CLIMATE: Washington state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, set to launch in January, emphasizes environmental equity and aims to prevent carbon offsets from polluting marginalized communities. (Utility Dive)

ALSO:   
• British Columbia enters a climate pact with Washington, Oregon and California that includes cross-border infrastructure such as electric vehicle chargers. (Canadian Press)
• A Colorado city breaks ground on what aims to be the world’s first net-zero carbon emissions detention center. (Fox21)

OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration plans federal oil and gas lease sales for 10,123 acres in New Mexico and 251,087 acres in Wyoming, as mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reuters)
• Wyoming researchers find that when migrating mule deer encounter oil and gas facilities, they stall long enough to let spring forage they’re traveling toward go stale and lose nutritional value. (news release)
• The operator of a California refinery agrees to pay $127,192 in civil penalties to settle claims it violated federal environmental laws. (news release)

GRID:
• California energy officials say a quirk in market design led the state’s batteries to send power to the grid before it was needed during the peak of the September heat wave. (NBC Bay Area)
• Tesla’s California virtual power plant, which compensates residential battery owners for sending power back to the grid, grows to over 5,000 members. (Teslarati)

UTILITIES: California regulators order SoCalGas not to charge ratepayers for a proposed natural gas compressor expansion before the project gets state approval. (news release)

SOLAR:
• Nonprofits team up to provide solar systems to off-grid Navajo Nation residents and train them to install the equipment on their homes. (PV Magazine)
• A California court rejects an environmentalist group’s lawsuit challenging a solar developer’s payments to a county for conservation easements to offset a 650 MW project’s impact on raptors. (Bakersfield Californian) 

TRANSPORTATION:
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom considers calling a special legislative session to pass a windfall profit tax on oil companies in response to soaring gasoline prices. (KCRA)
• A California poll finds a majority of voters favor the state’s plan to phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2035, but only 20% say the next vehicle they buy will be all-electric. (Los Angeles Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Oregon transportation officials plan to use $52 million in federal funds to double the number of high-speed electric vehicle chargers over the next five years. (Register-Guard)
• A California firm plans to install eight public electric vehicle charging stations emblazoned with advertisements in low-income neighborhoods in Tucson, Arizona. (Arizona Daily Star)

URANIUM: Ute Mountain Ute tribal members plan a spiritual walk to protest alleged contamination from the White Mesa uranium mill in southeast Utah. (Cortez 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.