COAL: New Mexico’s largest utility formally files with state regulators to hand over its interest in the Four Corners power plant, putting the company on track to be coal-free by 2024. (Farmington Daily Times)

ALSO: A bankrupt Powder River Basin coal company fails to find a buyer for its planned Washington state export terminal and is seeking to abandon its lease for the site. (Casper Star-Tribune)

POLITICS: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon raises concerns that Biden administration policies will “further dampen the economic outlook” in the state. (Associated Press)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• Documents reveal the Interior Department has engaged in “consistent efforts to thwart oversight and thwart accountability” under the Trump administration. (E&E News)
• The Trump administration completes plans to ease Sage Grouse protections in seven Western states but may not have time to implement them. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS:
• A review of public records indicates California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s energy decisions may have been “inappropriately influenced” by a firm owned by a lobbyist friend. (Sludge)
• New Mexico environmentalists say the time has come for state lawmakers to change course from being overly dependent on oil and gas for revenue. (Capital & Main)

EFFICIENCY: Months after record participation by state and local governments helped pass an ambitious building energy code update, the organization that oversees the process is taking steps that would sideline thousands of public sector members from voting on future updates. (Energy News Network)

UTILITIES: U.S. Secretary Dan Brouillette appoints acting Bonneville Power Administration administrator and CEO John Hairston to head the agency permanently. (Daily Energy Insider)

STORAGE:
• A company 100% owned and operated by Native Americans is awarded a grant of “more than $5 million” by California’s Energy Commission to help develop a long-duration storage system with 10 hours of storage. (Energy Storage News)
• An energy storage group is set to deploy 68MWh of energy storage projects for low-income communities in California. (Energy Storage News)

TRANSPORTATION: Amazon’s new electric delivery van has been spotted making deliveries in Los Angeles, with a loud “pedestrian warning” noisemaker. (Electrek)

SOLAR:
• New Mexico lawmakers are planning to introduce a community solar bill this year. (Carlsbad Current Argus)
• A new solar co-op launches in Northern Arizona, aiming to create a more sustainable electricity system and help residential and business ratepayers save money. (Flagstaff Business News)

COMMENTARY:
• The California director of a political advocacy organization says Gov. Gavin Newsom fails on climate issues by continually siding with oil and gas. (KNOCK LA)
• A professor of history and environmental studies says treachery and deceit allowed Peabody Coal Co. to mine Black Mesa coal, betraying the trust of the Hopi and Navajo Nations. (Durango Herald)

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.).