OIL & GAS: Navajo Nation citizen scientists and advocates monitor oil and gas facility emissions in areas where regulators can’t — or won’t — go. (Nexus Media News)

ALSO:
• Environmentalists call on the Biden administration to tighten regulations on public land oil and gas drilling now that hopes for passing a congressional climate bill have languished. (E&E News)
• New Mexico officials say oil and gas operations in two Permian Basin counties generate nearly one-fourth of New Mexico’s total tax revenue, making the state especially vulnerable to commodity price volatility. (Carlsbad Current-Argus) 
• An Environmental Defense Fund study finds oil and gas drilling is clustered in areas with large numbers of historically marginalized people. (E&E News, subscription)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: A Colorado county shuts down four methane-powered cryptocurrency mining operations at oil and gas wells to allow it time to formulate rules for the facilities. (Denver Post) 

SOLAR: Hawaii rooftop solar installers stop taking on townhouse clients because of long permitting wait times. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)

GRID: California regulators begin formulating rules aimed at shoring up grid reliability by using real-time rates to shift customer demand. (RTO Insider, subscription) 

UTILITIES: Nevada’s largest utility acquired nearly 31% of its power from renewable sources last year, exceeding the state’s requirement of 24%. (RTO Insider, subscription) 

HYDROPOWER: Portland, Oregon, renews a deal with a utility to operate a pair of hydropower dams even though the city has lost $11 million from the venture over the last two years. (Oregonian)

NUCLEAR: A Utah uranium industry official says the Biden administration’s efforts to keep nuclear reactors online and shore up domestic fuel supplies are small steps toward reviving the near-dormant industry. (Utah Public Radio)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A Colorado media outlet finds more than half of the electric vehicle chargers in a resort area were out of order or had mechanical problems. (Aspen Daily News)
• Volvo is set to begin construction this year on a publicly accessible medium- and heavy-duty electric truck charging network in California. (CleanTechnica)  

COMMENTARY:
• A California researcher says the state lacks adequate policy to mitigate the potentially deadly combination of extreme heat and wildfire-related power outages. (Los Angeles Times)
• A California editorial board says Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant should close in 2025 as planned because it is unsafe, and retrofitting it to keep it open is too costly. (Fresno Bee)

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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.