Regulators reject bid to shutter Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators reject environmentalists’ bid to immediately shut down one of two reactors for safety reasons at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in central California. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE:

• A climate-focused research group finds at least 20 California public university board members have direct ties to the fossil fuel industry, raising concerns among advocates. (Guardian)
• Arizona clean air advocates call on the U.S. EPA to implement stringent greenhouse gas emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks, saying doing otherwise would harm young people’s health. (Arizona Mirror)
• A Colorado church says installing solar panels and a geothermal heat pump system to reduce its carbon footprint has increased attendance, especially among younger people. (Westword)

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SOLAR:

• Agrivoltaics — co-locating solar power installations with farm crops or livestock grazing — gains favor in California as a way to reduce clean energy land-use conflicts and save water. (Civil Eats)
• Colorado offers farmers and ranchers grants to fund agrivoltaic projects on their land. (news release)
• California clean energy advocates urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill aimed at expediting solar, storage and transmission development along highways. (Canary Media)
• A southern Colorado rural electric cooperative installs a solar array aimed at reducing customers’ power costs and carbon emissions. (Crestone Eagle)

GRID: A utilities consortium proposes creating a Western states coalition aimed at developing an ​“actionable transmission plan to address regional and interregional needs.” (RTO Insider, subscription)

BATTERIES: A California startup looks to scale up production of grid-scale sodium-ion batteries. (CNBC)

HYDROPOWER: Analysts predict last winter’s heavy snows will double California’s hydropower output compared to 2022, but ongoing drought will reduce Northwest production by 19%. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: 

• Colorado regulators reject a rancher’s bid to increase an oil and gas operator’s fines related to a 2021 spill that poisoned his cattle, saying the nearly $200,000 penalty was adequate. (Colorado Sun)
• The Biden administration cancels a planned 2026 offshore oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, citing a lack of industry interest. (Alaska Beacon)

BIOFUELS:

• California regulators renew an idle biomass plant’s federal air quality permit, clearing the way for a firm to convert it to a synthetic gas production facility with carbon capture. (Bakersfield Californian)
• Shell begins selling biodiesel at 75 Los Angeles gas stations. (MarketWatch)

HYDROGEN: University of Wyoming researchers receive nearly $700,000 in state funding to advance methane-derived blue hydrogen production and transport infrastructure. (news release)

COMMENTARY:

• A Colorado advocate calls on state lawmakers to eliminate minimum parking requirements for new construction, saying it would reduce sprawl and automobile emissions. (Colorado Newsline)
• A California energy journalist urges state regulators to develop a coherent, consistent and equitable policy for compensating rooftop and community solar that will encourage more clean energy development. (Los Angeles Times)