Colorado counties push back against proposed transmission corridor

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Editor’s note: CalETHOS proposed a data center in southern California that would be powered by geothermal energy. An item in this digest originally misstated the company behind the project.

GRID

• Southern Colorado counties call for more transparency, public input and environmental impact studies on a proposed federal electric transmission corridor. (CPR)

• Colorado residents push back on a proposed substation and battery energy storage system, saying it could spark wildfires. (CBS News)

• Paleontologists rush to excavate a fossil-rich site in southwestern Utah in advance of a proposed substation’s construction. (KUTV)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Rural community leaders and utility officials from Western states urge the Trump administration to unfreeze Biden-era clean energy and climate funding, saying energy shouldn’t have a ​“political stripe.” (NPR)

• Nevada residents call on the Trump administration to cancel the Esmeralda 7 solar installation on federal land, saying it is too large and would harm wildlife. (CBS News)

• Efforts to establish community solar programs in Wyoming and Utah run up against fossil fuel-friendly legislatures. (Cowboy State Daily)

• A developer refiles its proposed wind facility’s development lease application with Wyoming’s state land commission. (Douglas Budget)

• A developer brings a 70 MW solar-plus-storage installation online in southwestern Arizona. (Solar Power World)

• A national nonprofit opens an office in Nevada aimed at boosting rooftop solar installations. (NPR)

GEOTHERMAL

• GoogleX spinout Dandelion Energy and homebuilder Lennar partner to build ground-source geothermal heat pumps in more than 1,500 new Colorado homes over the next two years. (Canary Media)

• CalETHOS proposes a data center in southern California’s Lithium Valley that would be powered by geothermal energy. (Desert Sun)

STORAGE

• A developer secures $28 million in financing for its proposed hybrid green hydrogen energy storage microgrid in California. (news release)

LITHIUM

• A firm reaches a final investment decision on its proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada and expects the first phase of the project to come online in 2027. (Reuters)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management extends the public input period for a proposed lithium exploration project in southeastern Oregon after receiving 1,500 comments in five days. (OPB)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A Wyoming community hopes a planned nuclear reactor will help it weather the imminent closure of a coal mine and plant. (WyoFile)

EFFICIENCY

• U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, reintroduces legislation that would require property appraisals to account for the value of efficiency upgrades and clean energy installations. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Oregon regulators propose amending proposed clean truck rules to give the industry more time to develop zero-emission heavy duty vehicles. (OPB)

NUCLEAR

• Western state firms and lawmakers look to revive the nuclear power and uranium mining industries in the region. (High Country News)

BIOFUELS

• Idaho residents push back against a plan to blend methane derived from landfill emissions into natural gas lines, saying it could contain PFAS. (Boise State Public Radio)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• The U.S. EPA’s revocation of a permit for the Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm suggests the agency is increasing its leverage over the industry, and anti-wind groups are looking to work that power shift in their favor, Clare Fieseler reports.