HEAT WAVE: Record-breaking heat pushes California’s peak power demand to an all-time high, but grid operators say conservation measures helped them avert widespread rolling blackouts. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:
• California activates four new temporary emergency natural gas generators to avert power outages in the northern part of the state. (KCRA)
• A heat-triggered outage leaves more than 7,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers without power in West Sacramento, California. (Sacramento Bee)
• Idaho Power asks customers to conserve electricity as extreme high temperatures and wildfires strain the grid. (Idaho Statesman)

UTILITIES:
• An Oregon utility’s service area’s industrial power use quadruples and carbon emissions intensity increases more than 500% after Amazon and other tech companies build data centers there. (Union-Bulletin)
• Southern California Edison officials say they detected “circuit activity” at the same time a fast-moving deadly wildfire broke out Monday, but investigators have yet to determine the cause. (Los Angeles Times)

OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration agrees to settle an environmental lawsuit by reassessing potential climate impacts from Trump-era oil and gas leases in Montana and North Dakota. (Associated Press)
• A Colorado county and environmentalists appeal the Biden administration’s approval of a proposed railway that would carry oil from the Uintah Basin in Utah through the state on its way to Gulf Coast refineries. (Colorado Sun) 

COAL: Colorado’s largest electric cooperative seeks to pull out of its stake in the Comanche 3 coal plant, saying Xcel Energy’s mismanagement has caused a raft of unplanned outages. (Colorado Sun)

CLEAN ENERGY: A California irrigation district considers installing solar panels on top of canals and pipelines and hydropower turbines within them. (Manteca Ripon Bulletin)  

STORAGE: A California county installs a battery storage system at one of its office buildings to provide up to 31 hours of backup power during outages. (KSBY)   

WIND: The U.S. House natural resources committee plans to hold a field hearing on offshore wind development in the Pacific tomorrow in Morro Bay, California. (E&E News, subscription)  

CRITICAL MINERALS:
• Alaska mining industry observers say an Inflation Reduction Act tax break for critical mineral producers could spark a mining renaissance in the state. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Nevada tribal leaders renew calls to halt the proposed Thacker Pass lithium mining project after archaeologists find more evidence of an 1865 massacre in the area. (Nevada Current)

GRID: Arizona conservationists oppose the proposed SunZia transmission line that would carry wind power from New Mexico, saying it will harm the desert ecosystem and migratory birds. (KOLD)

COMMENTARY: An Alaska marine biologist urges the state and federal governments to continue the Exxon Valdez oil spill restoration program until achieving its goal of recovering all injured resources. (Anchorage Daily News)

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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.