NUCLEAR: Bill Gates’ TerraPower announces it will site its experimental nuclear reactor at a Kemmerer, Wyoming, coal plant scheduled to close in 2025. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES: Environmental justice advocates call on Xcel Energy to close two Denver natural gas plants by 2030 because they say the plants’ emissions disproportionately affect nearby communities of color. (Colorado Sun)

ELECTRIFICATION: Federal infrastructure funding for a Colorado weatherization program could help low-income residents ditch fossil fuels and electrify their homes. (Colorado Public Radio)

SOLAR:
• Idaho regulators seek public comments to help design an upcoming net metering study that could guide development of rooftop solar rate policies. (Boise State Public Radio)
• A Colorado developer proposes constructing a 140 MW solar facility on agricultural land in the southwestern part of the state. (Cortez Journal) 

GRID: A California startup says its conductors can increase existing transmission capacity by as much as 250%, precluding the need to build new lines to carry growing amounts of renewable power. (Canary Media) 

CLIMATE:
• Boulder, Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 22% since 2018 even as its population has grown, due in part to pandemic-related slowdowns, city officials say. (Boulder Daily Camera)
• Law enforcement officials say a drought-fueled wildfire burning near Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park may have been sparked by electrical equipment. (Boulder Daily Camera) 

HYDROPOWER: Idaho National Laboratory researchers explore developing tidal- or wave-powered microgrids to replace diesel generators in remote Alaska villages. (news release)

OIL & GAS:
• Some Navajo Nation lawmakers object to a proposed oil and gas drilling ban around a New Mexico cultural site because it might undermine efforts to develop tribal mineral rights, even though the ban would not extend to Indigenous lands. (E&E News, subscription)
• A top U.S. Interior Department official says the agency intends to end oil and gas industry dominance of public lands and get a fair return for taxpayers with its pending mineral leasing reform. (S&P Global)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The California Energy Commission approves a $1.4 billion plan to build out zero-emission vehicle infrastructure in hopes of phasing out new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. (news release)
• Oregon regulators are set to vote today on whether to mandate a phase-out of fossil-fueled medium- and heavy-duty trucks beginning in 2024. (OPB)   

POLITICS: U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, will lose his seat on the House Natural Resources Committee for posting a video depicting violence against a Democratic colleague. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY: An editorial board says closing California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in 2025 as scheduled would “make the state’s energy transition costlier, longer and more chaotic.” (Washington Post)

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Jonathan P. Thompson

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.