CALIFORNIA: PG&E agrees to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with 2018’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in California’s history. (New York Times)

MICROGRIDS: California’s plan to deploy microgrids to improve resilience in fire-prone areas are on hold due to cost and deployment complexities. (Utility Dive)

COAL:
• An investigation finds that Wyoming coal interests funneled money and experts to influence Colorado utility regulators’ decision on closing parts of a Pueblo, Colorado plant. (Colorado Sun)
• The Powder River Basin Resource Council isn’t convinced that the federal government temporarily relaxing or suspending royalty payments would be worth it for coal companies. (Casper Star-Tribune)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• The BLM is moving ahead with oil and gas lease sales in Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado this week despite opposition. (Reuters)
• Montana environmentalists are critical of the BLM’s new oil and gas leasing Resource Management Plan for the state. (Great Falls Tribune) 

UTILITIES:
• The Rocky Mountain Institute warns utilities will collect less revenue in the form of rates during this period of decreased economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Utility Dive)
• La Plata Electric Association is helping drive energy policy in Colorado, notably in its conflict with Tri-State Generation and Transmission over coal. (Durango Herald)
• Pacific Power is decreasing power bills for its Northern California residential customers by 5.1 percent, its second cut since February. (Daily Energy Insider)

OVERSIGHT: A hearing on proposed new regulations for oil and gas facilities in Larimer County, Colorado has been rescheduled to April 6. (Coloradoan)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Baird analyst says Tesla’s $8.6 billion in cash makes the company likely to be able to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, at least for another two quarters. (Clean Technica)

NUCLEAR: The licensing of a proposed nuclear waste storage facility in southeastern New Mexico could be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

COMMENTARY:
• A solar advocate says California cannot afford delays in implementing its legislation aimed at eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the electric sector by 2045. (Utility Dive)
• An energy efficiency expert says California needs a better plan to achieve its climate goals. (CalMatters)
• A clean tech consultant breaks down low-cost solar-plus-storage power purchase agreements in the U.S. by looking at the Eland PV-plus-storage project in California. (Energy Storage News)

Lisa is a Lenape and Nanticoke Native American freelance journalist, editor and writer currently based in the U.K. She has more than two decades’ experience working in corporate communications and print and digital media. She compiles the Western Energy News daily email digest. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University; her specializations include data journalism and visualization. She is a member of the Native American Journalists Association, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Union of Journalists (U.K.).