COAL: U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he will be “taking a look” at the Federal Trade Commissions rejection of a joint venture between two of Wyoming’s largest coal operators. (Casper Star-Tribune)

CLEAN ENERGY: A new report finds that California added 720 clean energy jobs last month, the most of all states, and lists Colorado among those adding more than 100. (Power Engineering)

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ELECTRIFICATION: A Colorado clean energy developer says instead of outright banning natural gas connections, state legislators and utility regulators should consider a mix of incentives, including rebates. (Mountain Town News)

PUBLIC LANDS: The BLM is expected to approve ConocoPhillips’ plan to develop federal oil leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska despite opposition. (E&E News, subscription)

OIL & GAS:
• A boiler inside a troubled suburban Denver, Colorado oil refinery fails, leading to elevated emissions and flaring prompting an emergency response. (Denver Post)
• New Mexico oil and gas industry leaders are welcoming the Trump administrations’ rollback of emission rules, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says it is leaving states to fend for themselves. (Carlsbad Current-Argus, New Mexico Political Report)
• California’s attorney general says the EPA’s rollback of Obama-era rules designed to limit methane emissions from oil and gas fields and pipelines is “not only negligent, it’s unlawful.” (Associated Press)
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom is under increasing pressure to protect Californians against hazards and pollutants from oil and gas production in the wake of legislative efforts failing to do so. (Los Angeles Times)

POLLUTION: An ozone air monitor in Carlsbad, New Mexico was reportedly shut down for most of last month. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

NUCLEAR: Members of a Utah municipal power association are yet to decide on whether to advance plans for a 720 MW modular reactor plant to be built in Idaho, as the group waits for $1.4 billion from the DOE towards the project. (S&P Global)

TECHNOLOGY: A California startup raises $4 million in funding on a new technology to tackle issues with the manufacture and degradation of lithium-ion batteries. (Reuters)

TRANSMISSION: A utility says it will consider burying a transmission line opposed by suburban homeowners near Pueblo, Colorado, at a $5 million cost to customers. (KOAA)

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BIOFUELS: A once-controversial Colorado biogas facility plans to reopen under new ownership. (Greeley Tribune)

COMMENTARY:
• Portland General Electric’s CEO in an interview discusses net-zero targets, the coronavirus pandemic, and evolution of the U.S. utility model. (Greentech Media)
• An energy analyst laments the lack of progress on microgrid deployments in California as the new fire season begins. (GreenBiz)

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.).