Montana bars climate analysis in energy permitting decisions

CLIMATE: Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a bill barring state regulators from considering climate impacts in permitting decisions for large projects such as coal mines and power plants. (Montana Free Press)

ALSO:
• A judge orders a Montana youths’ lawsuit challenging the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies to proceed to trial after the plaintiffs tried to get the case thrown out. (Associated Press)
• U.S. Rep. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, looks to rebrand the GOP as the ​“climate realist” party by making a conservative case for action on global warming. (Deseret News)

UTILITIES:
• A New Mexico advocacy group moves to disqualify two state regulators from presiding over a proposed PNM-Avangrid merger case, saying the commissioners are biased and engaged in illegal communications. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Nevada regulators open an investigatory docket to seek options for improving NV Energy’s planning process. (2News)
• Salt River Project in Arizona installs artificial intelligence-enabled cameras on transmission towers to detect and monitor wildfires. (Arizona Republic)

CLEAN ENERGY: Alaska utilities push back on a bill that would set a goal of 80% renewable power by 2040, saying it is too ambitious and comes from advocates’ playbook. (Alaska Beacon)

FOSSIL FUELS: Wyoming’s mining sector employment, which includes oil and gas and coal workers, grew by 9.1% last quarter, significantly outpacing the state’s other industries. (Casper Star-Tribune)

EFFICIENCY: Hawaii lawmakers pass bills that would phase out fluorescent light bulbs and establish efficiency standards for household appliances. (Kauai Now)

SOLAR:
• A western Colorado farmer looks to use federal funding to explore agrivoltaics, or integrating solar panels with crops. (Big Pivots)
• A western Arizona county postpones a decision on two solar facilities proposed for private land after residents raise concerns about impacts to property values and the environment. (The Miner)
• A California flour mill doubles its solar generating capacity, enabling it to meet about one-third of its total power demand from photovoltaics. (Baking Business)

TRANSMISSION: California advocates oppose a proposed high voltage transmission line from Imperial Valley utility-scale solar facilities to urban areas, saying on-site distributed generation would be more cost effective. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

LITHIUM: Indigenous and environmental advocates block the road to the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada to protest the facility’s impacts on a site sacred to area tribes. (ICT)

BATTERIES:
• Vistra Energy plans to complete its expansion of the world’s largest battery energy storage facility, located in California, this summer. (Energy Storage News)
• A firm that develops silicon-based materials for high-density batteries considers establishing a manufacturing facility in Butte, Montana. (Montana Standard)

NUCLEAR: California researchers attempt to duplicate, extend and scale a successful nuclear fusion reaction they produced in December. (CNN)

BIOFUELS: A Montana refinery begins shipping aviation fuel produced from agricultural waste and used cooking oil to commercial airlines. (Biofuels Digest)