Washington judge clears way for data center transmission line

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GRID

• A judge rejects Washington state property owners’ bid to block a utility’s effort to condemn private land for a proposed transmission line designed to serve a cluster of existing and proposed data centers. (Seattle Times)

• Regulators and municipalities question the math behind the California Independent System Operator’s data regarding benefits from its newly implemented regional day-ahead power market. (Utility Dive)

DATA CENTERS

• California lawmakers advance bills that would prevent data centers from raising utility costs for other customers and incentivize the facilities’ developers to invest in clean energy, despite tech industry opposition. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES

• Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra estimates his plan to offer residents up to two free hours of electricity per day could save households about $1,000 annually. (Canary Media)

• Montana regulators vote to order NorthWestern Energy to revise its proposed Integrated Resource Plan to address identified deficiencies, including a lack of information about how data centers fit into the utility’s forecasts. (Daily Montanan)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A report finds enrolling 10% of California’s EVs in vehicle-to-grid programs by 2036 could supply about 9 GW of power for 12 hours, or more than one-third of the state’s long-duration energy storage target for that year. (electrek)

• Southern California ports commit to spending $40 million to develop a regional zero-emissions truck charging network as part of an effort to freight-hauling emissions. (Truck News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• During a visit to the Permian Basin, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says New Mexico’s remaining oil reserves present opportunities for ​“a lot of room to grow” in terms of production. (Source NM)

STORAGE

• EDP Renewables brings online the 92-MW Sandrini battery energy storage system at an existing solar array in Kern County, California. (Solar Power World)

GEOTHERMAL

• A federal Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease sale for parcels totaling more than 9,500 acres in the Mount Hood National Forest nets $1.2 million. (news release, Energy Tech)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights a proposed exploratory geothermal drilling project in Iron County, Utah. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY

• NV Energy signs on to purchase power from EDF’s 400-MW Winston solar-plus-storage project planned for private land in Lyon County, Nevada. (Renewables Now)

• California lawmakers advance bills aimed at expediting plug-in solar adoption and increasing community solar’s value. (PV Magazine)

NUCLEAR

• Bluecore Energy partners with the Port of Long Beach in California to develop small nuclear reactors as part of an effort to achieve zero-emission operations at the port. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

• The U.S. Energy Department awards Pacific Gas & Electric $271 million to help fund the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant’s continued operations. (Innovation News Network)

• Utah advocates and atomic weapons test ​“downwinders” accuse the state’s $1.8 million pro-nuclear advertising campaign of using ​“false, deceptive, and misleading” representations, calling the ads ​“ridiculously offensive.” (Utah News Dispatch)