Newsom waives environmental laws for post-wildfire rebuilding

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GRID

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom waives state environmental laws for utilities rebuilding after the deadly Los Angeles-area fires in January, sparking advocates’ concerns, and also urges them to underground power lines. (Los Angeles Times)

• The Trump administration plans to unfreeze at least some Biden-era funding for Colorado electrical cooperatives’ grid upgrades, but only after they remove ​“harmful DEIA and far-left climate features” from proposed plans. (Big Pivots)

• Northwest advocates and tribal nations raise environmental concerns about a proposed transmission line that would be constructed under the Columbia River. (Columbia Insight)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The U.S. Energy Department releases nearly $4.2 million for the Hopi Tribe to construct a solar array and microgrid to power remote water wells in Arizona. (Navajo-Hopi Observer)

• An Alaska Native village plans to use a federal grant to install nine solar arrays to reduce its reliance on diesel generators. (Alaska’s News Source)

• Developers bring California’s first solar-over-canal project online. (Fox 26)

STORAGE

• Some California residents push back on a proposed grid-scale battery energy storage project in the wake of the Moss Landing fire, even though experts say such facilities are necessary to meet state clean energy goals. (Santa Cruz Local)

EFFICIENCY

• Washington state awards a university $1.9 million for efficiency upgrades at its largest facilities. (news release)

CLIMATE

• California plans to spend about $100 million in cap-and-trade program revenues on a methane-emissions detecting satellite. (Mercury News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A Washington county proposes a law that would block state restrictions on natural gas service and appliances. (Chronicle)

• A Wyoming rule allowing decommissioned wind turbine blades to be buried in surface coal mines goes into effect. (Wyoming Public Radio)

NUCLEAR

• An Arizona county’s officials urge utilities to replace a retiring coal plant with a small modular nuclear reactor. (White Mountain Independent)

• Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute tribal members protest uranium ore hauling from an Arizona mine to a Utah mill, saying they don’t want the radioactive material in their communities. (Arizona Republic)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington state lawmakers advance legislation that would increase gasoline and other taxes to help fund transportation projects. (OPB)

• Oregon officials urge state lawmakers to increase a payroll tax that funds public transit to stem potential service cuts. (OPB)

• California regulators plan to redo their transportation fuels emissions trading program after a state law agency rejected it last month. (E&E News)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• As offshore wind opponents use sea life safety as a reason to fight projects, studies show turbine platforms often become homes for haddock, lobsters, and other creatures, Clare Fieseler reports.

• It’s been nearly a month since hydropower company Hydro‑Québec sent electricity into the New England grid over its main transmission line, raising questions about how the region would deal with a longer-lasting or more widespread stoppage of Canadian energy, Sarah Shemkus reports.

• The USDA is demanding grant rewrites favoring fossil fuels over renewables, leaving some rural recipients doubtful they’ll receive money they were promised, Floodlight and Barn Raiser report.