San Francisco inches closer to PG&E takeover

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

UTILITIES

• San Francisco’s planning commission approves an environmental review needed for the city to acquire Pacific Gas & Electric’s grid. (KQED)
• California regulators consider fining Pacific Gas & Electric $22 million over its role in sparking the 2022 Mosquito Fire in Placer County. (CBS News)
• An RMI study finds Rocky Mountain Power customers in Utah could have saved $21.6 million between 2020 and 2024 if the utility had taken on some of the cost of fuel price adjustments. (Utah News Dispatch)
• Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte suspends Public Service Commission member Brad Molnar after multiple staffers accuse him of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliatory behavior. (Montana Free Press)

FOSSIL FUELS

• New Mexico regulators say they plugged an annual record-high 114 orphaned oil and gas wells during fiscal year 2026, at an average cost of $236,000 per well. (Organ Mountain News, news release)
• A conservative activist group submits a petition for a Colorado ballot initiative that would add ​“the right to natural gas” to the state’s constitution and block building codes that encourage electrification. (Inside Climate News)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management approves a proposal to convert a former natural gas pipeline in southern California to carry water from the Mojave Desert to the Inland Empire. (Pipeline & Gas Journal)

DATA CENTERS

• Nevada residents and lawmakers push back on Townsite Solar 2 LLC’s proposed data center on federal land near Boulder, citing water and energy consumption concerns. (Nevada Current)
• Northern Nevada residents urge county commissioners to delay approving a proposed ordinance clearing the way for data center–related electrical infrastructure expansion until they develop regulations for the facilities. (Carson NOW)
• Washington state firm Microsoft reports its AI data center buildout has led to a 25% year-over-year carbon emissions increase. (OPB)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California nonprofit Bright Saver begins selling zero-markup plug-in solar kits for about $300 in an effort to kick-start the U.S. market for the technology. (Canary Media)
• Boulder, Colorado, launches a grant program to help nonprofits install distributed batteries or solar-plus-storage systems to maintain critical services during power outages. (ColoradoBiz)

STORAGE

• Peak Energy’s planned battery gigafactory in Sacramento, California, would be the nation’s first facility to produce grid-scale sodium-ion energy storage devices. (Canary Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A Denver-area school district’s electric school bus fleet exports power back to the grid during peak demand via bidirectional chargers. (Good News Network)

COMMENTARY

• A Nevada advocate criticizes NV Energy’s proposal to build three new gas peaker plants, saying it would increase the state’s reliance on costly fossil fuels and hinder energy independence efforts. (Nevada Current)
• A Washington columnist calls on policymakers to pave the way for more grid-scale battery energy storage, saying a ​“cleaner, greener future is not possible” without it. (Seattle Times)