OIL & GAS: The federal Bureau of Land Management recommends approval of a scaled back version of ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska. (New York Times)  

ALSO:
• A watchdog group calls for a probe of a senior federal Bureau of Land Management official’s financial ties to ConocoPhillips as the agency evaluated the Willow project in Alaska. (E&E News)
• Alaska lawmakers propose a bill that would create working groups aimed at expanding oil and gas production and increasing fines on companies responsible for oil spills. (High Country News)
• Colorado regulators threaten to revoke a violation-plagued oil and gas firm’s operating license if it does not promptly pay $1.9 million in fines and clean up 78 sites. (Colorado Sun)
• A taxpayer advocacy group finds methane lost due to oil and gas facility flaring, venting and leaks deprived Indigenous nations of $21.8 million in potential royalties in 2019. (Grist)
• Spokane, Washington, begins studying how a petroleum pipeline’s failure would affect its primary drinking water source. (Spokesman-Review)

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CLIMATE: Lawyers argue Alaska’s pro-fossil fuel development policies make it liable for climate change-related damages to Native villages. (Undark)

UTILITIES: Pacific Gas & Electric will face trial for manslaughter over its role in sparking the 2020 Zogg Fire that killed four people in northern California. (Associated Press)

SOLAR: A judge rules a Colorado man accused of attacking a solar facility in Nevada is unfit for trial and must undergo further psychiatric evaluation. (Associated Press) 

GRID: An Oregon electrical cooperative receives a $90 million federal loan to expand and improve the power grid in the rural northeastern part of the state.  
(NBC Tri-Cities)

NUCLEAR: Pacific Gas & Electric estimates decommissioning the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant will cost $4.1 billion while it continues work to operate the plant beyond its 2025 retirement date. (KSBY) 

BATTERIES: Tucson, Arizona’s city council agrees to offer $4.3 million in incentives to two battery manufacturers planning to establish and expand production facilities in the city. (Tucson Sentinel)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Pacific Gas & Electric begins offering customers $1,000 to $4,000 rebates for purchasing used electric vehicles. (Bakersfield Californian)
• California first responders receive training to fight electric vehicle battery fires. (KTVU)  
• A California county transit agency purchases 10 battery electric buses to replace compressed natural gas vehicles. (news release)

COMMENTARY: A California researcher says streamlining clean energy permitting could actually slow development while making ecosystems more vulnerable to negative impacts from construction. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) 

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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.