COAL: Colorado’s largest utility accelerates plans to close a 441 MW coal-burning power station by 2028, but many critics say that’s not soon enough. (Denver Business Journal, Mountain Town News)

ALSO: Creditors agree to give Peabody Energy until 2024 to pay off debt as well as giving the company additional credit. (Wyoming Public Media)

OIL & GAS:
• A judge is expected to decide later today whether to halt this week’s planned lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge amid challenges from Indigenous and conservation groups. (Associated Press)
• The Interior Department finalizes plans to open more than 80% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to drilling. (The Hill)
• New Mexico regulators begin two weeks of remotely held virtual hearings on proposed rules to reduce methane waste in the state’s oil and gas industry. (Albuquerque Journal)

CLIMATE: Washington State is cited as an example of how policymakers are underplaying the challenges of climate adaptation. (Forbes)

OVERSIGHT: New Mexico lawmakers are set to make “surgical amendments” to the state’s clean energy law requiring major electric utilities to get 100% of their power from carbon emission-free sources by 2045. (Sante Fe New Mexican, subscription)

GRID:
• A focus on small-scale generation and storage is helping California quickly add needed capacity to the grid. (Los Angeles Times)
• More than 700 Navajo Nation homes are now connected to the grid thanks to federal funding. (KTVX)

NATURAL GAS: An Oregon utility makes its first investment in renewable natural gas, and expects $8.6 million in costs this year related to the project. (Portland Business Journal)

STORAGE:
• A California storage developer awards a contract for between 90 and 180 MW-hours of capacity across multiple locations in the state over the next 24 months. (reNEWS)
• A California-based battery maker partners with an environmental and recycling services provider on a program to select fleet electrification partners. (Green Car Congress)

TRANSMISSION: A California-based renewable energy company begins work on a major transmission line in New Mexico. (Associated Press) 

TRANSPORTATION: Two freight railway companies began testing battery-electric locomotive technology in California. (Green Car Congress)

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.).