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OIL & GAS: Colorado regulators finalize new rules for oil and gas drilling permits, including a requirement that most new drilling be set back at least 2,000 feet from homes and schools. (Colorado Sun)

ALSO: Environmental groups oppose an upcoming Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction in New Mexico, concerned about air pollution. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

COAL: A generation and transmission association that provides electricity to several Western states is under pressure from co-ops, insurers, and banks over its continued reliance on coal. (Energy and Policy Institute)

UTILITIES:
• A federal court partially denies PG&E’s motion to dismiss a hazardous waste lawsuit concerning the utility’s former San Francisco manufactured gas plant. (Courthouse News Service)
• A judge is seeking information from PG&E about a single tree that may have played a role in causing the recent Zogg Fire after being marked for removal by the utility. (Redding Record Searchlight)
• A federal judge rules PG&E cannot cut down trees along a regional park district trail as part of its wildfire mitigation efforts until a lawsuit with a Northern California city has been resolved. (Bay Area News Group)
• California utility regulators are looking at demand- and supply-side grid solutions to avoid rolling blackouts next summer. (Greentech Media)

FOSSIL FUELS:
• Wyoming could have a significant voice in national policy decisions governing some of the state’s critical natural resources if Sen. John Barrasso becomes lead Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee next year. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• A University of California Santa Barbara political scientist says fossil fuel companies are ignoring how communities of color and low-income families are disproportionately harmed by burning coal, oil, and gas. (Los Angeles Times)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A Colorado official says it is too soon to say whether the state will follow California in banning the sale of new gasoline-power cars and trucks. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Colorado Springs Utilities’ CEO says the utility’s new campus could help pave the city’s way toward electric and self-driving cars, and encourage new energy technology. (Colorado Springs Gazette)

MICROGRIDS: A western Colorado neighborhood of smart homes is an example of an autonomous power grid with artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and energy storage. (IEEE Spectrum)

WIND:
• Wyoming’s legislature takes steps to learn how the wind industry is currently being taxed in the state. (Wyoming Public Media)
• San Jose, California’s electricity supplier invests in a new 15-year partnership to receive 225 MW of wind power from New Mexico. (San Jose Spotlight)

COMMENTARY:
• A senior public policy fellow at the Colorado School of Mines says financial tools such as securitization, green bonds, and government loan guarantees can help facilitate the transition from coal. (Power Magazine)
• A Southern California utility official says old coal-fired power plants are a superb opportunity for green hydrogen. (GreenBiz)

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.).