ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Colorado regulators approve rules aimed at reducing pollution from trucks and expediting medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle adoption. (Colorado Newsline)
UTILITIES:
• Republican California lawmakers fight a proposed income-based fixed utility fee mandated by state law, saying it is unfair and amounts to a “regressive tax.” (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Xcel Energy urges Colorado lawmakers to reject a bill aimed at reducing utility bills and axing subsidies for new natural gas hookups, saying it wouldn’t bring down costs. (9News)
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs into law a bill barring utilities from shutting off power for nonpayment during extreme heat. (KPQ)
• Rocky Mountain Power asks Wyoming ratepayers to foot the bill for extreme weather-associated cost increases. (WyoFile)
OIL & GAS:
• A judge rebukes Colorado regulators for failing to comply with federal requirements by delaying decisions on oil and gas operators’ air pollution permits. (Colorado Sun)
• Democratic Colorado lawmakers strip an oil and gas permitting bill of stringent air quality-related measures in hope of garnering support from Gov. Jared Polis. (Denver Post)
• California advocates criticize regulators for issuing more than 550 oil and gas drilling permits so far this year while a new law banning wells near homes awaits a November vote. (23ABC)
• Indigenous and environmental advocates call on the Biden administration to incorporate tribal perspectives into management decisions for lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. (KRWG)
CLIMATE:
• Montana lawmakers advance a proposal to block state regulators from considering greenhouse gas emissions or climate impacts in environmental reviews of proposed projects. (KTVH)
• The U.S. Interior Department awards $125 million to local climate resiliency projects, with much of it going to Western states. (Idaho Capital Sun)
SOLAR: Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flips the switch on a four-acre rooftop solar installation at the Port of Los Angeles that will power a research center campus and 700 homes. (Daily Breeze)
WIND: Idaho’s attorney general calls on the federal Bureau of Land Management to reject the proposed Lava Ridge wind facility, saying it would cause numerous harms and is an assault on state sovereignty. (KMVT)
GEOTHERMAL: Developers bring a geothermal project online near Reno, Nevada, that is expected to power about 22,000 homes. (CPR)
COAL:
• Three workers are hospitalized following an undisclosed incident at the Four Corners coal power plant in northwestern New Mexico. (ABC15)
• A policy analyst says NorthWestern Energy has not factored the Colstrip coal power plant’s $56 million decommissioning cost into its current rate hike proposal, meaning the utility will seek to increase bills again in the near future. (Daily Montanan)
NUCLEAR: Idaho researchers work to develop the world’s first 100 kW nuclear microreactor that could be commercialized and deployed in remote locations. (Kentucky Lantern)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West