ELECTRIFICATION: San Diego’s city council approves a climate plan that calls for banning natural gas hookups in new construction and electrifying nearly all existing homes and other buildings. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

ALSO:
• A Colorado ski town becomes the state’s first municipality to ban natural gas hookups in new construction. (Crested Butte News)
• Denver, Colorado, leaders approve contracts to spend $6 million to electrify and weatherize 200 low-income families’ homes and apartments. (Denver Gazette)
• A Washington state lawmaker who has led efforts to ban natural gas hookups and electrify buildings wins a primary election against a fossil fuel group-funded opponent. (HuffPost)

UTILITIES:
• Arizona Public Service officials say they support the proposed $369 billion congressional climate bill even though the utility belongs to trade groups attacking the package. (E&E News, Energy and Policy Institute)  
• San Diego Gas & Electric says it is burying power lines, adding covered conductors and taking other fire risk reduction measures to avoid initiating planned power outages. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

LITHIUM:
• An Australian company scraps plans to extract lithium on 9,000 acres in southern Oregon after learning the land is off limits to new mining. (OPB)   
• A battery manufacturer agrees to purchase lithium from the proposed Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada even though the mine’s permitting could be complicated by its proximity to an endangered flower. (Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Nevada submits its proposal to the federal government on how it plans to spend $38 million in federal funds to build out its electric vehicle charging network. (Reno Gazette-Journal)
• A California university chooses a firm to design a hybrid diesel and hydrogen fuel cell-powered coastal research vessel. (Offshore Energy)

HYDROPOWER:
• California wildlife advocates prepare to sue Pacific Gas & Electric over its operation of a hydropower project, saying it is harming endangered salmon and trout. (Mendocino Voice)
• The Bonneville Power Administration adopts a new streamflow forecast model to better account for climate change’s effects on its hydropower dams in the Northwest. (Hydro Review) 

OIL & GAS: An archaeology organization’s report finds oil and gas development threatens Indigenous homelands and sacred sites in and near several national parks in Western states. (news release)

COAL:
• The U.S. Interior Department asks states and the Navajo Nation to apply for a portion of $725 million in federal funding for cleaning up abandoned coal mines. (Colorado Newsline) 
• Arizona regulators seek public input on a proposed air quality permit for a coal fired power plant in the eastern part of the state. (news release)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

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.