Northwest advocates sue BPA over regional power market decision

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

GRID

• Northwest advocates sue the Bonneville Power Administration over its decision to join SPP’s day-ahead power market rather than the California grid operator’s, saying it would weaken the grid and reduce clean energy access. (Oregonian)

• Laguna Beach, California’s city council relaxes regulations for underground utility assessment districts to encourage burying power lines to mitigate wildfire hazard. (Los Angeles Times)

• Arizona utility Salt River Project sets a new peak energy demand record of 8.3 megawatts after the temperature in Phoenix reaches 118 degrees Fahrenheit. (news release)

CRITICAL MATERIALS

• Ramaco Resources breaks ground on a new coal mine in Wyoming where it plans to also extract rare earth elements and other critical minerals. (Wyoming Public Radio, E&E News)

• Ioneer delays construction on its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine in Nevada, citing low commodity prices. (Nevada Current)

NUCLEAR

• Indigenous and environmental advocates call on firms and policymakers pushing for more nuclear power to consider the uranium industry’s harmful legacy and keep ​“justice at the center of its governance policies.” (Atmos)

• The Western Governors Association passes a resolution calling for more state say over proposed nuclear reactor fuel depository siting. (KSJD)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Colorado energy officials urge residents to purchase electric vehicles before federal and state incentives expire or are reduced. (CPR)

• Washington state launches a 202-vehicle hybrid-electric ferry, the continent’s largest vessel of its kind. (KIRO)

• Zion National Park officials in Utah say transitioning their diesel shuttle fleet to electric buses has led to improved air quality. (Reasons to be Cheerful)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Western officials say federal clean energy tax credit cuts in the ​“big, beautiful bill” threaten billions of dollars of investments and tens of thousands of potential jobs in their respective states. (AZ Mirror, WyoFile, Washington State Standard)

• Oregon’s solar industry calls on state lawmakers to streamline permitting to help them weather the effects of federal clean energy incentive cuts. (OPB)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Montana’s congressional delegation introduces legislation that would overturn a Biden-era ban on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. (KPVI)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management plans a September sale of 26 oil and gas leases on 8,355 acres in Montana and North Dakota. (NBC Montana)

BATTERIES

• Coval Infrastructure proposes a 1,150 MW battery energy storage system in the Antelope Valley in southern California. (Energy Storage News)

CLIMATE

• UCLA researchers find even moderate increases in global temperature can boost heat waves’ duration and intensity, straining the grid, crops, and public health. (Los Angeles Times)

UTILITIES

• Utah regulators stand by their April decision to approve a 4.7% Rocky Mountain Power rate hike instead of its proposed 18.1% increase, and call the utility’s initial request ​“offensive.” (Utah News Dispatch)

• Victims of the Palisade Fire accuse the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power of tampering with records relating to power lines near where the January blaze began. (KABC)

GEOTHERMAL

• Conservationists file a lawsuit seeking to block the federal Bureau of Land Management’s pending approval of the proposed Dixie Meadows geothermal project in Nevada, saying it would harm an endangered toad. (news release)