OIL & GAS: Colorado regulators adopt new rules to protect groundwater from drilling operations that are believed to be the strictest in the country. (Colorado Sun)

ALSO:
• A Colorado environmental group drops its plans to place an anti-fracking measure on the state’s November ballot, citing the coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
• New Mexico oil and gas regulators issue civil penalties to two companies for illegally dumping produced water on state trust lands and on a road. (Associated Press)
• Navajo activists outline the impacts they’ve seen since drilling activity began in the Chaco Canyon area in New Mexico. (The Guardian)

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ELECTRIC CARS: Tesla’s stock price hits a new high; meanwhile, more employees at its reopened California plant test positive for COVID-19. (The Verge)

CALIFORNIA: PG&E announces the appointment of 11 new board members as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. (New York Times)

EMISSIONS:
• Southern California Edison says its emissions have fallen nearly 50% since 2005 in a new sustainability report. (Daily Energy Insider)
• Two Hawaaiian public advocacy groups win a state supreme court appeal over whether greenhouse gas emissions outside the state need to be considered for fuel imported by a local utility. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription)

NUCLEAR: A watchdog group argues that the application for a proposed nuclear waste storage site in New Mexico has an illegal provision that violates federal law. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• A Western advocacy group says the BLM’s decision to award energy companies breaks on oil and gas extraction payments shows that “royalty dodgers” are allowed to benefit at the expense of local and state governments dependent on natural resource revenues. (Associated Press)
• A federal judge stalls his order that Wyoming repay $47.5 million it received from two oil and gas lease sales in 2018, ruling the state can appeal his decision. (WyoFile)
• The leaders of Colorado agencies charged with environmental responsibility are critical of the Trump administration’s decision to weaken environmental reviews to speed up federal permitting. (Colorado Politics)

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FOSSIL FUELS: A University of Wyoming economist says the state’s fossil fuels producers are facing significant losses due to the coronavirus crisis. (Cowboy State Daily)

MICROGRIDS: The co-author of a new report on microgrids says the fastest growing segment of the market is commercial and industrial clients concerned with high utility rates in California and other states. (Utility Dive)

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.).