California overhauls cap-and-invest program

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.

CLIMATE

• California regulators approve a proposed carbon cap-and-invest market overhaul, sparking fears the changes will steer billions of dollars in free pollution permits to oil refineries and other industrial facilities. (CalMatters)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Western Colorado tourism officials push back on the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to sell oil and gas leases on tens of thousands of acres near Dinosaur National Monument, saying drilling could harm elk and diminish dark night skies. (Capital & Main)

• Colorado advocates and industry groups reignite the dormant oil and gas wars with a series of ballot initiatives looking to bolster fossil fuels and increase restrictions on drilling and related pollution. (Colorado Sun)

• A federal appeals court rules that Alaska regulators can publicly disclose data from ConocoPhillips’ exploration wells in the National Petroleum Reserve after the petroleum firm had tried to keep the information under wraps. (Alaska Beacon)

• A ship-tracking service says oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is headed to California for the first time as part of an effort to mitigate effects of the Iran conflict. (Reuters)

UTILITIES

• Montana, Arizona, and seven other states are poised to hold elections this year for seats on their utility regulatory boards. (Canary Media)

• Idaho Power proposes transferring ownership of its Oregon distribution system and 20,000 customers to the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative in the eastern part of the state. (Idaho Business Review)

DATA CENTERS

• San Diego’s Sierra Club chapter files a lawsuit challenging Imperial County Supervisors’ April land parcel consolidation approval that cleared the way for a proposed hyperscale data center complex, saying the officials failed to consider the facilities’ cumulative impacts. (KPBS)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Southern California Public Power Authority signs on to purchase electricity from EDF’s 400 MW solar project under development in Millard County, Utah. (news release)

• Microsoft agrees to purchase power from Avangrid’s proposed 140 MW Bluebird solar project in Klickitat County, Washington. (Data Center Dynamics)

• Fullerton, California’s city council votes to replace 42 streetlights with solar-powered ones after a transformer failure leads to a prolonged outage. (Fullerton Observer)

• Coalville, Utah’s city council votes to leave Rocky Mountain Power’s Community Clean Energy Program, citing program design flaws. (KPCW)

STORAGE

• Data show Arizona added 940 MW of battery energy storage capacity during the first quarter of 2026, the nation’s second highest amount after Texas and ahead of California. (Phoenix Business Journal)

GRID

• The federal Bureau of Land Management approves a proposed power distribution line to serve Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah to replace existing generators. (Deseret News)

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Defense Department plans to install a portable nuclear micro-reactor at the Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado. (Sentinel)

• Navajo Nation leaders seek more information about last month’s highway accident involving a truck hauling uranium ore from an Arizona mine to Energy Fuels’ mill in southeastern Utah. (Arizona Republic)

CARBON CAPTURE

• California Resources Corporation begins operations at its Carbon TerraVault carbon dioxide storage project in Kern County. (Carbon Herald)

• Enchant Energy signs a letter of intent to develop a carbon capture system for Creekstone’s proposed Delta Gigasite data center complex in Delta, Utah. (news release)

NEW FROM CANARY

• In new attack on solar, lawmakers spread myths about potato farms — Austyn Gaffney

• Thanks to two new laws, more Virginians can save with community solar — Elizabeth Ouzts

• Voters in 9 states will pick the people overseeing their power bills — Kathryn Krawczyk