** A Government Accountability Office report finds the Interior Department failed to determine need before issuing $4.5 million in royalty cuts to oil producers as pandemic relief.
** The glut that drove natural gas prices to the lowest level in 25 years early in the summer isn’t over yet — and may drive U.S. inventories to their highest-ever levels by the end of the month, according to the Energy Information Adminsitration’s latest short-term outlook .
** Sixty environmental and conservation groups drew up a list of wide-ranging actions they contend should be reversed because of the federal court decision that enjoined William Perry Pendley from exercising the authority of director at the Bureau of Land Management.
** Wyoming environmental regulators deny an energy company’s request to discharge 400% more produced water per day from a controversial oil and gas project as part of its final permit.
** A battery storage system deployed by Ameren has reduced the number and duration of outages in a small, “geographically challenging” southern Illinois town.
** Senate Democrats, including Environment and Public Works ranking member Tom Carper (Del.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), warned EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler against withholding funds intended for the cleanup of contaminated land and drinking water sources in several Democratic-led cities.
** Arizona electric truck firm Nikola’s public relations crisis continues with accusations that the troubled company is using copyright law to silence its critics.
** A report from three state agencies on California’s recent blackouts finds energy planners have failed to account for climate change, leaving the grid vulnerable to extreme heat waves.
** A Florida county board denies a zoning exemption for a 650-acre solar project in a predominantly Black community after some residents said the proposal constituted environmental racism and would hurt property values.
** The demolition of a former Duke Energy nuclear plant in Florida will take seven years instead of six decades because of a drop in costs.
** Ameren says it will close its net metering program after claiming to have reached a capacity limit, rejecting an order from Illinois regulators last week calling for an audit of the utility’s program.
