OIL & GAS: A federal judge orders the Biden administration to reinstate an oil and gas lease in Montana that the Interior Department canceled in 2016 at the request of the Blackfoot tribes. (Associated Press) 

ALSO:
• New Mexico lawmakers propose codifying environmental rights into law, which could affect oil and gas and other energy development. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• New Mexico regulators tally 1,740 orphaned oil and gas wells in need of plugging and reclaiming on state and private land, up 1,000 from a year ago. (The Paper)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed 150-well oil and gas drilling project in the Vermillion Basin of southwestern Wyoming. (news release)
• Tribes and conservation groups say federal land managers failed to protect low-income communities and communities of color when permitting oil and gas wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley. (news release)

GRID:
• Portland General Electric restores service to most of the 37,000 customers who lost power during a planned outage to mitigate wildfire risk during windy, hot and dry conditions. (Oregonian)
• A tropical storm in southern California damages utility equipment, leaving nearly 30,000 Los Angeles-area households without power. (NBC Los Angeles) 
• An energy storage and software company’s virtual power plant dispatched 86 MW from members’ batteries into the California grid during last week’s heat wave. (news release)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights two 230-kilovolt segments of the Gateway West transmission line in Wyoming. (news release)  

LITHIUM: Conservationists seek federal endangered species protection for a rare snail known only to live around Thacker Pass in Nevada, the site of a proposed lithium mine. (Nevada Current)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A Colorado city receives $80,000 in state funding to install six electric vehicle charging stations. (FOX21)
• California startup Aptera debuts its solar electric vehicle prototype with a 1,000 mile range. (electrek)
• An Oregon transit agency converts its buses to run on renewable diesel until it purchases a zero-emissions fleet. (Portland Tribune)  

CLIMATE: A Washington state university plans to divest from fossil fuel companies by 2027 and reach a net-zero carbon emissions investment portfolio by 2050. (GeekWire) 

NUCLEAR: Montana lawmakers toss a proposed bill that would create a nuclear power advisory council and replace it with a more development-friendly one.  (Helena Record-Independent)

COMMENTARY: A Wyoming editorial board says it is time for the state to move on from fossil fuels, welcome wind, solar and nuclear, and “adapt and innovate or be left behind.” (Casper Star-Tribune)

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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.