OIL & GAS:
• California regulators take preliminary steps toward banning new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of homes, schools and healthcare facilities and requiring emissions monitoring within the setbacks. (Los Angeles Times)
• ExxonMobil restarts the major expansion of a Wyoming facility that captures carbon from a natural gas processing plant and uses it to stimulate oil wells. (Bloomberg)

UTILITIES:
• Environmental groups sue Montana regulators for failing to consider climate change when issuing a permit for NorthWestern Energy’s proposed natural gas plant. (Reuters)
• California regulators approve Pacific Gas & Electric’s wildfire prevention plan, despite critics’ opposition. (San Francisco Chronicle) 

WIND: A remote Alaskan village installs four wind turbines to provide half the community’s power and reduce dependence on diesel generators. (KYUK)

SOLAR:
• The U.S. Bureau of Land Management considers three solar projects totalling 1600 MW proposed for southern Nevada federal lands. (E&E News)
• The first, 50 MW phase of a solar facility on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in northern New Mexico is set to go online early next year. (The Paper)

STORAGE: Southern California Edison plans to build three grid-scale battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 537 MW by August 2022. (news release)

COAL:
• Environmentalists accuse Public Service Company of New Mexico of exploiting a law intended to move the state away from fossil fuels to shirk liabilities associated with an aging coal plant while the plant continues to operate. (Searchlight New Mexico)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The California Energy Commission grants a startup $2.6 million to engineer a solid-state, cobalt-free, U.S.-made lithium-ion battery. (news release)
• Pueblo, Colorado, officials plan to give 42 e-bikes to income-approved essential workers as part of an effort to cut tailpipe emissions and boost equity. (KRDO)

HYDROPOWER:
• Fishing and conservation groups and the Nez Perce Tribe seek a pause in litigation challenging federal hydropower plans on Northwest rivers to allow stakeholders to develop a plan to save endangered salmon runs. (Associated Press)
• The federal agency that markets hydropower from Western dams seeks a 35% rate hike to offset costs associated with drought-diminished hydroelectricity generation. (Salt Lake Tribune)

CLIMATE:
• A Pacific Ocean climate pattern known as La Niña is likely to prolong the Western U.S. drought, according to federal forecasters. (New York Times)
• Citing the ongoing drought, wildfires and extreme heat, environmentalists urge San Diego County to fast-track its climate plan updates. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• A Portland, Oregon, clean energy program plans to distribute up to 15,000 heat pumps and cooling units to buffer against deadly heat waves. (Portland Tribune)

BIOFUELS: An Arizona county’s wastewater treatment plant begins capturing methane and selling it to a natural gas utility. (KGUN9)

COMMENTARY: A former Clinton and Obama administration official calls for the creation of a tribal-led marine sanctuary off the California coast to avert future oil spills. (Los Angeles Times)

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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.