OIL & GAS: Los Angeles’ city council votes to ban all new oil and gas drilling immediately and phase out existing extraction within 20 years. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO:
• State regulators across the U.S. identify and report 120,000 orphaned oil and gas wells — a 50% increase from a year ago — after federal funds become available to plug and reclaim them. (Washington Post)
• California lawmakers convene a special session to consider a proposed windfall tax on excessive oil company profits aimed at addressing high gasoline prices. (Los Angeles Times) 
• An influx of oil and gas workers sparks a residential real estate boom in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado environmentalists urge regulators to phase out sales of gasoline-powered lawn tools and encourage the switch to electric implements to reduce ozone pollution. (Colorado Sun)

UTILITIES:
• California regulators order Southern California Edison to credit ratepayers $76 million for mismanaging its energy efficiency lighting program for two years. (Utility Dive)
• A New Mexico committee nominates nine candidates for five seats on the first governor-appointed utility regulatory board, but exclude the only sitting commissioner who applied. (Source NM)   
• Public Service Company of New Mexico looks to wholesale power markets to replace generation from the shuttered San Juan coal plant after planned solar projects are delayed. (Albuquerque Journal)  

GRID:
• A Utah electricity wholesaler urges federal regulators to reject PacifiCorp’s request for an expedited process to replace retired power generators, saying it gives the company an unfair competitive advantage. (Utility Dive)
• Heavy winds batter utility equipment in eastern Colorado, leaving more than 4,000 households without power. (CPR)

SOLAR: A federal probe finds companies avoided tariffs on solar equipment manufactured in China using other nations as pass-throughs in the production process, validating a small California manufacturer’s allegations. (Washington Post)

CARBON CAPTURE:
• Developers of a proposed direct air carbon capture facility in Wyoming tout the project as a job creator, but some residents are concerned about potential environmental impacts. (Inside Climate News)
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon reiterates the state’s goal of becoming carbon-negative by using carbon capture — even as it continues producing and burning fossil fuels. (Wyoming Public Radio)  

BIOFUELS: Oregon environmentalists urge regulators to revoke authorizations for a $2 billion renewable diesel refinery proposed near the Columbia River.  (Oregonian) 

HYDROGEN: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico apply for up to $1.25 billion in federal funds to establish eight hydrogen projects, including a production facility in northwestern New Mexico. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

CRITICAL MINERALS: A Washington state researcher receives federal funds to develop methods of using carbon dioxide to extract rare earth elements from aluminum production waste. (news release)

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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.