COAL: The Intermountain Power Agency rejects Enchant Energy’s unsolicited bid to purchase Utah coal power plants, install carbon capture and keep them running beyond their scheduled 2025 retirement date. (Millard County Chronicle-Progress)

ALSO: Westmoreland begins reclaiming its San Juan coal mine in New Mexico, further dimming Enchant Energy’s prospects of reviving the shuttered power plant and running it with carbon capture. (Farmington Daily Times)

OIL & GAS:
• Environmentalists call on the U.S. EPA to reverse Colorado regulators’ air pollution permit approval for an oil and gas wastewater management facility in the western part of the state. (Daily Sentinel)
• A New Mexico environmental group uses the Citizen Suit provision of the federal Clean Air Act to force an oil and gas company to cut pollution from its Permian Basin facilities. (Capital & Main)
• New Mexico law enforcement officials investigate a Permian Basin oil and gas facility incident that resulted in a worker’s death. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Colorado regulators say billowing clouds coming from a Denver-area oil refinery were caused by cold temperatures, not increased pollutant emissions. (Denver Post) 

BATTERIES: A Utah company proposes constructing a battery manufacturing facility near Tucson, Arizona, that would eventually employ up to 1,000 people. (Arizona Daily Star)  

GRID:
• Heavy snowfall topples utility lines in the Northwest, leaving 9,000 households without power in Oregon and Washington state. (OPB)
• Pacific Gas & Electric warns today’s forecasted storm could leave up to 40,000 customers without power in the San Francisco Bay area. (KTVU)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Tesla unveils its first battery-powered semi-truck at the Nevada facility where it was built. (Canary Media)
• A Colorado university purchases two electric buses and charging infrastructure with the help of federal funds. (Daily Camera)   

TRIBAL ENERGY: The Biden administration commits to purchasing electricity from tribal nations, boosting tribal consultations on energy projects and supporting electric vehicle infrastructure in Indian Country. (E&E News, subscription; news release)

HYDROPOWER: Federal officials warn Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona could lose hydropower generation capacity as early as July if climate change-induced drought continues to lower reservoir levels at current rates. (Washington Post)

SOLAR:
• A telecommunication company becomes the anchor subscriber for two new community solar installations in northern Colorado. (Colorado Sun)
• Construction is completed on the 100 MW Rabbitbrush solar-plus-storage facility in southern California. (news release)

CARBON CAPTURE: The University of Wyoming plans to offer a carbon capture, utilization and storage undergraduate certificate program. (Carbon Herald)

GEOTHERMAL: A Utah startup partners with a university to develop a method of drilling five miles into the earth to tap geothermal resources. (Journal Record)

COMMENTARY: A Colorado environmental justice advocate urges state officials to create electrification policies that prioritize switching low- and moderate-income households away from natural gas. (Colorado Sun)

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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.