HYDROPOWER: California, Arizona and Nevada reach a deal to cut Colorado River water use to buoy reservoir levels and preserve hydropower generating capacity at Glen Canyon and Hoover dams. (E&E News)

ALSO: Washington regulators issue a key permit to a proposed pumped hydropower energy storage facility on a culturally significant site for the Yakama Nation. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

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OIL & GAS:
• Chevron acquires Colorado-based PDC Energy for $7.6 billion, creating the state’s largest oil and gas operator and continuing a trend of industry consolidation. (Colorado Sun)
• A climate advocacy group plans to launch a methane-detecting satellite next year to scan oil- and gas-producing regions and make the data it collects free to the public. (Reuters)
• Colorado regulators say an apparent uptick in oil- and gas-related spills last year is the result of stricter reporting thresholds, not an increase in incidents. (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)
• A Wyoming energy official says a developer is considering building a $14 billion petroleum refinery in the state. (Cowboy State Daily)

UTILITIES:
• A California city’s leaders call on the troubled Orange County Power Authority’s board to vote on whether to dissolve the agency and return residents to Southern California Edison. (Voice of OC)
• Nevada lawmakers hammer out details of a bill that would facilitate NV Energy’s construction of in-state power plants and other generation sources. (Nevada Independent)

SOLAR:
• New Mexico selects 45 proposed projects to participate in the state’s new community solar program after applicants’ complaints held up the process for weeks. (Source NM)  
• Construction is completed on a rooftop solar installation on a multifamily housing development in Davis, California. (PV Magazine)

GRID:
• Nevada advocates urge the Biden administration to require developers to reroute the proposed Greenlink West transmission project to avoid fossil beds. (Guardian)
• A California agency is constructing a 48 MW natural gas power plant in the northern part of the state for use during extreme peak-demand events. (ABC10)
• A substation in southern California is vandalized, causing $75,000 in damage and leaving 9,000 utility customers without power. (KABC)

LITHIUM: Ford Motor Company contracts to purchase lithium from a proposed geothermal-brine project in California’s Imperial Valley. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: Utah’s transportation department applies for federal funding to study restoring passenger rail service between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. (Deseret News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Idaho’s transportation department seeks public input on where to install federally funded electric vehicle charging stations. (Idaho Capital Sun)

HYDROGEN: A Wyoming company plans to convert organic waste into transportation-grade hydrogen fuel at a California landfill. (Mercury News)

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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.