Editor’s note: Western Energy News is taking an extended break for the holidays. We’ll return on Jan. 3. Thanks for reading and see you in the new year!

OIL & GAS: With Democrats’ federal reconciliation bill stalled indefinitely, progressive lawmakers and environmentalists call on the Biden administration to reform the federal oil and gas leasing program by executive order. (E&E News)

ALSO:
• A Colorado county says the state’s sweeping new methane emissions rules are inadequate because they don’t address pneumatic controllers, a significant source of emissions. (Greeley Tribune)
• The Puyallup Tribe challenges Washington state regulators’ approval of a liquefied natural gas facility proposed for the Tacoma Tideflats. (news release)
• U.S. Navy officials face off with environmentalists and Hawaii health officials in hearings over a fueling facility’s contamination of drinking water wells. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• More than 1,300 gallons of gasoline pour into a Los Angeles waterway after a vehicle hits a gas pump. (Los Angeles Times) 

GRID:
• Regional grid officials say increasing electrification of transportation and buildings combined with more variable generation could lead to resource shortfalls on the Western Interconnection by 2025. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• California regulators sign off on Southern California Edison’s plan to build three distribution-level energy storage projects totaling 537.5 MW to shore up grid reliability. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES: Southern California Edison proposes a building electrification plan that aims to install 250,000 heat pumps across its service area. (news release)

SOLAR:
• The federal Bureau of Land Management invites the solar industry to nominate tracts for leasing and development on 90,000 acres of public land in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, the agency’s largest offering since 2012. (news release)
• Washington state wildlife officials say a proposed 2,390 acre solar development could threaten the state’s greater sage grouse population. (East Oregonian) 

HYDROPOWER: Federal officials announce the completion of a decade-long overhaul of Washington state’s Grand Coulee Dam’s hydroelectric plant, the nation’s largest power-generating complex. (Water Power Magazine) 

TRANSPORTATION: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham calls on state lawmakers to adopt low-carbon fuel standards that go beyond federal vehicle efficiency requirements. (Associated Press)

LITHIUM: The Australian company proposing a contentious lithium mine in western Nevada says the Biden administration invited it to apply for government-backed loans even though the Bureau of Land Management has paused the project’s permitting. (E&E News, subscription)

CLIMATE: Climate change-induced warming thaws huge underground debris flows in Alaska, setting them on a collision course with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY: A Navajo advocate calls on the Biden administration to permanently protect New Mexico’s Greater Chaco region from oil and gas development. (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.