** The US Energy Information Administration released preliminary estimates for January 2020 showing U.S. natural gas production totaled 3.0 quadrillion Btu which represented 36% of total U.S. energy production and natural gas accounted for 16% of country’s primary energy imports.
** EPA Administrator Michael Regan is appearing in both chambers this week, first before Senate EPW on Wednesday, then House Energy and Commerce on Thursday to go over EPA’s budget.
** California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and end all drilling in the state by 2045.
** A Montana lawmaker introduces a bill that would allow the attorney general’s office to investigate environmental groups that oppose coal.
** Critics say the proposed merger of New Mexico’s largest power company with Avangrid would harm the environment and the utility’s ratepayers during a regulatory hearing.
** Two Nebraska electric cooperatives join others in buying out their contracts and leaving their regional wholesale electricity supplier.
** Samsung considers developing 700 MW of solar power in Texas beginning in June 2022.
** BP Plc wants to be your power supplier, too. The oil and natural gas giant is seeking permission to become a retail electricity provider to homes and businesses initially in Illinois, Ohio, Texas, California and Pennsylvania, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filing issued last week.
** A new study finds climate change is already transforming the Greater Yellowstone area, with major economic and cultural implications as temperatures warm, snowpacks shrink, and fire risks grow.
** Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon tells a Senate committee that President Biden’s moratorium on new federal leasing on public lands has adversely impacted the state’s economy and its oil, gas, and coal industries.
** Ford announces plans for a $185 million research and development project focused on battery manufacturing.
** Janet McCabe, Biden’s nominee for deputy EPA administrator, prevailed on the Senate floor Tuesday by a narrow margin 52-42. Three Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska supported her confirmation.