Montana’s high court nixes coal mine expansion permits

COAL: Montana’s Supreme Court vacates state permits for the Rosebud coal mine’s expansion, saying regulators consistently ignored water quality laws. (Billings Gazette)

ALSO: Montana brings in $37 million more in coal revenues than expected after federal leasing complications push a mine onto state trust land. (Billings Gazette)

OIL & GAS: 

• Utah regulators say an oil loading facility looking to expand to handle larger volumes of Uinta Basin crude has been out of compliance with state air quality regulations since 2019. (Colorado Newsline)
• Washington, Oregon and California file a petition urging federal regulators to rescind their approval of a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in the Northwest. (KOIN)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposal to lease 4,600 acres in southeastern New Mexico for oil and gas drilling. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

UTILITIES: Rocky Mountain Power withdraws its wildfire hazard mitigation plan after Utah officials find it relies on outdated information and likely underestimates risks from its equipment. (Salt Lake Tribune, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The Biden administration proposes easing federal environmental reviews for upgrading or rebuilding transmission lines and solar and energy storage projects on previously disturbed land. (Utility Dive)
• An Arizona electric cooperative plans a 294 MW solar-plus-storage facility at its coal and natural gas power plant in the southern part of the state. (Arizona Daily Star)
• President Biden plans to tout federal clean energy investments during a visit to the CS Wind turbine factory in Colorado this week. (Colorado Sun)
• Public Service Company of New Mexico proposes acquiring 100 MW of solar and 310 MW of battery storage capacity to meet rising demand. (NM Political Report)

WIND:

• An Alaska Native-owned drilling company installs two wind turbines to power its warehouse near the Prudhoe Bay oil field and reduce reliance on diesel fuel. (Anchorage Daily News)
• A startup proposes installing short turbines at a utility-scale wind power facility in southern California, saying it would increase generating capacity and allow larger equipment to be shut down during high winds. (Bakersfield Californian)

GRID: Colorado regulators urge Xcel Energy to launch a virtual power plant pilot by next summer, even though the utility says the timeline is ​“aggressive” for such a complicated project. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE: A federal report finds climate change-exacerbated heat and drought are harming Arizonans’ health. (Arizona Daily Star)

MICROGRIDS: A remote Colorado community votes against moving forward with a solar microgrid feasibility study on worries that it would harm the town’s open space. (Telluride Daily Planet)

NUCLEAR: Oregon firm NuScale’s investors file a lawsuit accusing the company of misleading them in relation to a canceled small modular nuclear reactor project in Idaho. (OPB)

COMMENTARY: Motorists’ response to an Los Angeles freeway closure shows a southern California congestion fee would significantly reduce automobile traffic and increase public transit ridership, an energy analyst writes. (Gregor Letter)