** HollyFrontier Corporation announced that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend in the amount of $0.35 per share, payable on June 18, 2020 to holders of record of common stock on May 26, 2020.
** The Energy Department says it will take nominations to buy 1 million barrels of oil to store in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. While a far cry from the 23 million barrels of capacity it said in April it would lease to oil companies, DOE’s announcement Wednesday offered some succor to oil and gas drillers.
** Without a vaccine or a broad testing plan on the horizon, Facebook is telling employees not to come back for the rest of the year. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is saying something similar. And Twitter Inc. is going even further, saying that even after the virus threat recedes, employees should feel free to work from home permanently.
** An Indiana coal company reports $3.7 million in net losses during the first quarter compared to $7 million in revenues from the same time period last year.
** A COVID-19 relief bill proposed by U.S. House Democrats would provide cash payments to biofuel producers.
** FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee rejects a request from attorneys general in 10 states, including Minnesota and Illinois, to pause approval for new infrastructure projects like natural gas pipelines.
** A proposed 240-megawatt commercial solar farm near Casper, Wyoming wins initial approval; the project would triple the state’s installed solar capacity if built.
** A coalition of states, environmental groups, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe want to revive a moratorium on coal sales from federal lands.
** Dozens of oil tankers stranded off the coast of Southern California are still generating daily carbon emissions the equivalent of driving roughly 16,000 passenger cars.
** A legislative audit finds a Utah fund intended to ease impacts of industrial activity on rural communities is being spent on projects that could make them worse.
** California Gov. Gavin Newsom avoids answering questions about Elon Musk defying a county’s shelter-in-place order to resume operations at his Tesla plant. Meanwhile, Alameda County officials announced on Twitter that the plant will be able to start making vehicles as of this coming Monday as long as Tesla adheres to the worker safety precautions it agreed to.
** The City of Boulder, Colorado and Xcel Energy announce the start of discussions about new pathways to reach the city’s energy future goals, including alternatives to a municipally managed, community-owned electric utility.