ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla is suing Alameda County over its shelter-in-place directive and threatening to move its operations out of California. (Verge)

POLLUTION: A recent analysis indicates half of California’s 80 gas-fired peaker plants are located in disadvantaged communities, exacerbating local air quality and public health risks. (Grist)

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RENEWABLES: Pacificorp is preparing a multi-gigawatt solicitation for wind, solar, and solar-plus-storage projects in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. (Greentech Media)

OIL & GAS:
• Republicans from Alaska and Wyoming are among those accusing some major financial institutions of stopping fossil fuel investments to “placate the environmental fringe.” (Reuters)
• Permian Basin oil and gas producers’ operations and rig counts continue to decrease because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• The Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company is seeing strong demand for a free propane refill service on the Navajo Nation. (Farmington Daily Times)
• A driller in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin says the state needs to look at more sustainable sources of revenue that will protect the Basin and surrounding communities. (Rio Grande Sun)

CALIFORNIA: A PG&E public safety power shutoff in Concord, California on Friday is an example of possible challenges with planned outages during the coronavirus outbreak. (San Francisco Chronicle) 

COAL: The Navajo Transitional Energy Company continues to operate its Spring Creek mine in Montana on a temporary permit after laying off a quarter of its workforce. (Montana Free Press)

NUCLEAR:
• The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed a grant for a New Mexico research facility to monitor a nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Legislation was introduced last week to authorize more than $3 billion to build the Department of Energy’s planned Versatile Test Reactor, possibly at the Idaho National Laboratory. (E&E News, subscription)

TRANSPORTATION: A Democratic-led subcommittee asks an Arizona-based national transportation and alternative fuel services company to return federal coronavirus aid meant for small businesses. (Associated Press)

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UTILITIES: Xcel  Energy expects a 6% decrease in electricity use for 2020 by commercial and industrial customers in Colorado because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Daily Camera)

COMMENTARY:
• A Utah environmental advocate explains why celebrations about the drastic drop in emissions because of the coronavirus pandemic are premature and oversimplify a complex issue. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• The CEO of a Colorado-based renewable energy development company says the state’s clean energy workers are hurting badly from the coronavirus crisis and Congress needs to act now. (Montrose Daily Press)

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.).