HYDROGEN:
• New Mexico Democratic lawmakers kill a last ditch, scaled-back hydrogen booster bill opposed by environmentalists because the fuel would be produced from methane. (Santa Fe New Mexican)   
• A California startup plans to build a facility to convert agricultural waste into hydrogen transportation fuel and capture and sequester the carbon dioxide emissions. (MIT Technology Review)

CLIMATE: Researchers find climate change is largely responsible for the last two decades being the Southwest’s driest in 1,200 years. (New York Times)

STORAGE: A malfunction partially shuts down a northern California 400 MW battery storage facility — the world’s largest — for the second time in five months. (KSBW)

COAL:
• Wyoming is among the possible locations mentioned by U.S. Department of Energy officials for a planned federal test facility to extract critical minerals from coal combustion waste. (CNN)  
• New Mexico lawmakers reject a bill aimed at extending the life of a coal plant in the northwest part of the state by two years after its 2022 retirement date. (Farmington Daily Times)

OIL & GAS:
• Hawaii Congress members introduce federal legislation that would force the U.S. Navy to halt operations, drain tanks and eventually shut down its leak-plagued Red Hill fuel storage facility. (Associated Press)
• The first group of families displaced by water contamination blamed on the Red Hill fuel facility are cleared to return home. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
• California oil and gas operators prepare to fight state and local drilling bans and heightened restrictions on development. (Los Angeles Business Journal)
• The U.S. Department of Energy funds Colorado researchers’ work to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas compressor station engines. (news release)
• Federal analysts predict Permian Basin oil production will hit a new record high next month of 5.2 million barrels per day. (Reuters)
• Permian Basin oil and gas operators step up efforts to recycle and reuse produced wastewater to avoid underground injection-caused environmental problems and earthquakes. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)   

UTILITIES: An Alaska utility proposes capturing methane from a Kenai Peninsula landfill to fuel a 1.6 MW power plant. (KDLL)

CLEAN ENERGY: A poll finds residents of Pueblo County, Colorado, prefer wind and solar over nuclear power to replace generation when the Comanche coal plant closes in 2034. (KOAA) 

TRANSPORTATION:
• Washington state lawmakers consider a proposal to offer $7,500 rebates on electric vehicle purchases and $1,000 for e-bikes. (Seattle Times)
• New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission chairman opposes a bid by state lawmakers to remove transportation regulation from the agency’s duties. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

SOLAR: A Montana county commission votes to establish a program allowing commercial property owners to repay the cost of renewable energy upgrades through their property taxes. (Missoula Current)

WIND: The U.S. Department of Energy funds a Hawaii company to develop offshore wind turbine anchoring methods. (Roswell Daily Record)    

COMMENTARY: A New Mexico lawmaker says the state must diversify the economy and wean its budget off outsized oil and gas revenues while the industry is booming. (Albuquerque Journal)

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.