GRID:
• New Mexico regulators ask state homeland security officials to help prepare for potential summer power outages after utilities warn of pending generation capacity shortages. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Two Washington state utilities join the Western Energy Imbalance Market, bringing the number of active participants to 17. (news release) 

SOLAR:
• A rural Colorado county rejects a utility-scale solar facility proposed on private farmland that would employ 350 construction workers and bring in millions in property tax revenues. (Delta County Independent)
• An eastern Colorado county rezones 5,000 acres of land to clear the way for a proposed 175 MW solar array. (Denver Gazette)

ELECTRIFICATION:
• A Colorado city votes to allow victims of last year’s Marshall Fire to opt out of net-zero building codes requiring electrification and efficiency measures in new construction. (CBS4)
• Idaho lawmakers advance a bill that would prohibit local governments from enacting energy conservation-oriented building codes. (Boise State Public Radio)

STORAGE: The operators of the world’s largest battery energy storage facility plan to double the California facility’s capacity by next year even though it is currently offline following two malfunctions. (Monterey County Now)

HYDROGEN: Southern California Gas begins assembling a demonstration home that will use excess power from rooftop solar to produce hydrogen for electricity storage and to fuel appliances. (City News Service)

UTILITIES: Xcel Energy shifts 310,000 of its Colorado customers to a time of use rate program. (Denver Channel)

OIL & GAS: Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls for a halt to Russian oil imports even though it will likely drive domestic energy prices higher. (Politico)     

BIOFUELS: California regulators require utilities to procure 72.8 billion cubic feet of organic waste-produced biomethane annually by 2030 — an amount totaling 12% of the state’s consumption in 2020. (Utility Dive)

LITHIUM: A battery company stakes an additional 90 mining claims in central Nevada, expanding its lithium exploration project to 10,340 acres. (Pahrump Valley Times)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Washington state lawmakers drop a proposal to levy a tax on gasoline and diesel exported to neighboring states. (OPB)
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk invites United Auto Workers to hold a unionization vote at the company’s California factory. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR:
• While Wyoming lawmakers consider prohibiting a proposed advanced nuclear reactor from obtaining fuel from Russia, U.S. utilities urge the Biden administration not to sanction Russian uranium. (Cowboy State Daily, Reuters)
• A rural Alaska utility considers constructing a micro-modular nuclear reactor to replace diesel generator power it relies on in the winter. (KTOO)
• Xcel Energy considers participating in a proposed Idaho small modular reactor project that would provide power to Western municipal utilities. (Power)

CLIMATE: New Mexico climate activists say they will try again next year to pass a bill aimed at reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 that lawmakers narrowly rejected. (RTO Insider, subscription)

COMMENTARY: A California editorial board calls on regulators to curb rising utility costs through state-funded assistance programs, or by shifting the burden to residents in high fire risk areas. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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.