COAL: Persistent belief in coal’s longevity has led to fiscal policies that have made it harder to diversify economies in Wyoming and other states. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: Oil and gas revenue is not proving to be a panacea for Wyoming as the industry continues to experience a volatile downturn. (Casper Star-Tribune)

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STORAGE: Investigations into a 2019 explosion at a utility-scale storage system in Arizona reach contradictory conclusions about the cause. (IEEE Spectrum)

PUBLIC LANDS: The BLM finalizes its move to Grand Junction, Colorado despite congressional objections and the loss of almost 70% of the agency’s Washington, D.C. employees. (The Hill)

NATURAL GAS:
• A lawsuit alleges that a California agency misused conservation funds to help destroy wetlands for expansion of natural gas facilities (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• SoCalGas is part of a $100 million utility effort to research alternatives to natural gas. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS: A group of Colorado landowners sue Occidental Petroleum in a dispute over royalty payments. (Greeley Tribune)

SOLAR:
• Arizona manufacturer First Solar agrees to sell its North American operations and maintenance business in a bid to streamline and focus on manufacturing thin-film solar modules. (Greentech Media)
• Arizona utility Salt River Project reports 21 additional businesses, cities, and education organizations signed with the utility to get some of their power from solar sources. (KJZZ)

GRID:
• A bipartisan bill in Congress would authorize $89 million to revive electrification efforts on the Navajo Nation. (Ripon Advance)
• A California startup uses artificial intelligence to help utilities identify power line hazards. (Silicon Valley Business Journal, subscription)

MICROGRIDS: PG&E is set to bring a multi-customer microgrid to a northern California county that will help support critical facilities. (KIEM)

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EFFICIENCY: California’s attorney general delivers a notice of intent to sue the Department of Energy for failing to review and amend energy efficiency standards for 25 categories of products. (news release)

COMMENTARY: Three Republican New Mexico leaders criticize the state’s oil and gas trade  association as a “highly charged political organization that seems more interested in creating political power.” (Albuquerque Journal)

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.).