SOLAR: A firm pauses permitting on a proposed utility-scale solar project in eastern Washington after tribal nations push back on concerns the development would harm cultural sites. (High Country News)

GRID: 

  • A rural Colorado county plans to study the feasibility of a high-voltage transmission line designed to increase grid reliability and facilitate solar energy exports. (Monte Vista Journal)
  • California energy officials tell state lawmakers a regionally governed transmission organization and day-ahead power market would bolster grid reliability and reduce electricity costs. (RTO Insider, subscription) 

MINING: 

UTILITIES: 

  • Hawaiian Electric estimates liability losses related to last year’s deadly Maui wildfires total about $1.7 billion so far. (Bloomberg)
  • Bonneville Power Administration asks a federal court to dismiss it from three lawsuits accusing the utility and other entities of negligence in sparking a 2020 wildfire in Oregon. (OPB)
  • New Mexico regulators approve a rule aimed at standardizing grid data collection by requiring utilities to file annual reliability reports. (NM Political Report)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

STORAGE: A firm proposes a 250 MW pumped hydropower energy storage facility in the subterranean workings of a western Colorado coal mine. (Big Pivots)

OIL & GAS: 

CARBON CAPTURE: A California nonprofit finds state plans to capture and sequester 50 million tons of carbon dioxide would require about 1,150 miles of new pipelines and other infrastructure. (Capital & Main)

NUCLEAR: California officials seek alternative methods of transporting the shuttered San Onofre nuclear reactor’s radioactive waste after landslides pummel the main rail route. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

CLIMATE: New Mexico advocates call on state lawmakers to establish an occupational heat standard to protect workers from climate change-related rising temperatures. (KOB 4)

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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.