NUCLEAR: A court vacates a company’s license to develop an interim spent nuclear reactor fuel repository in southeastern New Mexico, saying federal regulators lacked authority to issue the permit. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

NATURAL GAS: 

  • Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs legislation aimed at expediting Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas, including a provision critics argued would unfairly benefit the utility’s investors. (Washington State Standard)
  • California proposes building codes that would make it harder to install natural gas appliances in new homes and encourage electric heat pump deployment. (E&E News, subscription)
  • Oregon advocates criticize state lawmakers for traveling on a “misleading junket” to Denmark with a natural gas utility’s lobbyist to learn about using biomethane to reduce emissions. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

OIL & GAS: Hundreds of people attend a public hearing in Colorado to debate proposed legislation that would ban oil and gas drilling in the state by 2030. (CBS News)

UTILITIES: Oregon consumer advocates urge regulators to implement measures aimed at mitigating utility rate increases’ impacts on customers. (KPIC)

SOLAR: 

BIOFUELS: Environmental justice advocates push back on a proposed facility in southern California that would convert scrap wood into fuel pellets, saying the increased truck traffic would pollute overburdened communities. (CBS News)

WIND: U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland meets with California tribal leaders to hear their concerns about proposed offshore wind development along the northern and central coast. (North Coast Journal) 

CLIMATE: California asks a federal judge to dismiss business groups’ lawsuit seeking to overturn a new state law requiring companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks. (Reuters)

MINING: A company says China’s ban on some critical mineral exports increases the value of a rare earth element deposit it plans to mine in Wyoming. (Cowboy State Daily)

TRANSITION: Arizona advocates call on the state’s utility commission to help communities affected by coal plant closures after regulators denied utilities’ proposal to extend $100 million in assistance. (KNAU)

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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.