UTILITIES: Hawaiian Electric and six other entities agree to pay $4 billion in damages to settle lawsuits stemming from last year’s deadly Maui wildfires. (CNN) 

ALSO:

  • An Arizona utility plans to retire its remaining coal generation by 2028 while adding energy storage, wind, solar and quick-ramping gas plants to meet a predicted 1.2% annual demand increase. (Arizona Daily Star)
  • Oregon timber companies file a lawsuit accusing three utilities of sparking the 2020 Holiday Farm wildfire after failing to de-energize power lines during hot and windy conditions. (OPB)

POLLUTION: 

  • Southern California regulators adopt a rule requiring rail yard owners and operators to significantly reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions from freight trains and cargo trucks. (Los Angeles Times)
  • Unusually high temperatures and wildfire smoke drive up ozone pollution levels on Colorado’s Front Range, imperiling efforts to meet federal air quality standards by 2027. (Denver Post)

OIL & GAS: 

  • Colorado regulators postpone a vote on a controversial proposal to drill 166 oil and gas wells in the Denver area following a heated public hearing. (Denver Post)
  • California regulators suggest expanding fuel storage capacity and more tightly regulating or taking over petroleum refineries as options for managing predicted gasoline price increases as the state electrifies transportation. (E&E News, subscription)

NUCLEAR: 

  • A Wyoming lawmaker proposes establishing a spent nuclear reactor fuel repository in the state, saying it could help offset declining fossil fuel severance tax revenues. (WyoFile)
  • A company agrees to pause uranium ore shipments from its Arizona mine and negotiate with Navajo Nation leaders following protests over trucking the material across tribal land. (NM Political Report)
  • The Idaho National Laboratory begins construction on a nuclear microreactor testing and training facility. (news release)

SOLAR: A southern Oregon community looks to develop more solar and keep land in agriculture by encouraging distributed generation on rooftops and over parking lots. (Rogue Valley Times)

WIND: Some eastern Colorado residents push back on a proposed utility-scale wind facility on private land, raising concerns about impacts on views, along with health claims that are not supported by evidence. (Gazette)

COMMENTARY:  

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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.