OIL & GAS: The Trump administration says the oil industry is in a “transition to greatness,” but a new report indicates demand for oil could be flattened through the next decade because of the coronavirus pandemic. (E&E News, subscription)

ALSO: Permian Basin major Occidental Petroleum is reportedly offering its employees voluntary buyouts over the next two weeks, citing the impact of the coronavirus and plummeting oil prices. (Reuters)

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POLITICS: President Trump is now two seats short of a Republican majority on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a reliably pro-environment appellate court that has handed his administration defeats on important cases. (InsideClimate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Tesla completely reopens its Nevada Gigafactory, where it makes batteries for its electric cars and energy storage products, as well as parts for the Model 3. (Verge)
• Elon Musk’s defiance of a California county’s shelter-in-place directive could cost him customers. (Associated Press)

CALIFORNIA: Mayors of California cities join forces to urge state regulators to do more so that PG&E can exit its bankruptcy as a financially viable, reliable utility. (Bay Area News Group)

HYDROPOWER: A coalition of Northern California agencies is reportedly set to submit a plan to FERC that would allow it to acquire the Potter Valley Project from PG&E. (Eureka Times-Standard) 

PIPELINES: Energy trade groups say restriction of the Army Corps of Engineers’ nationwide permit for new oil and gas pipelines will increase prices and cause job losses. (E&E News, subscription)

COAL: Conservation groups are suing Arch Coal, alleging methane pollution violations at the company’s mine in western Colorado. (news release)

SOLAR:
• The BLM is set to hold a Zoom meeting open to the public on a proposed 372-megawatt solar array to be located four miles north of the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico. (Farmington Daily Times)
• A Denver-based solar company announces the installation of a 431-kW solar carport for a Colorado electrical utility cooperative is complete. (Solar Power World)

UTILITIES: Nevada state regulators are considering a NV Energy proposal for a new solar and battery storage tariff for large customers. (Utility Dive)

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WIND: Portland-based Avangrid Renewables announces its begun construction on the 306 MW La Joya wind farm in New Mexico. (reNews)

COMMENTARY:
• The Diné founder of a nonprofit that provides solar energy to tribal communities says corporations make billions pillaging the Navajo Nation homelands for fossil fuel deposits and leaving groundwater contaminated and the Nation sickened. (New York Times)
• A climate scientist questions the BLM’s push to open up lands in New Mexico for oil and gas extraction during the coronavirus crisis without the input of the Native American tribes impacted. (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• An analyst says a report by California’s grid operator raises important questions about how to ensure ongoing grid reliability during the coronavirus pandemic. (Union of Concerned Scientists)

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.).