LITHIUM: By damaging ceremonial sites, lithium mining in western Arizona threatens the Hualapai Tribe’s religious practices, tribal leaders say. (High Country News)

PUBLIC LANDS: The Bureau of Land Management confirms that only three of its employees relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado, as the agency’s new headquarters there sits mostly empty. (Colorado Newsline)

HYDROPOWER: Hoover Dam’s hydroelectricity generation capacity falls as Lake Mead’s water levels drop to record lows. (Boulder City Review)

OIL & GAS:
• Nearly a quarter of New Mexico’s state lawmakers say the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing freeze will benefit the state’s boom-bust economy. (E&E News, subscription)
• Oil and gas revenues from federal lands surpass New Mexico state forecasts despite the current leasing freeze. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• New Mexico regulators consider a rule that would forbid oil- and gas-related spills. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• Residents of West Ventura, California, oppose a Southern California Gas Company proposal to expand a natural gas compressor facility near an elementary school. (VC Reporter)

UTILITIES:
• California regulators are considering real-time electricity pricing to enable more renewable energy on the grid. (PV Magazine)
• Xcel Energy’s plans to be 85% carbon-free by 2030 falls short of the City of Boulder’s goals. (Daily Camera)

TRANSPORTATION: A transportation bill currently moving through Congress would send $51 million to Nevada for highway expansions, energy-efficient streetlights, hydrogen-fueled buses, and rail. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A California Energy Commission analysis estimates that the state will need 1.2 million EV chargers by 2030 to meet the demands of an anticipated 7.5 million passenger EVs. (news release)
• Hawaiian Electric gets the go-ahead to install 20 charging stations to jump-start the growth of electric bus fleets. (Star-Advertiser)
• Yellowstone National Park debuts two electric, driverless shuttle buses. (KBZK)

WIND: A Montana wind farm slated to begin construction this summer is expected to generate more than $700,000 in lease payments for the state over the next three decades. (Billings Gazette)

EFFICIENCY: A 21,000-home project outside Los Angeles is being dubbed the largest net-zero development in the country, but half of the reductions will come from carbon offsets. (CNBC)

OVERSIGHT: California’s financial services regulator moves to revoke the license of a San Diego clean energy lender, Renovate America, due to apparent fraud. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

EQUITY: Puget Sound Energy forms an equity advisory group to help guide the Washington utility’s Clean Energy Implementation Plan. (Thurston Talk)

COMMENTARY:
• A Nevada congressman says that a major transmission buildout is necessary for the state to realize its clean-energy potential. (Nevada Independent)
• An Alaska editorial board argues that the Biden administration’s “Jekyll and Hyde” approach to oil and gas development in the state “smacks of crass politics.” (News-Miner)
• A Wyoming editorial board says that a proposed nuclear reactor won’t solve the state’s budget crisis. (Laramie Boomerang)

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.