OIL & GAS: Colorado regulators slap a $1.6 million fine on an oil and gas operator with 1,200 wells in the state for improperly storing waste, failing to report spills and other violations. (Colorado Sun)

ALSO: Oil and gas companies applied for more than 10,000 federal land drilling permits in New Mexico over the last four years, which environmentalists say could lock in decades of global warming and catastrophic climate change. (Capital & Main)

GRID:
• Environmental advocates say California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to avert power outages by relaxing emissions rules will exacerbate pollution, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and worsen climate change that’s fueling wildfires. (Canary Media)
• California grid operators agree to share power with the Western Energy Imbalance Market and allow federal regulators to resolve disputes between the two bodies. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A group of alleged neo-Nazis and former Boise residents have been charged with plotting to disable the Idaho power grid by shooting substation equipment with assault rifles. (Idaho Statesman)

UTILITIES:
• Arizona regulators approve Tucson Electric Power’s plan to pay cash incentives for customers to install battery storage systems and expand a community solar installation program. (Arizona Daily Star)
• California regulators order Southern California Gas Company to pause controversial upgrades on a natural gas compressor plant until the utility can meet state requirements. (Ventura County Star)

WIND:
• Permitting issues delay the delivery of turbines for a major wind project planned for California’s Central Coast. (KEYT)
• PacifiCorp completes work on a $3.1 billion wind power and transmission project in Wyoming, Oregon and Washington. (news release)

NUCLEAR: A regulator blames “a combination of failures” for the storage of 3 million pounds of radioactive spent reactor fuel from a nuclear plant shuttered a decade ago near a popular San Diego beach. (Guardian)

HYDROGEN: An Alaska university and the U.S. Department of Energy look into producing hydrogen fuel from ammonia derived from the state’s abundant natural gas reserves. (S&P Global) 

HYDROPOWER: An Anchorage resident brings his self-built, grid-connected hydropower project online and starts delivering power to up to 300 homes. (Anchorage Daily News)

GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management will offer 32 geothermal leases covering 83,543 acres in northern Nevada at its Oct. 5 auction. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The nation’s first hydrogen powered ferry is undergoing trials and could begin passenger service later this year in the San Francisco Bay. (Axios)
• A Washington county’s transit agency considers spending $20 million to electrify its bus fleet, which advocates say would cut 96% of carbon emissions and reduce maintenance costs. (Peninsula Daily News)

CLIMATE:
• The Caldor Fire in northern California burns 440 homes and degrades Reno’s air quality as it moves toward Lake Tahoe. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Colorado-based brewery launches an open-source toolkit to help other beermakers achieve carbon neutrality. (Forbes)

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.