California electrification-boosting rule can stand

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.

ELECTRIFICATION

• A federal court upholds a first-in-the-nation regulation that will gradually reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from gas appliances in Southern California and spur electrification in the smog-choked region. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Indigenous-led nonprofit Native Renewables continues its effort to bring rooftop solar and battery storage to off-grid Navajo Nation homes even as federal funding is thrown into doubt. (New York Times)

• The U.S. House passes GOP-backed legislation that would direct the federal Bureau of Land Management to sell 3,400 acres of public land to an Arizona county for solar energy and economic development. (E&E News)

• The Trump administration releases $2 million in frozen federal funds to help install rooftop solar on off-grid homes on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. (Wyoming Public Radio)

• Data show the California grid’s solar curtailment rates are declining as battery energy storage capacity climbs. (PV Magazine)

COAL

• Northwest Colorado communities look to revamp their economies to weather the scheduled 2028 closures of two coal plants. (Denver Gazette)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on Canyon Fuels Company’s proposed coal exploratory drilling project in Sanpete County, Utah. (news release)

• A Wyoming county in the Powder River Basin urges the U.S. Interior Department to adopt policies prioritizing energy development and local control over public lands. (County 17)

• Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte calls on Congress to overturn Biden-era bans on new federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. (news release)

OIL & GAS

• A California court blocks Sable Offshore from reopening a shuttered pipeline that spilled more than 100,000 barrels of oil at Refugio State Beach in 2015. (E&E News)

PUBLIC LANDS

• U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urges congressional Republicans to continue to roll back Biden-era energy regulations and environmental protections for federal lands. (E&E News)

GEOTHERMAL

• The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to auction 13 geothermal leases totaling 23,000 acres in northern California next month. (news release)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks geothermal lease nominations in New Mexico for a March 2026 auction. (news release)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management brings in $430,000 from geothermal lease sales in Oregon. (news release)

STORAGE

• GridBeyond brings the 200 MW Big Rock battery energy storage system online in southern California. (Market Screener)

• Colorado Springs Utilities brings its first grid-scale battery energy storage system online. (KRDO)

DATA CENTERS

• An advocacy group urges Western state lawmakers to develop policies that prevent new data centers from overloading the grid and burdening other utility customers. (Big Pivots)

• Records indicate Amazon Web Services is the company behind a controversial proposed data center in Tucson, Arizona, that would become the region’s largest single electricity user. (Arizona Luminaria)

UTILITIES

• Colorado advocates and regulators push back on Xcel Energy’s proposed just transition plan to replace retiring coal plants’ generation with renewables, storage, and gas, saying it could shift data centers’ and other large load users’ costs to residential customers. (Longmont Times-Call)

• Xcel Energy says it has updated and clarified its public power safety outage policies and procedures after customers and officials criticized the utility for vague and delayed communications during last year’s wildfire season. (Boulder Reporting Lab)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• BP Pulse opens a 48-unit EV charging gigahub near the Los Angeles International Airport. (NBC Los Angeles)

MINING

• A Canadian company abandons a controversial proposed uranium exploration project in western Alaska. (Northern Journal)

COMMENTARY

• The Idaho Conservation League’s director says his organization is open to a proposed small modular nuclear reactor facility in the state, but only if the developer can prove it would be safe, affordable, and reliable. (Idaho Statesman)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Trump’s EPA delays rules requiring toxic coal ash cleanup — Kari Lydersen

• Can cutting rooftop solar costs make up for losing tax credits? — Jeff St. John

• In Ohio, oil and gas industry is steering new carbon capture bill — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• New Hampshire raids clean energy fund, jeopardizing solar program — Sarah Shemkus

• New York to scale back key energy efficiency program — Colin Kinniburgh

• How DNV is helping partners slash energy bills with dual-fuel heat pumps — Sponsored by DNV