RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Colorado utility agrees to a $136.5 million exit fee to leave Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association after a yearslong dispute with the power company over its slow adoption of clean energy. (Colorado Sun, Energy News Network archive)

ALSO: Nevada Energy is reportedly working with developers to keep its renewable energy projects on track after delays in 2019. (Utility Dive)

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CALIFORNIA:
• PG&E’s bankruptcy judge has tentatively rejected the utility’s plan to pay its criminal fines and penalties out of the $13.5 billion trust set up for fire victims. (KQED)
• PG&E is continuing with planned power shutoffs in a California county during the state’s shelter-in-place order despite promising to stop them. (Marin Independent Journal)

COAL: A report to Colorado Springs utilities says a city coal plant would likely have to be closed by 2030 to comply with state clean energy laws. (Colorado Springs Independent)

GRID:
• A “data hive” has launched in California that makes it easier for customers to share smart meter data with third-party developers. (Greentech Media)
• Two western U.S. municipal power generators have joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market. (Power Engineering)

OIL & GAS:
• “Wave after wave of oil and gas bankruptcies” are still likely despite an international deal to cut oil production, according to a Colorado CEO; a Wyoming industry official expects similar impacts. (E&E News, Casper Star-Tribune)
• Colorado oil and gas regulators fine an Occidental Petroleum subsidiary a record $18.25 million for its role in a house explosion that killed two men three years ago. (Denver Post)

WIND: The Bureau of Land Management has completed an environmental review of a proposed 100 MW wind farm on the Arizona-New Mexico border. (Associated Press)

SOLAR: A Corvallis, Oregon grassroots initiative aims to install solar panels at as many community buildings as possible by 2025. (Corvallis Advocate)

UTILITIES: Puget Sound Energy has set up an $11 million fund to help struggling Washington customers adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic pay their utility bills. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The letter of intent for a proposed electric vehicle manufacturing facility west of Spokane, Washington has expired, but city officials still expect the project to go forward. (Spokesman-Review)
• Experts say Colorado’s fast track into electric vehicles still has a lot going for it despite the global economic slowdown. (Colorado Politics, subscription)

COMMENTARY:
• The mayor of Hobbs, New Mexico and chair of the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County say it’s important for them to reach out to oil and gas companies to show continued support for the industry. (Hobbs News-Sun)
• A California columnist laments that no one has actually taken personal responsibility for California utility failures that have resulted in more than 100 deaths. (Ventura County Star)

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.).