OIL & GAS: California lawmakers pass a bill authorizing regulators to penalize oil companies for price gouging and requiring pricing information disclosure. (Guardian)

ALSO:
• A Permian Basin oil company agrees to pay $6.2 million in civil penalties and for improvements to its 239 facilities in New Mexico to resolve alleged violations of state and federal laws. (NM Political Report)
• New Mexico environmental advocates call on state lawmakers to increase oil and gas regulatory agencies’ funding to enable them to keep up with the growing industry. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on plans to lease nearly 400,000 acres in Wyoming for oil and gas development, including parcels in priority greater sage grouse habitat. (WyoFile)
• A federal judge rules BNSF Railway violated terms of an easement agreement by running 100-car oil trains across the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s land in Washington state. (Seattle Times)
• A Colorado real estate developer withdraws a proposal to drill 11 oil and gas wells near a residential area after residents opposed it. (Reporter-Herald)
• A Colorado county’s leaders defend a controversial proposed rail line that would connect Utah oil fields with the national railroad network, even as the state’s Congress members call on federal agencies to revisit and reject the proposal. (Post-Independent, Colorado Sun)

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HYDROPOWER: Hawaii farmers and subsistence fishermen fight a proposed integrated pumped hydropower, solar and battery project on Kauai, saying it threatens traditional livelihoods. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

POLICY:
• Nevada environmentalists criticize Gov. Joe Lombardo for pushing natural gas for electricity generation and heating in his new energy policy. (Nevada Independent)
• Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signs an executive order streamlining energy permitting and encouraging proposals utilizing the shuttered Navajo coal power plant’s transmission. (Navajo-Hopi Observer)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A federal court hears arguments in a trial to determine how much Tesla must pay to a Black employee who successfully sued the company over racial harassment at its Fremont, California, factory. (Al Jazeera)
• An analysis finds California’s electric vehicle ownership is concentrated in majority white and Asian, college-educated and high-income communities. (CalMatters)
• San Diego Gas & Electric says its new direct current fast electric vehicle chargers at a southern California truck stop are the first of their kind to serve heavy- and medium-duty trucks. (Times of San Diego)
• Denver, Colorado, offers another round of electric bicycle rebates and predicts the popular incentives will be spoken for quickly. (Denver7)

HYDROGEN: Developers of a proposed zero-carbon hydrogen fertilizer production project in Washington state struggle to source 350 MW of power needed to run its electrolyzers. (Tri-City Herald) 

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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.