CLEAN ENERGY: The Biden administration plans to lower access costs for wind and solar development on federal lands in response to industry claims that leasing rates and fees are too high. (Reuters)

ALSO: The federal Bureau of Land Management will host public meetings on seven proposed utility-scale, solar-plus-storage projects that would cover a total of about 60,000 acres of public land in Nevada. (news release)

COAL:
• Residents of Colstrip, Montana, sue the owners of a nearby coal plant and mine, alleging coal dust damaged their health and property. (Billings Gazette)
• Regulators began hearing arguments yesterday regarding the proposed transfer of Public Service Company of New Mexico’s share of Four Corners Power Plant to a Navajo Nation-backed company. (Associated Press)
• Colorado Springs Utilities is transitioning 80 workers at a closing Colorado coal power plant into new careers within the company. (Colorado Sun)  

OIL & GAS: Wyoming oil and gas industry groups ask a federal judge to expedite their lawsuit against the Biden administration’s leasing pause even though auctions are set to resume this fall. (Casper Star-Tribune)

MICROGRIDS:
• Pacific Gas & Electric installs a biodiesel-powered linear generator at its Napa County microgrid to reduce diesel emissions during emergencies and public safety power shutoffs. (Microgrid Knowledge)
• Washington state grants $3.9 million to grid modernization and microgrid projects, including a Spokane Tribe of Indians solar-storage facility to provide energy resilience during wildfires. (Microgrid Knowledge)

ELECTRIFICATION: A Bay Area city considers converting 95% of existing buildings to all-electric power by 2030, which would be one of the most ambitious municipal climate initiatives in California. (Mercury News)

UTILITIES:
• PG&E begins installing 1,300 weather stations across the state to help plan its response to wildfire risk. (Sonoma Index-Tribune)
• California’s La Cañada Flintridge city council files a formal complaint against Southern California Edison for what it says are an unusually high number of unplanned power outages this summer. (CBSLA)

LITHIUM: A slew of proposed geothermal lithium extraction projects fuel hope for an economic revival in communities around California’s Salton Sea. (Associated Press) 

CLIMATE:
• More than 43,000 California residents are under evacuation orders due to multiple wildfires burning across the drought-addled state. (Los Angeles Times)
• A new study from a Nevada think tank finds extreme heat disproportionately affects Las Vegas’s communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. (Nevada Independent)

COMMENTARY:
• A physician, an engineer and an advocate say a proposal to replace a retiring coal plant in Pueblo, Colorado, with a nuclear reactor poses short- and long-term risks to the community. (Pueblo Chieftain)
• By “holding public education hostage to oil and gas revenue,” New Mexico lawmakers are “auctioning off our livelihoods,” says a university student and environmental advocate. (Albuquerque Journal)

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.