UTILITIES: A California town sues Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked last year’s Fairview Fire that killed two residents and damaged city property. (Press-Enterprise)

ALSO:
• Alaska utilities consider importing liquefied natural gas to offset predicted future shortages of the fuel from the Cook Inlet area. (Anchorage Daily News)
• California utility officials tell regulators a lack of natural gas storage on the West Coast has contributed to high fuel prices. (CalMatters)

OIL & GAS:
• Navajo Nation residents accuse an oil and gas company of illegally irrigating grass with wastewater, sparking a debate about how to recycle contaminated “produced water” that accompanies crude pumped from wells. (Capital & Main)  
• The U.S. Energy Department offers $18 million for research and development on managing produced wastewater from oil and gas facilities. (news release)
• New Mexico lawmakers advance a bill that would increase oil and gas royalty rates on future leases on state lands. (NM Political Report)
• A leak shut down a gasoline and diesel pipeline that supplies the Las Vegas area, prompting Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo to declare a state of emergency until repairs were completed. (CBS News)

BATTERIES: An Oregon startup works to develop long-duration, grid-scale iron-flow batteries for backing up wind and solar power. (OPB)

LITHIUM: Environmental advocates say proposed lithium mines along the  Oregon-Nevada border threaten the imperiled greater sage grouse and other wildlife. (Counterpunch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An automotive industry group finds California’s electric vehicle adoption rate is five years ahead of most other states because of incentives and the high cost of gasoline. (Utility Dive)

GRID: New Mexico utilities don’t expect power shortages this summer despite construction delays on solar projects to replace the retired San Juan coal power plant. (NM Political Report)

ELECTRIFICATION:
• Some California residents push back on a Bay Area proposal to require electric space and water heating in new construction and when replacing old appliances, saying it would be too costly and unreliable. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A poll finds 39% of Nevada voters think the state is doing too little about climate change, but 54% oppose banning natural gas stoves. (Nevada Independent)

SOLAR:
• Hawaii solar installers say high power prices spurred a jump in residential solar permit applications on the Big Island last year. (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)  
• A conservation group urges solar developers and land managers in Wyoming to site installations on areas where they would have the least impact on land and wildlife. (WyoFile) 

CLIMATE: Utah advocates propose a ballot initiative that would levy a tax on carbon emissions, with revenues going to local air quality programs and rural economic development. (Daily Herald)

COAL: A Colorado court rejects a landowner’s bid to force a coal company to conduct further reclamation on a closed mine beneath his land. (Daily Sentinel)

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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.