MIDTERMS: New Mexico voters elect a Democratic conservationist to represent the U.S. House district that includes the Permian Basin, ousting the oil and gas industry-boosting Republican incumbent. (Roswell Daily News)

ALSO:
• Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek wins re-election in Oregon, ending fears that a Republican winner could overturn the state’s climate plan enacted by executive order. (Oregonian, Inside Climate News)
• Adequate funding for New Mexico oil and gas regulators remains in doubt even though Democrats retained control of all branches of state government in the midterms. (Capital & Main)
• Voters in two Colorado cities retain and expand taxes to fund climate resiliency efforts, solar projects and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (CPR)
• Wyoming conservationists and oil and gas industry officials predict the national midterm election results won’t significantly alter federal energy policy even if Republicans take control of Congress. (Wyoming Public Radio)  

SOLAR: A Colorado researcher develops rooftop agrivoltaic installations that combine solar panels and agricultural crops atop buildings. (KUNC) 

OIL & GAS:
• A Chevron refinery in California agrees to pay $200,000 in civil penalties and damages for spilling 800 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Francisco Bay in 2021. (KQED)
• Colorado residents voice concerns and support for a 15-well oil and gas drilling project proposed amid suburban neighborhoods. (Loveland Reporter-Herald)
• A New Mexico county advances plans to issue a $300 million industrial bond to finance a proposed natural gas processing plant in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)  

GRID:
• A conservation group lauds Arizona regulators’ decision advancing the proposed SunZia Transmission project that would link the state’s grid with New Mexico wind power facilities. (news release)
• Gusty winds topple power lines in Washington state, leaving more than 250,000 homes and businesses without power. (Bloomberg)
• Heavy snows wreck transformers and utility lines in northern California, leaving more than 4,000 without power. (KCRA)

HYDROPOWER:
• A Washington state hydroelectricity company must pay $500,000 in fines and damages for spilling toxic artificial turf into the Puyallup River while updating an old dam in 2020. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• A California irrigation district plans to replace turbines and generators at a 203 MW hydropower facility in the eastern part of the state. (Hydro Review)

LITHIUM: A critical minerals producing firm agrees to supply LG Energy Solution with battery-grade lithium from its solar evaporation brine project in Ogden, Utah. (news release)

COMMENTARY: A New Mexico analyst applauds Tesla’s plans to establish an electric vehicle dealership on the Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico, where it can skirt a state ban on direct-to-consumer vehicle sales. (Albuquerque Journal)

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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.