Wyoming revives Washington state coal export dreams

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

FOSSIL FUELS

• Wyoming considers purchasing land in Washington state to develop an export terminal for shipping Powder River Basin coal to Asia after earlier proposals failed to acquire permits. (Cowboy State Daily)

• A Wyoming county calls on the asset management company that owns a local coal mine to come clean about rumored layoffs at the facility. (WyoFile)

• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signs a law creating a state-backed pool system to help marginal oil and gas operators pay federal reclamation bonds. (Cowboy State Daily)

UTILITIES

• Oregon lawmakers introduce legislation that would ensure utilities do not hike rates to fund corporate lobbying or advertising. (OPB)

• A California city asks Pacific Gas & Electric to fund a municipal energy development team that would assist the utility’s infrastructure buildout. (San Jose Spotlight)

• Arizona Public Service says it is working to mitigate fire hazard by expanding its remote weather station and camera network and its public safety power shutoff program. (Arizona Daily Sun)

• Unusually high winds topple utility lines in southern Colorado, leaving thousands of customers without power. (KRDO)

CLEAN ENERGY

• New Mexico advocates call on regulators to approve a proposed 100 MW solar-plus-storage project near the site of the retired San Juan coal plant, saying the region needs alternatives to fossil fuels. (New Mexico Political Report)

• A Wyoming organization seeks alternative funding for an effort to bring rooftop solar to 40 Eastern Shoshone Tribe homes after the Trump administration freezes about $2 million in federal grants. (Wyoming Public Radio)

• Montana lawmakers advance legislation that would establish a community solar program. (Montana Free Press)

• A Washington state energy siting agency finds itself in the crosshairs of a burgeoning movement against wind and solar development. (Cascade PBS)

• A rural Arizona hotel pauses a rooftop solar project after the Trump administration freezes the business’s federal clean energy grant. (KAWC)

HYDROPOWER

• A Wyoming utility considers retrofitting an existing dam to produce hydropower. (Jackson Hole News & Guide)

EFFICIENCY

• A Colorado university receives a $220,000 grant to retrofit a building with efficient windows that are expected to cut energy use by about 15%. (news release)

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing a case that could decide the fate of proposed interim spent nuclear reactor fuel depositories in New Mexico and Texas. (Associated Press)

• A national forest in New Mexico says it plans to comply with the Trump administration’s energy-related executive orders by prioritizing proposed uranium mine reviews. (Source NM)

COMMENTARY

• A Colorado journalist urges lawmakers to reject legislation that would extend incentives to data centers and focus on tackling the facilities’ energy use. (Big Pivots)