SOLAR: The Biden administration approves a 500 MW solar facility backed up by 200 MW of battery storage that faced opposition over its potential impacts to rare wildlife and plants. (Desert Sun)

ALSO:
• Nearly 2,000 people and businesses enroll in a Nevada program expanding solar access to low-income and disadvantaged residents. (Nevada Current)
• Chevron wins a bid to build a 20 MW solar facility on state land in oil-rich southeastern New Mexico. (KRQE)
• A large renewable energy developer plans to add 30 MW of capacity to its 140 MW solar facilities near Roswell, New Mexico. (Roswell Daily Record) 
• A solar industry survey finds most Californians currently considering installing rooftop solar would not do so under proposed net metering policy changes. (PV Magazine)

HYDROPOWER: Washington state’s Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, on behalf of salmon, sues Seattle City Light over construction and operation of fish-harming Skagit River hydropower dams. (Inside Climate News)

WIND:
• NextEra Energy and Salt River Project announce plans to develop Arizona’s largest wind facility on private land near Flagstaff. (Arizona Republic)  
• Oregon researchers look for ways to avoid the turbulence that wind turbines create, which harms their efficiency. (news release)

COAL: Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis blocks one of President Biden’s EPA picks over the administration’s handling of a haze rule affecting one of her state’s coal power plants. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS: A Montana federal judge orders NorthWestern Energy to halt construction of a pipeline under the Yellowstone River that would serve a proposed 175 MW natural gas power plant. (Billings Gazette) 

CLIMATE:
• Washington state lawmakers consider climate-related bills incentivizing electric vehicle purchases, converting state ferries to electric power and subsidizing a proposed solar manufacturing facility. (InvestigateWest)
• Hawaii lawmakers propose a $40-per-nonresident visitor fee to fund environmental restoration, conservation, and climate resilience and adaptation. (E&E News, subscription)  
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture awards Nevada researchers $1.5 million to help Indigenous farmers adapt to climate change. (news release)

POLITICS: Colorado lawmakers consider bills helping communities set up microgrids, studying the feasibility of small nuclear reactors and encouraging geothermal power development. (Colorado Public Radio) 

UTILITIES: Nevada utility NV Energy seeks a rate hike to recover transmission line construction costs. (Carson Now) 

PUBLIC LANDS: Nevada lawmakers urge the Biden administration to establish a national monument in an area sacred to Yuman-speaking Indigenous peoples and attractive to renewable energy developers. (E&E News, subscription)

TRANSPORTATION: San Francisco officials propose streamlining permitting for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (San Francisco Examiner)

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.