CALIFORNIA:
• A massive, ongoing methane leak from a natural gas storage field could go on for months while the long-term health effects are unknown. (InsideClimate News)
• The problem appears to have been caused by the lack of a working safety valve. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE CHANGE:
• Exxon Mobil’s strategy to brace for climate impacts as it fought regulations was a widespread practice across the oil industry in the 1990s and early 2000s. (Los Angeles Times)
• Republicans are split on whether to attack science when opposing Democrats’ climate proposals. (The Hill)
• The head of the United Nations credits President George W. Bush with kick-starting global climate talks that led to a landmark agreement in Paris. (The Hill)
• A slate of President Obama’s climate policies will face legal challenges in 2016. (The Hill)

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RENEWABLES: Despite a surplus of cheap fossil fuels, the wind and solar industries are on track for a record-breaking year in 2016. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES: A United Nations official envisions a future where utilities only charge customers to recoup capital costs and not for electricity because the dominance of renewables will not have fuel costs. (Forbes)

EFFICIENCY:
• The marijuana industry is moving aggressively, particularly in states where it has been legalized, to reduce energy consumption. (Al Jazeera America)
• A large group of ratepayers — including public housing residents and low-income individuals — in Illinois still find it difficult to participate in various efficiency programs. (Midwest Energy News)

FORECASTING: Maine regulators are refusing to release year-old energy price forecasts that are at the center of allegations that the regulatory commission improperly scuttled a wind power contract. (Portland Press Herald)

DEREGULATION: A growing number of electric customers in Texas are exploring alternative suppliers. (Dallas Morning News)

TRANSMISSION:
• New York regulators approve funding for transmission upgrades to move electricity better from upstate to demand centers. (Utility Dive)
• Ratepayers across the Midwest will be reimbursed after consumer advocates successfully challenged excessive profits by transmission companies for delivering electricity. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

SOLAR: Utilities in California and Georgia show a vastly different approach to the rise in customers who generate their own solar power. (NPR)

EMISSIONS:
• A judge sets July 19 for the start of a trial for a dispute over EPA estimates of job losses related to new emission regulations. (Associated Press)
• A congressman from California introduces legislation for a national price on carbon emissions from coal, oil and natural gas. (Utility Dive)

DEMAND RESPONSE: Federal regulators say advanced metering technology continues to spread but reductions in energy use are mixed. (Utility Dive)

COAL:
• The number of coal-mining deaths nationwide continues to decline amid industry layoffs and idled operations. (Associated Press)
• 120 coal-fired power plants are either closed, cancelled or set for closure by 2020 in six Southeast states. (Southern Environmental Law Center)

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OFFSHORE DRILLING: Activists and oil drillers await the Obama administration’s decision whether to open the Atlantic Coast to lease sales from 2017 to 2022 and any restrictions. (The Hill)

COMMENTARY:
• While moving aggressively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the methane leak in California “underscores how far we have to go on oversight.” (Sacramento Bee)
• “Giving up the crude oil export ban in favor of renewable energy subsidies was a smart concession for Democrats to make.” (Grist)