GRID: Battery storage, only recently considered an unattainable “holy grail,” is already providing electricity to California’s grid equivalent to a mid-sized power plant. (New York Times)

ALSO: California’s grid operator prepares for another searing heat wave to hit the region over the weekend. (Sacramento Bee)

***SPONSORED LINK: National Clean Energy Week Policy Makers Symposium is September 21-25. Register to hear from members of Congress and leading clean energy innovators. Register today at https://nationalcleanenergyweek.org.***

NUCLEAR:
• Developers of a small-scale nuclear reactor are undeterred as a third Utah city considers backing out of the project. (Reuters)
• The final public hearing on the environmental analysis for a proposed New Mexico nuclear waste facility draws a mixed response. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

COAL:
• The EPA announces a Colorado-based office that will take charge of remediating abandoned mines. (Colorado Sun)
• A company associated with Blackjewel’s Powder River Basin mines files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. (Wyoming Public Media)

OIL & GAS:
• New Mexico regulators are reportedly considering “more ambitious” restrictions on oil and gas emissions. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• A new analysis looks at how oil and gas companies are investing in technology tracking methane emissions on the ground, in the air, and from space. (Houston Chronicle)

OVERSIGHT: An Arizona consumer advocate is seeking an investigation into a regulatory official accused of withholding data unfavorable to the state’s largest utility. (KPNX)

UTILITIES:
• Supporters and opponents of Boulder, Colorado’s proposed electric-utility franchise agreement with Xcel Energy air their views during a virtual policy roundtable. (Daily Camera)
• Portland General Electric says it “no longer has net market exposure from the energy trading positions that led to previously announced losses” of at least $104 million. (Portland Business Journal)

CLEAN ENERGY: Critics say a program that helps Southern California homeowners pay for solar panels and other energy upgrades could allow unscrupulous contractors to prey on vulnerable homeowners. (Press-Enterprise)

COMMENTARY:
• Three California city officials say climate change is the cause of the state’s power capacity problems, and adding more emission-free electricity to the state’s grid is the solution. (Mercury News)
• Two Colorado think tank officials explain how the transition to green energy is critical to combat climate change and can improve power system resilience to threats including extreme weather. (GreenBiz)
• An Atlantic Council fellow says there is a lack of evidence supporting arguments that California’s adoption of solar and wind power undermines the stability of the grid. (Atlantic Council Global Energy Center)

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.).