SOLAR: Rooftop solar customers say a Colorado electricity cooperative’s plan to raise rates on part-time residents punishes distributed generation and energy efficiency by increasing costs for lower energy consumption. (Colorado Sun) 

HYDROPOWER: Federal officials consider adding turbines and generators to Arizona’s Glen Canyon Dam to allow it to continue producing hydropower even when reservoir levels are low. (Salt Lake Tribune)

OIL & GAS:
• Residents of Willow, Alaska, push back against a proposal to develop coalbed methane on 915,000 acres in the Sustina River watershed, saying it would threaten moose, salmon and water quality. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Environmental groups join a Colorado county’s lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s approval of an oil-hauling railway in Utah. (Vail Daily)
• Wyoming lawmakers advance a bill that would reimburse oil and gas producers with state funds to offset proposed federal royalty increases. (Casper Star-Tribune)  

TRANSPORTATION:
• Oregon, Idaho and Alaska officials urge Washington state lawmakers to reject a proposed tax on gasoline exported to neighboring states that would help pay for a massive transportation package. (Seattle Times)
• Idaho officials hope to expedite electric vehicle adoption by using up to $30 million of federal infrastructure funding to expand the state’s charging network. (Idaho Statesman)

LITHIUM: The U.S. Department of Energy plans a study to quantify lithium resources in California’s Salton Sea geothermal field and to determine whether underground rocks will recharge brine with lithium after extraction. (Utility Dive)

GRID: Tri-State Generation & Transmission proposes constructing two high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Colorado to accommodate more than 700 MW of planned generating capacity. (news release) 

UTILITIES: Pacific Gas & Electric has installed 600 high-definition cameras over the past two years aimed at detecting equipment-sparked fires earlier. (E&E News)

WIND: U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials push a proposed Idaho wind farm’s developer to consider alternative turbine arrangements to reduce impacts to the Minidonka National Historic Site. (Boise State Public Radio)

STORAGE: Aspen Skiing Co. installs a Tesla battery at its Colorado headquarters to provide backup and to inject power into the grid during peak demand. (Big Pivots)

CLIMATE: An Oregon grassroots group pushes to decarbonize buildings while also accounting for climate change’s disproportionate effects on communities of color. (High Country News)

COMMENTARY:
• A Colorado editorial board calls on the oil and gas industry to stop using PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” during drilling and to reveal hydraulic fracturing fluids’ ingredients. (Denver Post)
• A renewable energy advocate says a proposed Arizona bill that would disallow competitive electricity markets is a “thinly veiled attempt at solidifying the state’s existing utility monopoly structure.” (Anthem Independent)  

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.