COAL: A Wyoming energy analyst says market forces and state and regional climate policies will continue to pressure utilities to transition away from coal despite the Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the U.S. EPA’s oversight of power plant emissions. (WyoFile)

ALSO: Public Service Company of New Mexico shuts down one of two remaining units at a coal power plant and outlines plans to reduce customer rates upon the final unit’s Sept. 30 closure. (Associated Press) 

GRID:
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a grid reliability bill that could extend the life of natural gas plants and the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility while limiting local oversight of energy projects. (E&E News)
• Hawaiian Electric proposes a $190 million plan to upgrade its grid to make it more resilient to climate change-exacerbated extreme weather. (Hawaii Public Radio)
• A wildfire in northern California forces about 100 people to take refuge in a Pacific Gas & Electric facility and leaves 10,000 residents without power. (Record News Service)

OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration affirms its previous approval of a liquefied natural gas export project proposed for Alaska, finding it would “contribute incrementally to global climate change,” but is needed to supply growing demand for the fuel. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
• An oil and gas company says one of its pipelines in Colorado released 25 million cubic feet of methane after equipment malfunctioned. (Bloomberg)
• Alaska oil and gas industry observers say automation and companies’ lower tolerance for risk is keeping the sector’s employment numbers low despite high commodity prices. (Anchorage Daily News)

TRANSPORTATION: A California initiative to raise income taxes on wealthy residents to fund expanded electric vehicle rebates and build out charging networks qualifies for the November ballot. (Bay Area News Group)  

UTILITIES: Xcel Energy asks a county judge to dismiss a homeowners’ lawsuit alleging the utility’s equipment sparked a fire — which is still under investigation — that destroyed 1,000 homes in Colorado last year. (CBS Colorado)  

SOLAR: Idaho Power completes a study analyzing rooftop solar’s costs and benefits that regulators will use to guide net metering policy. (news release)

LITHIUM: California lawmakers approve a tax on lithium to generate revenue for environmental cleanup even though industry officials say it would harm the sector. (Reuters)

WIND: Construction is ahead of schedule on a 750 MW wind power facility in eastern Montana. (KTVQ)

NUCLEAR: The U.S. Energy Department revises a nuclear bailout program to make the Diablo Canyon facility in California eligible for federal funds to keep it operating beyond its scheduled 2025 retirement date. (Power) 

BIOFUELS: A California company proposes constructing a facility that produces 68 million gallons of ethanol annually from sugarcane. (Los Angeles Business Journal)

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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.