on a proposed spent nuclear reactor fuel depository, citing the industry’s environmentally destructive legacy in the region. (KUNC)

HYDROGEN

• Advocates push back against a proposed hydrogen production facility in New Mexico and pipeline across the Navajo Nation, saying it would perpetuate energy colonialism. (Arizona Republic)

COMMENTARY

• An Arizona advocate urges lawmakers to reject utility securitization legislation, saying it would allow Arizona Public Service to offload uneconomical coal plants and charge customers for the sale’s losses. (Arizona Capitol Times)