California’s new EV rebates target first-time buyers

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.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• California’s MyFirstEV incentive program specifically targets first-time EV buyers by offering a $3,500 point-of-sale rebate, saying that once someone buys an electric vehicle, ​“they don’t go back to gas cars.” (Canary Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The U.S. EPA reverses a 2023 ruling by exempting the 780-MW Coronado coal plant in Arizona from a 2018 rule requiring plastic liners for its coal ash ponds, drawing advocates’ criticism. (KJZZ)

• California Indigenous and environmental advocates worry the Trump administration’s push to revive offshore oil drilling off the state’s coast will threaten recently established marine sanctuaries. (Inside Climate News)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management begins accepting protests for 35 planned oil and gas leases on nearly 35,000 acres in Utah. (KSL)

• U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) adds an amendment to a House defense bill that would allow the federal government to seize land along Sable Offshore’s contested oil pipeline in California in an effort to avoid state regulations. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Right-wing candidate Ralph Heap secures the GOP nomination for a seat on Arizona’s utility regulatory commission on an adamantly pro-fossil-fuel platform. (KJZZ)

• Los Angeles-area wildfire survivors call on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to push legislation that would help victims of the blazes, not bail out the utilities suspected of sparking them. (Los Angeles Daily News)

• Oregon regulators seek public input on Pacific Power’s proposed 8.6% rate increase, which the utility says it needs to offset wildfire-related insurance costs. (OPB)

CLIMATE

• A federal judge orders the Trump administration to restore $2.8 billion in climate justice grants it canceled last year, including $20 million for the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Nevada. (Nevada Current)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Colorado officials say the Trump administration’s efforts to stall wind projects by halting Defense Department reviews imperils nearly $2.7 billion in potential private investment and 7,124 jobs in the state. (Big Pivots)

• California advocates and scientists say the state-approved Soda Mountain solar project adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve threatens the desert ecosystem, but state regulators say mitigation plans will render impacts to ​“less than significant” levels. (Mongabay)

• New Mexico’s land commissioner issues Clearway Energy a lease to repower the San Juan Mesa wind facility in the eastern part of the state. (press release)

DATA CENTERS

• Pacific Gas & Electric CEO Patti Poppe predicts the utility will add about 1.8 GW of new data center load by 2030, and that the company remains ​“very focused on pricing this load correctly.” (Utility Dive)

POLITICS

• Court filings show the Trump administration canceled $7.6 billion in federal clean energy grants ​“based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” including in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. (Los Angeles Times)