WIND: The first federal offshore wind lease auction in the Pacific Ocean nets $757 million in winning bids for five parcels along the northern California coast, where deep waters will necessitate floating turbines. (CNBC)

SOLAR: Researchers find wildfire smoke reduced California solar installations’ output by 10% to 30% in September 2020 compared to previous years. (Bloomberg) 

CLEAN ENERGY: Idaho advocates form an advisory council aiming to educate policy-makers and residents about clean energy’s economic benefits. (Idaho Capital Sun)

UTILITIES: New Mexico advocates criticize the absence of utility commission nominees from the Navajo Nation or northwestern New Mexico, where regulators have ruled on high-profile cases. (Associated Press)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Portland, Oregon, becomes the nation’s first city to phase out the sale of petroleum diesel by 2030 by blending it with increasing amounts of cleaner biofuels. (Oregonian)
• An Arizona startup opens a facility in Tucson where it plans to convert captured carbon dioxide into aviation fuel and other goods. (Tucson Sentinel)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A federal judge rejects Tesla’s bid for a retrial after a jury found the company liable for racial discrimination at its factory in Fremont, California. (Reuters) 

OIL & GAS:
• A Colorado real estate firm proposes drilling an oil and gas well on the edge of a master planned community the company developed. (Greeley Tribune)
• Colorado environmentalists plan to rally at U.S. Forest Service offices to protest the agency’s approval of a proposed oil railway from the Uinta Basin in Utah. (Post-Independent)

BATTERIES:
• The U.S. Energy Department awards California researchers $16 million to scale up lithium-ion battery recycling and to develop methods to extend energy storage systems’ lives. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• An Oregon researcher works to develop anion batteries that would use iron or carbon in place of lithium, cobalt and nickel, making them more sustainable. (KGW)
• A California recycling company is fined $25,000 for improperly disposing of lithium-ion batteries and igniting several garbage truck fires. (E-Scrap News)  

HYDROPOWER: Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska begins acquiring almost all of its electricity from hydropower, reducing its reliance on diesel generators. (KINY)

COMMENTARY: A Colorado advocate calls on regulators to create rules addressing the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development, rather than getting bogged down in data-gathering and emissions inventories. (Colorado Sun)

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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.