OIL & GAS: Los Angeles’ city council votes to ban all new oil and gas drilling immediately and phase out existing extraction within 20 years. (Los Angeles Times)
ALSO:
• State regulators across the U.S. identify and report 120,000 orphaned oil and gas wells — a 50% increase from a year ago — after federal funds become available to plug and reclaim them. (Washington Post)
• California lawmakers convene a special session to consider a proposed windfall tax on excessive oil company profits aimed at addressing high gasoline prices. (Los Angeles Times)
• An influx of oil and gas workers sparks a residential real estate boom in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado environmentalists urge regulators to phase out sales of gasoline-powered lawn tools and encourage the switch to electric implements to reduce ozone pollution. (Colorado Sun)
UTILITIES:
• California regulators order Southern California Edison to credit ratepayers $76 million for mismanaging its energy efficiency lighting program for two years. (Utility Dive)
• A New Mexico committee nominates nine candidates for five seats on the first governor-appointed utility regulatory board, but exclude the only sitting commissioner who applied. (Source NM)
• Public Service Company of New Mexico looks to wholesale power markets to replace generation from the shuttered San Juan coal plant after planned solar projects are delayed. (Albuquerque Journal)
GRID:
• A Utah electricity wholesaler urges federal regulators to reject PacifiCorp’s request for an expedited process to replace retired power generators, saying it gives the company an unfair competitive advantage. (Utility Dive)
• Heavy winds batter utility equipment in eastern Colorado, leaving more than 4,000 households without power. (CPR)
SOLAR: A federal probe finds companies avoided tariffs on solar equipment manufactured in China using other nations as pass-throughs in the production process, validating a small California manufacturer’s allegations. (Washington Post)
CARBON CAPTURE:
• Developers of a proposed direct air carbon capture facility in Wyoming tout the project as a job creator, but some residents are concerned about potential environmental impacts. (Inside Climate News)
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon reiterates the state’s goal of becoming carbon-negative by using carbon capture — even as it continues producing and burning fossil fuels. (Wyoming Public Radio)
BIOFUELS: Oregon environmentalists urge regulators to revoke authorizations for a $2 billion renewable diesel refinery proposed near the Columbia River. (Oregonian)
HYDROGEN: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico apply for up to $1.25 billion in federal funds to establish eight hydrogen projects, including a production facility in northwestern New Mexico. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
CRITICAL MINERALS: A Washington state researcher receives federal funds to develop methods of using carbon dioxide to extract rare earth elements from aluminum production waste. (news release)
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