UTILITIES: Officials in Boulder, Colorado have reached an agreement with Xcel Energy that could end the city’s yearslong effort to form a municipal utility if voters approve it in November. (Boulder Daily Camera)

ALSO: FERC approves an equity fund’s $4 billion acquisition of an El Paso utility that also serves parts of New Mexico. (Power Engineering)

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RENEWABLE ENERGY:
• A study finds the renewable energy industry has created more than 6,300 jobs in eastern Colorado, with 15 counties producing over 95% of the state’s renewable energy capacity. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
• An Oregon utility’s renewable energy program celebrates 20 years of supporting community projects statewide. (KOBI)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• Experts are questioning whether the Trump administration is undermining its own methane regulations by downplaying the economic impacts of climate change. (E&E News)
• The BLM rejects coronavirus royalty rate reductions for two major Power River Basin coal mines. (E&E News, subscription)

OIL & GAS:
• Environmentalists are concerned about a renewed increase in Permian Basin pollution as oil and gas production recovers. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Wyoming lawmakers advance a bill that would reduce the state’s mineral tax rate by half when oil and gas prices fall within certain price ranges. (Casper Star-Tribune)

COAL: A new analysis cites a New Mexico electric cooperative as a model for making money by retiring coal plants and replacing them with solar. (Greentech Media)

STORAGE: A new analysis examines how thermal energy storage is a growing portion of the behind-the-meter energy storage market, particularly in California. (Greentech Media)

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EFFICIENCY: NorthWestern Energy is converting old street lights to LEDs in Missoula, Montana in a bid to reduce light pollution and help save money. (KPAX)

COMMENTARY:
• A journalist explains what nuclear advocates on both sides often miss in debates about nuclear energy, citing California as an example. (Yale Climate Connections)
• Two California energy company executives say oil and gas companies should “launch a bold energy transition” by investing in renewable geothermal energy. (Utility Dive)
• A former petroleum economist for the State of Alaska says criticism of the state’s oil tax by comparing it to Texas sounds good, but doesn’t hold up under examination. (Anchorage Daily News)

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.).