UTILITIES: California prosecutors won’t pursue charges against Southern California Edison for its role in the 2018 Woolsey Fire even though an investigation found the utility’s equipment ignited the blaze that killed three people. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:
• Emails show how lobbyists for Nevada’s largest utility pushed Gov. Steve Sisolak to endorse the appointment of Tom Dalzell — a former union leader with ties to PG&E and NV Energy — to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Nevada Independent)
• Pacific Gas & Electric public safety power shutoffs to reduce wildfire risk could affect 39,000 customers in northern California this week. (KCRA) 

OIL & GAS: The natural gas industry secretly paid California residents to advocate for deployment of natural gas vehicles rather than electric vehicles at a massive port in Los Angeles, according to a media investigation. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE:
• The Dixie Fire in northern California surpasses this summer’s Bootleg Fire as the nation’s largest on record while a fast-moving fire in eastern Utah forces thousands to evacuate. (New York Times)
• Temperatures last week soared into the triple-digits in Seattle — where less than half of households have air conditioning — for the second time this summer. (New York Times)
• Wyoming regulators consider creating a regulatory framework for buying and selling carbon credits to incentivize carbon capture projects. (Wyoming Public Radio)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm touted clean energy and innovative climate adaptation solutions during an Alaska visit yesterday. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
• Coronavirus-related supply chain problems delay New Mexico’s buildup of renewable energy projects that would replace retiring coal plants.  (Santa Fe New Mexican)

COAL: Wyoming stands to receive over $100 million for mined land reclamation from the U.S. Senate’s infrastructure bill passed last week, but critics say mining companies should pay for cleanup, not taxpayers. (Big Horn Radio Network)

TRANSPORTATION: The U.S. Senate infrastructure package could bring Colorado more than $900 million for public transit and $57 million to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Greeley Tribune)

COMMENTARY:
• A Nevada editorial board says environmental opposition to lithium mining is the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of electric vehicles. (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• A retired electrical engineer urges New Mexico regulators to require Public Service Company of New Mexico to adhere to national standards for installed generation capacity as a condition of its proposed merger with Avangrid. (Albuquerque Journal)
• A California community leader argues a proposed expansion of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility near Los Angeles, which suffered a massive leak in 2015, is necessary to avert power shortages. (Los Angeles Daily News)
• The mayor of an Arizona city says the Congressional infrastructure bill will move the state toward a clean-energy future by bringing the state its largest ever federal investment in clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure. (Arizona Capitol Times)

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.