TRANSPORTATION: Colorado’s sweeping transportation bill passed a committee vote yesterday, but a plan to expand highways — which advocates note is a step backward on climate action — is a growing point of tension. (Denver Post)

SOLAR:
• Denver-based Guzman Energy is planning an 80 MW solar array in western Colorado to supply a co-op that cut ties with Tri-State Generation and Transmission last year. (PV Magazine)
• A California company that has installed more solar roofs than Tesla announces plans for a new research and manufacturing facility. (Canary Media)
• Hawaiian Electric is seeking public comments on how to increase adoption of rooftop solar. (Maui Now)
• Tesla will install a rooftop solar array at its Fremont, California, plant as part of a settlement over air pollution violations. (Teslarati)

ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado advocates discuss how provisions in a state climate bill will help advance the phase-out of gas appliances in homes. (Colorado Sun)

CLIMATE:
• A Washington lawmaker says the legislature looked carefully at the shortfalls of California’s cap-and-trade system to avoid repeating mistakes in a recently passed climate bill. (U.S. News and World Report)
• Meanwhile, Oregon lawmakers are studying a conservative-backed program in British Columbia after efforts to pass a carbon tax prompted Republican walkouts in 2019 and 2020. (Jefferson Public Radio / InvestigateWest)

OIL & GAS: The Interior Department said Friday it would drop a Trump administration proposal that could have weakened rules for drilling in Arctic waters. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR: Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Friday that revokes a 1978 law requiring nuclear plants be put to a public vote. (KPVI)

FINANCE: Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak asks lawmakers to create a state infrastructure bank that could help fund roads, public transportation and energy storage projects. (Associated Press)

COAL: A state report finds Wyoming lost 16,000 jobs in 2020, with 5,900 of those coming from the mining sector. (Cowboy State Daily)

TRANSITION:
• A University of Wyoming professor will spend a year in France to study how a former coal-producing region transitioned away from fossil fuels. (Wyoming Public Media)
• A Wyoming legislative committee discusses ways to diversify the state’s tax structure, which remains heavily dependent on coal and oil revenues. (Wyoming News Now)

COMMENTARY:
• A Utah climate advocate and a former U.S. representative say conservatives need to engage on the clean energy transition to avoid “governing by executive order.” (Deseret News)
• A Nevada advocate says a proposal to expand Las Vegas’s growth boundary will encourage sprawl and increase emissions at a time when the state needs to be more aggressive on climate change. (Las Vegas Sun) 

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.