UTILITIES: While Colorado’s wildfire risk isn’t as severe as California’s, utilities there are taking more aggressive steps to ensure they don’t repeat the missteps of PG&E. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• PG&E finds 13 instances of weather-related damage while inspecting 3,915 miles of transmission and distribution power lines. (news release)
• A Northern California county starts the formal process of leaving PG&E for a community choice aggregation program. (CBS Sacramento)
• PG&E Camp Fire victims say their energy bills have increased over the past few months despite being in smaller homes, which the utility attributes to increased energy consumption during several heatwaves. (Chico Enterprise-Record)

COAL:
• A federal court upholds the FTC’s decision to block a proposed joint venture between two leading Powder River Basin coal companies. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette is set to visit Montana this week, where he will tour the Colstrip Power Plant. (KBUL)
• The Interior Department recognizes the Navajo Transitional Energy Company for reclamation work at its New Mexico mine. (news release)

OIL & GAS:
• A Colorado nonprofit is working with producers to track emissions in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s complicated relationship with major oil companies is a marked contrast to his campaign promise to get tough on the state’s oil industry. (Capital & Main)
• Tribal nations and archaeologists partner to identify Greater Chaco region culturally sensitive sites and resources to protect from oil and gas development. (New Mexico Political Report)

SOLAR:
• An 80 MW solar farm could help a Utah county reach its 100% renewable energy goal seven years early. (Park Record)
• The University of Utah signs a 25-year solar energy contract that will deliver 20 MW of solar energy to its campus over its lifespan. (news release)

POLITICS:
• Alaska, New Mexico, and Nevada have some of the most significant energy issues in the U.S. to be put directly to voters in November ballot initiatives. (E&E News)
• All six candidates running for the three available seats on Arizona’s utilities regulatory body are doing so from a funding source that frees them from the influence of companies they would regulate as commissioners. (Arizona Republic)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A California electric vehicle charging company aims to go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company. (Greentech Media)
• Western electric vehicle companies are among those urging a transition from gas-powered cars during National Drive Electric Week. (Daily Energy Insider)

COMMENTARY: The new president of California’s grid operator in an interview discusses what he sees as the big outstanding issues in the state’s transition to renewable power. (Yale Insight)

Lisa Ellwood

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.).