CLIMATE: Colorado Democrats reach a deal with Gov. Jared Polis on a stalled bill that will require state regulators to enforce emissions limits and create an environmental justice task force. (Colorado Sun)

GRID:
• Utilities in the Southwest turn to solar, storage, and microgrids to bolster grid resilience as a severe wildfire season looms. (Energy News Network)
• California regulators consider real-time electricity pricing as a tool to increase demand flexibility. (PV Magazine)
• California energy officials say the state must triple its power generating capacity, build new transmission lines, and decarbonize natural gas generation in order to reach its clean energy goals. (RTO Insider, subscription)

COAL:
• Wyoming and Montana press on with a bid to get the Supreme Court to consider a case involving Washington State’s denial of a proposed coal export terminal. (Oil City News)
• Wyoming breaks ground on a facility to house companies and researchers looking to turn coal into products such as asphalt, carbon fiber, or graphite. (Oil City News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A think tank report finds that electric vehicle rideshare drivers in Los Angeles stick to upper-income neighborhoods, leaving the combustion engines to the poorer areas. (Canary Media)

HYDROGEN: The Port of Los Angeles debuts five hydrogen-powered vehicles and two fueling stations as part of its Clean Air Action Plan. (City News Service)

LNG: A federal appeals court will continue to consider a challenge to a proposed liquified natural gas export facility on the Oregon coast even though the project is dormant. (E&E News, subscription)

OVERSIGHT: Montana’s Public Service Commission will hire an executive director in response to an audit that found commissioners were overspending on travel. (E&E News, subscription)

POLLUTION: A judge rules that environmentalists and a New Mexico citizens’ group can move ahead with their challenge to a proposed natural gas plant just over the Texas border. (El Paso Herald-Post)

NUCLEAR:
• A former Wyoming lawmaker who helped bring a next-generation nuclear plant to the state says the town of Kemmerer is the best location for the project. (Cowboy State Daily)
• Idaho National Laboratories opens the comment period on plans to construct a test, sodium-potassium-cooled microreactor at its facilities. (KIFI)

COMMENTARY:
• A California columnist argues that the state Public Utilities Commission should be elected, not appointed by the governor. (Desert Sun)
• A Wyoming columnist raises concerns regarding safety, costs, and benefits over a plan to build an advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming. (WyoFile) 

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.