PG&E assembles lineworker army to repair storm damage

GRID: Pacific Gas & Electric brings in 5,000 workers from across the nation to help restore power as a series of storms batters utility equipment and leaves hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity across California. (ABC30, Los Angeles Times, PowerOutage.us)

UTILITIES:
• Analysts expect New Mexico’s restructured utility regulatory board will reconsider a proposed PNM-Avangrid merger rejected by the previous commission in 2021. (Utility Dive)
• A series of winter storms saps heating fuel supplies in Nevada, prompting the governor to temporarily suspend regulations on propane truckers to expedite deliveries. (Carson Now)

SOLAR:
• The FBI joins Nevada law enforcement agencies in investigating an alleged terror attack on a 100 MW solar facility that provides power to Las Vegas casinos. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• A nonprofit establishes a rooftop solar installation training center in southern California. (news release)

OIL & GAS:
• Wyoming researchers find replanting old oil and gas well pads with native grasses and flowers leads to the growth of insect and pollinator populations and diversity. (WyoFile)
• Some California environmental justice advocates say Los Angeles’ plan to phase out oil and gas drilling over 20 years won’t deliver adequate short-term results. (Environmental Health News)
• A Colorado think tank finds the oil and gas sector has only a ​“modest” impact on the state’s overall economy. (Colorado Newsline)

NATURAL GAS:
• Analysts say cold weather, reduced pipeline capacity and diminishing hydropower generation contribute to highest-in-the-nation natural gas prices on the West Coast. (Los Angeles Times)
• A New Mexico city spends $380,000 on utility bill rebates to offset rising natural gas prices. (Deming Headlight)

WIND: Some Wyoming officials worry a slew of proposed wind projects in the southern part of the state will harm wildlife and industrialize agricultural land. (WyoFile)

GEOTHERMAL: A New Mexico lawmaker proposes offering up to $16 million in tax credits for residential, commercial or agricultural geothermal energy development (Deming Headlight)

CRITICAL MINERALS: Wyoming lawmakers introduce a bill that would authorize the state to permit rare earth mines. (Cowboy State Daily)

COAL: Montana advocates say a Canadian firm has co-opted state regulators into pushing for weaker water quality standards aimed at preventing cross-border contamination from the company’s coal mines. (Narwhal)

HYDROGEN: New Mexico lawmakers plan to introduce bills aimed at jump-starting hydrogen production even though similar legislation was shot down last year. (NM Political Report)

CLIMATE: A study finds eelgrass beds in San Diego Bay sequester 1.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to that emitted by more than 370,000 cars annually. (KPBS)