GRID: An Arizona utility details the cause of the country’s most high-profile grid battery fire and new safety requirements to prevent failures at current and future battery installations in a new report to state regulators. (Greentech Media)

ALSO:
• A California pilot project aims to measure the economic value of home-based batteries as a grid management tool. (Greentech Media)
• Experts debate whether a massive solar and storage project powering a Nevada data center can be replicated. (Greentech Media)

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CLIMATE: New University of Nevada, Las Vegas research projects a potential “worst case” climate scenario for the state if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

EFFICIENCY: A new report aims to give local governments policy insight into all-electric buildings as a way to improve efficiency and cut emissions. (Renewable Energy Magazine) 

OFFSHORE WIND: Three environmental lawyers explore critical state and local approvals required for offshore wind projects off the California coast. (Windpower Engineering Development)

OIL & GAS:
• Wyoming is set to revive its challenge to the Obama-era Waste Prevention Rule that sets methane emissions standards on public and tribal lands. (Wyoming Public Media)
• Colorado regulators will scale back a proposed mill levy increase on oil and gas companies after estimates show better-than-expected commodity prices and production. (Denver Post)

COAL: Navajo Transitional Energy Company announces it is rehiring 73 furloughed employees at its Montana coal mine. (Wyoming Public Media)

SOLAR: Nevada regulators approve construction permits for two solar projects totalling 550 MW. (S&P Global)

HYDROPOWER: Environmental groups are hoping to stop the expansion of a Colorado reservoir, despite the project’s recent federal approval. (Colorado Public Radio)

UTILITIES:
• As San Diego seeks to renew its franchise agreement with a local utility for the first time in 50 years, community advocates say the city needs to negotiate a better deal. (KPBS)
• Two new reports analyzing state moratoriums on utility shut offs finds that Nevada is one of 23 states lacking policies to protect ratepayers from shutoffs during the coronavirus pandemic. (Nevada Independent)

MICROGRIDS: California regulators are exploring new measures aiming to help commercialize microgrids. (Microgrid Knowledge)

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HYDROGEN: Microsoft announces hydrogen fuel cells have powered a row of data center servers for 48 consecutive hours. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• A journalist says corporations are often afforded the status of “personhood” except for criminal punishment, citing PG&E as a prime example. (Forbes)
• A New Mexico advocate says communities living in the shadow of the San Juan Generating Station need to be supported with renewable energy projects and an economy that has long-term sustainability. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• The University of California, Berkeley examines how utility ratepayers will end up paying for companies’ loss of profits because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Energy Institute at Haas)

Lisa is a Lenape and Nanticoke Native American freelance journalist, editor and writer currently based in the U.K. She has more than two decades’ experience working in corporate communications and print and digital media. She compiles the Western Energy News daily email digest. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University; her specializations include data journalism and visualization. She is a member of the Native American Journalists Association, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Union of Journalists (U.K.).