New Mexico county weathers coal plant shutdown better than anticipated

TRANSITION: A New Mexico county’s officials say proactive economic diversification and state energy transition funds have helped the community weather last year’s San Juan coal plant and mine closure better than expected. (Farmington Daily Times)

OIL & GAS: A San Francisco Bay Area petroleum refinery released a plume of black coke dust onto a nearby community for the third time since July, prompting a resident to call the events ​“a disturbing new normal.” (Mercury News)

HYDROGEN: Xcel Energy delays a plan to blend hydrogen into its natural gas supply at a Colorado subdivision after advocates and residents raised concerns. (CPR)

WIND: California legislation aimed at shortening the offshore wind permitting timeline by up to five years is signed into law. (Times-Standard)

UTILITIES: California regulators propose Pacific Gas & Electric shareholders pay a $45 million penalty for the utility’s role in sparking the 2021 Dixie wildfire. (Reuters)

SOLAR:

• California environmentalists and affordable housing advocates join forces with the clean energy and building industries to urge regulators to reject proposed changes to rooftop solar compensation for multi-metered buildings. (Orange County Register)
• A developer and electric cooperative complete construction on a 20 MW solar-plus-storage facility in southern Arizona. (Power Technology)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill aimed at expediting electric vehicle charger hookups to the distribution grid. (Utility Dive)
• An Idaho school district plans to use $3.95 million in federal funding to buy 10 electric buses and associated charging infrastructure. (Idaho Capital Sun)
• A Colorado school district plans to fully convert its bus fleet to electric vehicles by the 2024-25 academic year. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)
• Colorado researchers look to develop an electric vehicle bidirectional charging system network aimed at increasing grid resiliency. (news release)
• Federal infrastructure law funds jumpstart efforts to expand rural northern Arizona’s electric vehicle charging network. (Flagstaff Business News)

TRANSPORTATION: Washington state receives more than $1 billion in federal funding to upgrade highways and bridges and build out the electric vehicle charging network. (KUOW)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators find Energy Northwest failed to accurately assess radiation doses of workers who inhaled radioactive particles during a 2021 incident at the Columbia nuclear power plant in Washington state. (Tri-City Herald)

CLIMATE: The U.S. EPA offers grants to Northwest states and tribal nations for projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

GRID: An electrical equipment malfunction leaves nearly 24,000 utility customers without power in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Coronado Times)