SOLAR: A rural Colorado county approves a proposed 80 MW solar power installation — previously rejected over the loss of agricultural land — after developers add 1,000 grazing sheep and an apiary to the project. (Colorado Sun) 

ALSO:
• Developers break ground on an 8.5 MW solar power installation in Alaska — the state’s largest — amid concerns about long-term natural gas supplies. (Anchorage Daily News)
• California regulators ask for another year to consider proposed changes to the state’s net metering policy for rooftop solar. (Bloomberg) 

UTILITIES:
• Northern California homeowners sue PacifiCorp, claiming the utility’s equipment sparked the ongoing McKinney Fire that has killed four people and destroyed 185 structures so far. (Redding Record Searchlight)
• An Arizona utility says this is the most destructive monsoon season in decades, with storms knocking down hundreds of power poles and causing outages. (AZ Family)

OIL & GAS:
• A global oil and gas company plans to invest $2.6 billion to develop a large oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. (Anchorage Daily News)
• Federal regulators extend the deadline for a petroleum company to convert a liquefied natural gas export facility in Alaska to an import terminal even though the company hasn’t decided to continue the project. (Reuters)
• The Inflation Reduction Act requires the Biden administration to hold an oil and gas lease sale in the Cook Inlet in Alaska by the end of this year, whether industry is interested or not. (Alaska Public Media) 

TRANSPORTATION:
• Colorado officials propose overhauling the Denver region’s long-term transportation plan to comply with a state mandate to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. (CPR)
• A Colorado skiing community’s plan to use a $34 million federal grant to build up its fleet of electric buses could be hampered by a statewide driver shortage. (CPR)
• A southern Colorado utility partners with the state transportation department to offer rebates for electric vehicle purchases and charger installations. (KRDO)
• A 1,000-mile electric vehicle road rally in Alaska aims to demonstrate EVs’ viability in remote parts of the state. (KUAC)   

HYDROPOWER:
• California conservationists and fishing groups sue federal regulators for approving a hydropower project decommissioning plan, saying it violates the Endangered Species Act. (Mendocino Voice)
• Declining Colorado River water flows and decreasing reservoir water levels cut Hoover Dam’s hydropower generation capacity almost in half. (CNN)

GRID: California grid operators ask for voluntary conservation measures as a heat wave grips the state and increases electricity demand. (Mercury News)

INNOVATION: New Mexico researchers deliver electricity generated with supercritical carbon dioxide — which isn’t released as a greenhouse gas — to the power grid for the first time. (CleanTechnica)

COMMENTARY: A California editorial board lauds Los Angeles County’s move to ban new oil and gas drilling, but says the 20-year timeline to phase out existing wells is too slow. (Los Angeles Times)

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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.