Analysis: $87 million to delay Colorado coal plant retirements

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• An analysis estimates the effort to keep Colorado coal plants running beyond their planned retirement dates due to increasing demand and Trump administration orders will cost the state’s utility customers more than $87 million. (Colorado Sun)

• California files another lawsuit seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s approval of Sable Offshore’s oil drilling operation along the Santa Barbara coast, saying the state’s coastline is ​“not for sale to enrich the president’s fossil fuel friends.” (Los Angeles Times)

• The U.S. Interior Department asks a federal court to toss out challenges to the agency’s former coal-leasing moratorium in the Powder River Basin, saying Congress rendered the cases moot by ending the ban. (Bloomberg Law)

• Advocacy groups release an animated video aimed at educating the public about oil and gas facility methane emissions on the Navajo Nation, their impacts, and mitigation strategies. (news release)

• Six people plead guilty to stealing tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil from Permian Basin operators in New Mexico and selling the fuel for a fraction of its market value. (Dallas Express)

UTILITIES

• California’s largest utilities draw criticism for launching a lobbying campaign purportedly backed by victims of wildfires sparked by the utilities’ equipment, but which wildfire victims say does not speak for them. (Los Angeles Times)

• JERA Co., which is planning to build a 500-MW plant powered by liquefied natural gas on Hawaiʻi’s Oʻahu, informs state regulators that it will try to create a new power utility to sell its electricity, threatening the monopoly utility that currently powers the island. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

• Southern California consumer advocates push back on San Diego Gas & Electric’s proposed 8.6% rate hike, saying the utility’s rates are already unaffordable. (KPBS)

• Arizona utility Salt River Project seeks public input on the proposed Marigold Energy Center in Stanfield that would include 600 MW of solar capacity, 400 MW of battery storage capacity, and 675 MW of gas-fired generation. (Utility Dive, news release)

• Arizona utilities say unprecedented data center-driven demand growth is leading to supply chain issues, slowing progress on planned infrastructure projects. (KJZZ)

CLEAN ENERGY

• rPlus Energies brings online its 125 MW Pleasant Valley 2 solar installation and begins construction on its 400 MW Blacks Creek solar-plus-storage facility in southwestern Idaho. (electrek)

• Avantus brings online its 200 MW Aratina 1 solar-plus-storage facility in Kern County, California, to serve community choice aggregators around the state. (Renewables Now)

• Clark County, Nevada, launches a program to help residents and businesses access discounted rooftop solar installations via group purchasing. (Nevada Current)

• SunPower completes a 1 MW solar carport system at a 330-unit residential community in Palm Desert, California. (Solar Quarter)

STORAGE

• California startup Sila secures $300 million in funding to expand its silicon-anode battery material manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, Washington. (South Sound Business)

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Economic Development Administration awards an Idaho and Wyoming coalition tech hub $31 million for nuclear energy research and development. (Idaho Capital Sun)

• Jerome County, Idaho’s elected officials explore the feasibility of developing small modular reactors to bolster the region’s grid. (KIVI)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Data show California EV sales climbed between April and June of this year after dropping to record lows during the first quarter of 2026. (E&E News)

GEOTHERMAL

• Colorado’s State Land Board seeks proposals to explore and develop geothermal energy resources in five counties in the southern part of the state. (news release)