California coalition aims to deploy solar on irrigation canals

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• California universities launch an initiative aimed at accelerating solar array deployment over irrigation and drinking water canals, saying it would conserve water and reduce air pollution and energy siting conflicts. (Turlock Journal)

• Federal Bureau of Land Management officials say its solar permitting pause expired last week, but the agency has not issued any new permits. (Heatmap)

• Colorado energy industry officials say uncertainty sowed by the Trump administration’s spending freeze has thrown solar projects into limbo and stifled private investment. (KUNC)

• An Idaho city plans to expand and upgrade its geothermal district heating system following a donation from a private citizen. (New York Times, news release)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A federal judge overturns the Biden administration’s 2023 cancellation of seven oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying it violated a 2017 tax law. (Associated Press)

• Colorado regulators seek public input on energy transition plans for communities with soon-to-retire coal plants and mines. (Denver Gazette)

• Hilcorp proposes three oil and gas wells in the Cook Inlet in Alaska and seeks permits to incidentally harass marine mammals. (Must Read Alaska)

• Backers of a court-annulled Washington state ballot initiative banning restrictions on natural gas service and appliances plan to take their case to the state’s Supreme Court. (Center Square)

UTILITIES

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek urges utility regulators to develop plans to address growing electricity demand from data centers, keep residents’ rates affordable and honor state climate commitments. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

• Celebrity attorneys and activists descend on Los Angeles and file lawsuits against utilities seeking damages from January’s deadly blazes, even though investigators have yet to determine the cause. (Los Angeles Times)

• Disgruntled Rocky Mountain Power customers host a public hearing in Utah to protest the utility’s proposed rate hike. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• A Colorado municipal utility says it has spent $3 million so far this year on wildfire hazard mitigation work. (KOAA)

CLIMATE

• California researchers find urban trees in Los Angeles absorb far more carbon dioxide than previously believed. (Los Angeles Times)

NUCLEAR

• Wyoming residents raise questions, concerns and hopes about a firm’s plan to establish a nuclear microreactor manufacturing facility in the state. (WyoFile)

TRANSPORTATION

• Colorado advocates call on state and local governments to increase public transit funding to pay for Denver-area bus-service and rail expansions. (Colorado Newsline)

• An Alaska transit center breaks ground on a charging station for the city’s electric bus fleet. (KTOO)

PUBLIC LANDS

• Records show 55 federal Bureau of Land Management employees in Utah have resigned or been fired since Trump took office, potentially affecting energy project enforcement and permitting. (Salt Lake Tribune)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• Alison Takemura dives into a new report detailing buildings’ many climate dilemmas, and the levers that developers and owners will need to pull to slash their carbon emissions

• Hyundai’s proposed $6 billion steel plant in Louisiana aims to use an electric arc furnace — a step away from blast furnaces, but not a big one toward green steel, Alexander C. Kaufman reports.