TRANSPORTATION: California regulators give automakers until the end of the year to admit to any actions taken or cheat devices installed on vehicles to hide true emissions. (Bloomberg Law)

ALSO: California’s Energy Commission approves a $384 million zero-emission transportation investment plan. (Green Car Congress)

UTILITIES: Arizona regulators give initial approval to a new requirement for electric utilities to boost their energy-efficiency programs in a 4-1 vote. (Arizona Republic)

FOSSIL FUELS: A coalition of Colorado conservationist groups launch a plan to conserve 30% of the land in the state by 2030, including state-level reforms to limit the impacts of energy development. (Colorado Sun)

CALIFORNIA: PG&E cuts power to more than 50,000 Northern California customers in 24 counties, and the state’s grid operator urges people statewide to conserve energy between 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. today due to extreme weather. (Associated Press)

SOLAR: Officials from New Mexico’s largest electric utility are gathering on the Jicarilla Apache Nation today to break ground on a 50-megawatt solar field, the third largest solar project on tribal land in the United States. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• Northwestern Energy ratepayers criticize the utility’s plan to purchase a larger share of Colstrip’s Unit 4 during a regulatory meeting most regulators failed to attend. (Billings Gazette)
• A Navajo Transitional Energy Company program that provides free coal to Navajo Nation citizens to heat their homes is set to resume later this month. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIFICATION: New Mexico’s electricity industry continues to evolve by replacing fossil fuel use with electricity in a way that lowers both cost and total emissions. (KRWG)

NUCLEAR:
• A federal official tells an Idaho governor’s advisory group that emphasizing how nuclear power as a clean energy source can combat global poverty and help advance opportunities for women would help gaining more backers. (Associated Press)
• A Washington nuclear reactor design company backed by Bill Gates is awarded $80 million to build a working model of its smaller scale, more flexible advanced nuclear reactor by 2027. (Greentech Media)

OIL & GAS:
• New Mexico’s oil and gas sector is facing the possibility of thousands of wells being abandoned or orphaned in the state due to bankruptcies. (New Mexico Political Report)
• Watchdog groups say an injection permit and “aquifer exemption” application for a Wyoming oilfield threatens the “most valuable” potable aquifer in the state. (WyoFile)

TECHNOLOGY:
• Possible changes to Utah’s and the West’s infrastructure in the near future and emerging technologies were among the topics discussed by energy leaders during a recent roundtable. (Utah Business)
• A California sustainable energy program awards $150,000 grants to 28 companies for promising future clean energy technologies. (Green Car Congress)

COMMENTARY:
• The director of the Idaho National Laboratory in an interview explains why nuclear reactors and clean energy are important to the state. (KPVI)
• A retired petroleum geologist and air pollution inspector advocates for renewables, saying Californians need to reduce their negative impacts on the environment. (Bakersfield Californian)

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.).