UTILITIES: An Arizona state lawmaker hopes to overturn a policy prohibiting elected utility regulators from taking campaign contributions from regulated utilities. (AZ Mirror)

ALSO:
• Southern California Edison urges state regulators to enact stronger policies that encourage clean energy deployment, building electrification and decarbonizing transportation to avoid falling short of emissions goals. (Canary Media)
• California’s three largest investor-owned utilities oppose a proposed Los Angeles County program expediting microgrid deployment, saying it is speculative and could result in cost shifting. (Microgrid Knowledge)

STORAGE: Yakama Nation leaders say a 1,200 MW pumped hydro storage facility proposed for southern Washington threatens tribal sacred sites. (Yakima Herald) 

GRID:
• A California researcher explores reducing grid strain with precooling, in which homeowners crank up air conditioners at midday when solar energy is most abundant. (Undark)
• A University of Utah study finds deploying renewable energy can lead individuals to consume more power, leading to increased emissions if fossil fuels are still part of their energy mix. (KUER)

OIL & GAS:
• California’s justice department launches an investigation into potential causes of the Southern California oil spill and what could have been done to prevent or mitigate the disaster. (Washington Post)
• The Western States Petroleum Association sues California over recent denials of drilling and hydraulic fracturing permits in Kern County. (Bakersfield Californian)

SOLAR: Developers of a proposed northern Arizona 480 MW solar facility say it will be among the largest in the nation and create 550 construction jobs. (Flagstaff Business News)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Department of Energy awards $20 million to an Arizona project that would produce green hydrogen using nuclear power. (Renewable Energy World)

NUCLEAR: Ute Mountain Ute tribal members and other protesters march against the White Mesa Mill — the nation’s only operating uranium processing facility — in southeastern Utah. (Cortez Journal)

CLIMATE:
• A fire north of Santa Barbara burns through more than 2,000 acres of drought-desiccated brush, prompting evacuations and forcing the closure of Highway 101. (Los Angeles Times)
• Colorado farmers say this year’s first frost is coming later than ever as parts of the state experience the hottest September on record. (Colorado Public Radio)

HYDROPOWER: Efforts to prop up Lake Powell’s hydropower capacity by drawing from upstream storage harmed recreation and the economy at Colorado’s Blue Mesa Reservoir this summer, water managers and marina operators say. (Aspen Journalism)

TRANSPORTATION: A California company begins installing solar-plus-storage electric vehicle charging stations at San Francisco-area Taco Bell restaurants. (news release)

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.