Xcel settles coal ash case for $925,000

COAL: Xcel Energy subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado agrees to pay $925,000, shut down coal ash ponds and monitor groundwater for allegedly violating federal coal waste rules at its Comanche power plant. (CBS4)

ALSO: The Biden administration releases guidance for states and Navajo Nation communities to apply for $725 million in federal funds for abandoned coal mine cleanup. (E&E News)

UTILITIES:
• New Mexico homeowners sue Public Service Company of New Mexico, claiming the utility’s equipment sparked a fire that destroyed 200 homes and killed two people, even though investigators have not determined the cause. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Advocates and PNM battle over the timing of a rate decrease following this year’s closure of a coal power plant. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Pacific Gas & Electric begins its effort to bury 10,000 miles of power lines to reduce wildfire risk. (Mercury News)
• Xcel Energy officials say transitioning from fossil fuels to cleaner energy is responsible for customers’ increasing utility costs. (CPR)

GRID:
• U.S. coal and natural gas power plants that export power out of state accounted for about 700 premature deaths in 2019, a peer-reviewed study from California researchers finds. (news release)
• Natural gas power generation drops in the Western U.S. and is expected to fall further as renewable capacity grows. (S&P Global)

SOLAR:
• The California National Guard breaks ground on a 99-acre solar microgrid with battery storage that could power its base for weeks following a natural disaster. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Montana county considers installing photovoltaic systems on its public works building and sewer facilities after converting its jail to solar power last year. (Missoula Current)
• Northern Arizona cities partner with a nonprofit to launch a solar cooperative that uses group leverage to get competitive prices on residential systems. (Arizona Daily Sun)

HYDROGEN: Washington researchers develop a method to produce hydrogen at fueling stations that would eliminate the need to transport the high-pressure fuel. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: Colorado clean transportation advocates say the state is adequately building en-route electric vehicle charging networks, but now needs to focus on workplace and at-home installations. (Colorado Sun)

ELECTRIFICATION: A Southwest energy policy group finds electric heat pumps could reduce annual heating and cooling costs in Las Vegas by 30% and climate emissions by 60%. (Nevada Current)

CLIMATE:
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes sweeping climate-related investments that mirror those in federal Democrats’ Build Back Better package. (American Prospect)
• Advocates urge Oregon and Washington state to sue the oil and gas industry over damages related to climate change. (E&E News)

BIOFUELS: Hawaii regulators reject a power purchase agreement for a tree-burning power plant for a second time, citing the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions and dubious carbon sequestration plan. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

HYDROPOWER: A renewable energy company plans to build Alaska’s first saltwater tidal power generator in Cook Inlet. (KDLL)

COMMENTARY: A Montana columnist says the Colstrip coal power plant’s operator’s bankruptcy fits the pattern of extractive industries abandoning the state and leaving taxpayers with the cleanup bill. (Missoulian)