CALIFORNIA: PG&E agrees to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with 2018’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in California’s history. (New York Times)
MICROGRIDS: California’s plan to deploy microgrids to improve resilience in fire-prone areas are on hold due to cost and deployment complexities. (Utility Dive)
COAL:
• An investigation finds that Wyoming coal interests funneled money and experts to influence Colorado utility regulators’ decision on closing parts of a Pueblo, Colorado plant. (Colorado Sun)
• The Powder River Basin Resource Council isn’t convinced that the federal government temporarily relaxing or suspending royalty payments would be worth it for coal companies. (Casper Star-Tribune)
PUBLIC LANDS:
• The BLM is moving ahead with oil and gas lease sales in Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado this week despite opposition. (Reuters)
• Montana environmentalists are critical of the BLM’s new oil and gas leasing Resource Management Plan for the state. (Great Falls Tribune)
UTILITIES:
• The Rocky Mountain Institute warns utilities will collect less revenue in the form of rates during this period of decreased economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Utility Dive)
• La Plata Electric Association is helping drive energy policy in Colorado, notably in its conflict with Tri-State Generation and Transmission over coal. (Durango Herald)
• Pacific Power is decreasing power bills for its Northern California residential customers by 5.1 percent, its second cut since February. (Daily Energy Insider)
OVERSIGHT: A hearing on proposed new regulations for oil and gas facilities in Larimer County, Colorado has been rescheduled to April 6. (Coloradoan)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Baird analyst says Tesla’s $8.6 billion in cash makes the company likely to be able to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, at least for another two quarters. (Clean Technica)
NUCLEAR: The licensing of a proposed nuclear waste storage facility in southeastern New Mexico could be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
COMMENTARY:
• A solar advocate says California cannot afford delays in implementing its legislation aimed at eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the electric sector by 2045. (Utility Dive)
• An energy efficiency expert says California needs a better plan to achieve its climate goals. (CalMatters)
• A clean tech consultant breaks down low-cost solar-plus-storage power purchase agreements in the U.S. by looking at the Eland PV-plus-storage project in California. (Energy Storage News)