Colorado regulators: Xcel Energy can join SPP’s day-ahead power market

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.

GRID

• Colorado regulators greenlight Xcel Energy’s proposal to spend $30 million to join SPP’s Markets+ day-ahead regional power market. (Colorado Sun)

• Some Oregon residents push back on a segment of Pacific Power’s proposed 180-mile transmission line, saying it would be too close to their community. (Central Oregon Daily)

• A wildfire in central Utah burns utility poles, leaving more than 3,000 customers without power. (ABC4)

DATA CENTERS

• NorthWestern Energy signs a letter of intent to provide up to 1,000 MW of power to Quantica Infrastructure’s data center under development in Montana. (Montana Free Press)

• Pacific Gas & Electric says it expects new data centers to increase demand on its grid by 10,000 MW over the next 10 years. (news release)

FOSSIL FUELS

• An Alaska investment authority proposes conducting seismic oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, sparking advocates’ concerns. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The Trump administration’s rescission of designated offshore wind energy areas halts potential development along Oregon’s coast, but will not affect three projects already underway off California’s central coast. (Oregon Capital Chronicle, KCLU)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management’s retirees organization asks Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to rescind a new policy requiring stricter reviews for proposed wind and solar projects, saying it will constrain renewable energy development. (E&E News)

• A new study finds installing solar arrays in Washington state apple orchards reduces fruit sunburn and increases yields. (PV Magazine)

• California officials begin permitting for Terra-Gen’s proposed 1,400 MW solar installation and 1,000 MW battery energy storage system in Kern County. (Energy Storage News)

• California’s low-income solar program expands incentives to include energy storage systems paired with rooftop solar. (Solar Builder)

GEOTHERMAL

• The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes leasing nearly 70,000 acres in Idaho for geothermal development. (news release)

HYDROGEN

• Avina continues work on its green hydrogen production and distribution facility in Los Angeles, even though the Trump administration is revoking federal support for the technology. (Los Angeles Times)

UTILITIES

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes legislation that would require utility ratepayers and shareholders to split the $18 billion cost to bolster the state’s wildfire fund. (Los Angeles Times)

• Records show California utilities pressured regulators to weaken a 2005 rule requiring the removal of abandoned power lines like the ones suspected of sparking the deadly Eaton fire in January. (Los Angeles Times)

NUCLEAR

• Helion Energy breaks ground on its nuclear fusion reactor facility in Washington state, even though neither Helion nor any other company has perfected the technology yet. (E&E News)

• Wyoming lawmakers table legislation that would allow nuclear microreactors to store radioactive waste onsite following residents’ pushback. (WyoFile)

• Idaho National Laboratory’s director predicts Trump administration policies will lead to a nuclear renaissance by ​“reinvigorating” the industrial base. (Idaho Capital Sun)

STORAGE

• Colorado firm Peak Energy installs the nation’s first grid-scale sodium-ion pyrophosphate battery system at a Denver-area facility. (PV Magazine)

CLIMATE

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek says the state will continue efforts to fight climate change even though the Trump administration is rolling back federal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. (Jefferson Public Radio)

CARBON CAPTURE

• A Wyoming legislative committee kills a bill that would repeal a state law requiring utilities to study the feasibility of installing carbon capture equipment on aging coal plants. (WyoFile)

COMMENTARY

• California columnist Sammy Roth weighs the climate benefits and environmental impacts of the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada. (Los Angeles Times)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Chart: The clean-energy manufacturing boom is going bust — Dan McCarthy

• North Carolina approves Duke Energy plan to let customers access their data — Elizabeth Ouzts

• HB 6 regulatory cases weigh what FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities should pay — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• New York becomes first state to commit to all-electric new buildings — Alison F. Takemura

• We know how to decarbonize energy. The food sector should take notes. — Michael Grunwald