** Reuters reported that in a last-minute change, the Trump administration cut about 30 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge territory that it plans to auction off for oil exploration. The decision was announced late Friday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency managing the oil lease sale.
** Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Sunday warned that the recent Russian cyberattack against U.S. agencies and companies could potentially “cripple” electricity and water systems in the country. He also criticized President Donald Trump for failing to condemn Russia for the unprecedented hack reported HuffPost.
** Royal Dutch Shell Plc warned of another coming multibillion-dollar impairment charge, weaker oil trading and a loss in upstream division operations and fuel sales. Some suggest the Anglo-Dutch energy giant’s warning could be a sign of another bleak quarter for the industry reported Bloomberg.
** Ohio’s solar market is booming because of inexpensive land and high corporate renewable energy demand and despite years of hostility toward renewables from policymakers reported Inside Climate News.
** An Ohio House committee advances a bill that would start collecting ratepayer funding for a $1 billion power plant bailout law early next year but refund the money and impose a one-year delay reported Cleveland.com.
** The Salt Lake Tribune reports a Bureau of Land Management official halts a Utah tar sands lease sale after a media investigation finds a beneficiary of the deal also worked as a contractor in the BLM’s Salt Lake City office.
** A Republican Montana state senator wants the state to do study on the merits of small modular nuclear reactors as a clean energy solution according to the Helena Independent Record.
