California sets solar record

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Data show utility-scale and rooftop solar installations produced 51% of California’s electricity in May, making it the world’s first major economy to cross the 50% threshold. (Canary Media)

• A Utah poll finds that 56% of respondents would be willing to pay higher utility bills if they supported clean energy sources, especially solar. (KSL)

• California community choice aggregator Clean Power Alliance signs on to purchase electricity from the 200-MW Rexford 2 solar-plus-storage project in Tulare County. (news release)

STORAGE

• California startup Antora Energy raises $550 million to expand domestic production of its thermal batteries and accelerate large-scale project buildouts. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES

• Montana residents and advocates call on NorthWestern Energy’s proposed integrated resource plan to include more renewable energy and account for data centers’ impacts on other customers’ bills. (Daily Montanan)

• Pacific Gas & Electric propose a natural gas rate hike to fund a $26 million shareholder payment. (KGO)

• State utility regulators approve a private equity firm’s proposed acquisition of New Mexico Gas Company. (Source NM)

• California regulators seek public input on the effectiveness of utility customer assistance programs and service disconnections due to nonpayment. (Santa Ynez Valley News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Observers say Alaska is reckoning with its energy future, as the state and federal governments double down on oil and gas development while communities struggle to free themselves from reliance on price-volatile fossil fuels. (Alaska Beacon)

• Montana regulators rescind a waiver for the proposed Bridger oil pipeline that would have allowed the developer to omit information from its permit application, drawing praise from the project’s critics. (E&E News)

• A California Coastal Commission staff report urges regulators to reject DCOR’s proposal to hydraulically fracture 16 offshore oil and gas wells along Ventura County’s coast, saying it would increase the risk of spills. (E&E News)

• Former Wyoming coal miners criticize Peabody Energy for slashing retirement health benefits after paying its CEO $9 million last year. (Cowboy State Daily)

• New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to end a Biden-era oil and gas leasing ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. (news release)

CLIMATE

• A California Air Resources Board report finds the state’s carbon cap-and-invest program has generated $36.2 billion for clean air, efficiency, affordability, and emissions projects since its 2013 implementation. (Utility Dive)

• Analysts say Washington state must step up greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts to meet its 2030 targets, saying clean energy development alone will not adequately offset data center-driven demand hikes. (Washington State Standard)

• ExxonMobil subsidiary Denbury Solutions withdrawals its proposed Snowy River carbon dioxide sequestration project on federal land in southeastern Montana. (Billings Gazette)

NUCLEAR

• Aalo Atomics and tech firm Crusoe team up to develop a small modular nuclear reactor-powered data center at the Idaho National Laboratories. (Data Center Dynamics)

• Energy Fuels begins expanding its White Mesa uranium mill in southeastern Utah to enable large-scale heavy rare earth oxide production. (Deseret News, news release)

TRANSPORTATION

• A southern California transportation authority awards Clean Energy Fuels a $27.5 million contract to design and build a liquid hydrogen fueling station for an eventual fleet of 50 fuel cell buses. (Gasworld)

• Oregon plans to reopen its popular EV incentive program next month, but will offer smaller rebates to increase the program’s reach and duration. (OPB)

NEW FROM CANARY

• ‘It’ll take more’: CFS nets another $1B to chase nuclear fusion dream — Alexander C. Kaufman

• This Texas coal mine will soon be home to a 1.2GW solar farm — Maria Gallucci

• Trump admin bans​‘new’ foreign-made inverters. What does that mean? — Jeff St. John

• Biggest battery east of the Mississippi will help power AI complex — Julian Spector