California regulators reject Shasta County wind project

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CLEAN ENERGY

• California’s Energy Commission rejects the proposed Fountain Wind facility in the northern part of the state on environmental grounds, ending Shasta County’s years-long effort to block the contested project. (Redding Record Searchlight)

• An Oregon coalition leads a lawsuit seeking to block Internal Revenue Service rules regarding developers’ qualifications for expiring federal clean energy tax credits. (JPR)

• Rute SunTracker brings online an agrivoltaic solar project designed for cattle ranchland in Jackson County, Oregon. (PV Magazine)

• A northern New Mexico electric cooperative brings online its 8.75 MW Amalia II solar-plus-storage facility. (Albuquerque Journal)

GEOTHERMAL

• Fervo expects the first phase of its Cape Station enhanced geothermal project to come online next year after attracting private investments and interest. (Utah News Dispatch)

GRID

• The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights the 217-mile high-voltage Cross-Tie transmission project designed to carry wind and solar power between Nevada and Utah. (news release)

• Unusually severe winds damage infrastructure and prompted planned outages along Colorado’s Front Range, leaving thousands of utility customers without power and disrupting the atomic clock in Boulder. (Denver Post)

• A substation fire leaves about 130,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers without power in the San Francisco Bay Area, prompting government offices to close. (Bay City News)

NUCLEAR

• Eagle Mountain, Utah’s city council delays a vote on a proposed alternative energy overlay zone that would allow nuclear reactor development. (Deseret News)

• A regional nuclear waste management board advances EnergySolution’s proposal to store low-level radioactive waste from Canada at its Utah depository. (Deseret News)

DATA CENTERS

• New Mexico regulators rule that the proposed Project Jupiter data center complex’s air quality permit application is incomplete, and gives the developer another month to provide more information. (Source NM)

HYDROGEN

• A federal judge considers restoring federal funding for California hydrogen projects clawed back by the Trump administration earlier this year. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS

• The Environmental Defense Fund finds Colorado’s 2010s rules aimed at slashing air pollution from oil and gas facilities led to a 70% reduction in methane emissions during the last decade. (Colorado Sun)

• The Trump administration asserts jurisdiction over Sable Offshore’s proposed oil pipeline system restart off California’s coast after state and local regulators pushed back on the project. (E&E News)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management delays enforcement of oil and gas facility reclamation bonding and flaring monitoring requirements while the agency considers nixing the Biden-era rules. (news release)

CRITICAL MINERALS

• The U.S. Energy Department awards $2.5 million to New Mexico Tech and Bureau of Geology researchers to develop critical mineral location, extraction, and refining technologies. (Albuquerque Journal)

TRANSITION

• A Colorado report finds clean energy developments and carbon capture projects could help coal-reliant communities weather the industry’s decline. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY

• Northwest analysts urge Washington state lawmakers to create a transmission authority and streamline permitting to encourage clean energy-related grid upgrades and development. (Sightline)

• A Washington editor says the need to fight climate change and power new data centers could break down opposition to new nuclear reactors in the state. (Seattle Times)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Electrifying these factories could cut a gigaton of CO2 pollution — Maria Gallucci

• A path to fast, cheap home solar and batteries: go through the meter — Jeff St. John

• Georgia’s lame-duck utility commission OKs massive, pricey gas buildout — Jeff St. John

• The 10 biggest clean energy stories of 2025 — Kathryn Krawczyk