Group sues Interior Dept. over oil and gas leases near Bears Ears

OIL & GAS: A conservation group sues the U.S. Interior Department over 32 Trump-era oil and gas leases in Utah, alleging it did not assess archaeology and nature impacts, including in nearby Bears Ears National Monument. (Reuters)

ALSO:
• An investigation finds California’s opaque approval process for underground injection wells means the state is likely underreporting the number of new wells, which pose a risk to groundwater. (Capital & Main)
• Carlsbad, New Mexico residents fight back against the proliferation of oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, citing health and environmental concerns. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Federal regulators order Hilcorp to replace an aging, 7-mile-long pipeline that sprung a leak last week in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. (Anchorage Daily News)

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COAL:
• Montana’s Senate passes a bill designed to save the Colstrip Power Plant and shield NorthWestern Energy from financial losses. (Billings Gazette)
• A Wyoming legislative committee considers studying a potential land swap with the federal government as a way to buffer the state’s coal, oil and gas industries from the impact of new federal policies. (WyoFile)

WIND:
• Avista Corp., the owner of the Colstrip Power Plant, is considering adding 300 megawatts of wind power over the next seven years. (Montana Standard)
• A Wyoming county accepts an application for a wind project, opening a public comment and review period. (Wyoming News Exchange)

HYDROPOWER: A near-to-below normal water supply in the Columbia River Basin is expected to decrease hydropower generation in the Pacific Northwest this summer, particularly in Oregon. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

EFFICIENCY: A Nevada bill would raise the bar for utility energy efficiency programs, including doubling funding for programs serving low-income and historically disadvantaged communities. (Nevada Independent)

GRID: A federal judge weighs requiring PG&E to consider local tree hazards in public safety power shutoff decisions, which could sharply increase the number of planned outages. (Microgrid Knowledge)

SOLAR:
• An Albuquerque solar entrepreneur is New Mexico’s first billionaire on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s richest people. (Las Cruces Sun News)
• A Colorado city council votes to use city reserves to match a state grant to install solar panels on a wastewater treatment facility. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)
• A California county recently approved a 4 MW solar project that will incorporate livestock grazing and a pollinator meadow. (Mad River Union)
• California’s Santa Rosa Cahuilla Tribe recently celebrated completion of a 1 MW solar array, the state’s first low-income community solar project. (Valley News)

MINING: Anti-mining activists say Nevada’s Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribal Council voted to cancel an engagement agreement with a lithium mining company, citing cultural and environmental threats. (Sierra Nevada Ally)

COMMENTARY:
• A Washington state cap-and-trade bill won’t do enough to stop pollution that disproportionately affects Black and brown residents, an editor writes. (The Stranger)
• A conservationist says a Montana bill aiming to save the Colstrip Power Plant is ​“the worst abuse of power in terms of corporate cronyism.” (Montana Standard)