GRID:
• A northern California county offers firewood to thousands of residents who have been without power for eight days due to a major storm. (CBS13)
• Xcel Energy distributes 20,000 portable heaters to residents left without power or natural gas after a devastating fire tore through the suburbs of Boulder, Colorado. (Colorado Public Radio)

OIL & GAS:
• Hawaii regulators uphold an emergency order requiring the U.S. Navy to drain fuel tanks suspected of contaminating drinking water and correct problems before seeking permission to resume operations. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• A New Year’s weekend cold snap freezes oil and gas wells in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, causing a natural gas price spike. (Reuters)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to auction 6,300 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana and North Dakota later this year after the Biden administration paused leases. (Bismarck Tribune)  

SOLAR:
• Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Lab researchers work to bring perovskite solar cells, which are cheaper and more efficient than photovoltaics, to market. (Colorado Sun)
• A California company introduces a new photovoltaic roof shingle design in a bid to outpace Tesla on integrated solar roof installation. (Canary Media)  

WIND: The Biden administration seeks public input on its plan to lease 400 square miles for offshore wind development along central California’s coast. (KSBY)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Hawaii’s 2021 electric vehicle sales climbed 30% over the previous year despite the state’s relatively high power prices. (Hawaii Business)
• An Idaho resort town considers requiring developers to install electric vehicle chargers in all new construction. (Idaho Mountain Express)

ELECTRIFICATION: The construction industry’s penchant for natural gas threatens a Colorado neighborhood’s all-electric, emissions-free status. (Inside Climate News)

COAL:
• Navajo Nation and Indigenous organizers in Appalachia work to break the “resource curse” of coal-dependent economies. (WKYU)   
• Campbell County, Wyoming — the nation’s top coal-producing county — struggles to secure federal funds for an industrial park devoted to developing new carbon capture and sequestration technology and non-fuel coal products. (County17)  

UTILITIES:
• Public Service Company of New Mexico and Avangrid appeal state regulators’ rejection last month of the utilities’ proposed merger. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• Washington state advocates say utilities have wielded political heft to block state laws intended to hold power companies responsible when their electrical equipment sparks wildfires. (Seattle Times)

TRANSITION: Utah and Idaho researchers find solar and wind power are cheaper than fossil fuels, and that expanding transmission and electrification can solve renewables’ intermittency issues and create jobs. (KSL)

COMMENTARY: A Utah columnist suggests developing a nuclear power plant in the southern part of the state to replace lost coal generation and jobs. (The Independent)

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.