UTILITIES: A judge reverses his April order halting construction on NorthWestern Energy’s Laurel natural gas plant in Montana, citing a new state law that bars agencies from considering climate impacts in environmental reviews. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• Victims of the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado sue Xcel Energy after investigators find the utility’s line contributed to sparking the destructive blaze. (Longmont Leader)
• Pacific Gas & Electric plans to bury six miles of power lines in a northern California county as part of its effort to reduce fire hazard by undergrounding 10,000 miles of lines in the state. (Press Democrat)

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BATTERIES: The U.S. Energy Department plans to loan KORE Power $850 million to build a battery cell manufacturing facility in Buckeye, Arizona. (Reuters)

MICROGRIDS: A civil grand jury calls on a northern California county to install microgrids in disadvantaged communities to provide backup power during outages. (Marin Independent Journal) 

CLIMATE:
• The trial for a youths’ lawsuit accusing Montana of violating residents’ constitutional right to a healthy, livable climate with its fossil fuel-friendly policies is scheduled to begin today. (Associated Press)
• Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell proposes implementing greenhouse gas emission standards for existing large buildings. (news release) 

OIL & GAS:
• The U.S. EPA finds inadequate maintenance and testing at a Colorado oil refinery have led to excessive sulfur dioxide and other pollutant releases. (Greeley Tribune)
• Navajo Nation mineral rights holders protest a celebration of a federal oil and gas leasing ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, saying it will affect their royalty revenues. (Source NM)

NUCLEAR:
• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm launches a search for an interim spent nuclear reactor fuel depository while touring the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant in California. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• A Wyoming coal town prepares to accommodate an expected influx of 1,600 new workers to build TerraPower’s proposed advanced nuclear reactor. (Wyoming Public Radio)

COAL: The federal Bureau of Reclamation plans to repurpose the shuttered San Juan coal plant’s reservoir to supply a Navajo Nation water project. (NM Political Report)

TRANSPORTATION: California’s high speed rail authority proposes a 44 MW solar-plus-storage facility to power trains on the project’s initial segment in the Central Valley. (Forbes)

SOLAR: A Colorado rural electric cooperative proposes a 1.7 MW community solar garden in the southwestern part of the state. (Durango Herald)     

BIOFUELS: A California city repurposes a water treatment facility to produce pipeline-grade methane fuel from wastewater and food waste. (KABC)

COMMENTARY: A finance company explains how it can quickly provide needed capital to energy firms. (Raistone, sponsored)

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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.