Dormant Utah nuclear project revived

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NUCLEAR

• Blue Castle and Fulcrum Point Holdings revive a long-dormant proposal to build a nuclear plant in the farming town of Green River, Utah, but with small modular reactors rather than conventional ones. (KSL)

HYDROPOWER

• Wyoming anglers, residents, and advocates push back on rPlus Hydro’s proposed pumped hydropower storage project in the southern part of the state, saying it could harm a trout fishery and bighorn sheep herd. (WyoFile)

• Glen Canyon Dam operators release cool water to benefit endangered fish downstream, diminishing hydropower output and raising electricity costs for Southwestern utilities and other entities. (Associated Press)

DATA CENTERS

• Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox pushes back against plans to power the proposed Stratos Project data center solely with natural gas, saying it should also draw from nuclear, solar, geothermal, and other technology. (Grist)

• Observers say the proposed Stratos Project data center’s co-located gas-fired power plant could revitalize the long-underutilized Ruby Pipeline that stretches from Wyoming to Oregon. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• La Pine, Oregon’s city council votes to reject Boxminerio’s proposed purchase of land for a 20 MW data center following widespread opposition over the facility’s potential power and water use. (OPB)

• Santa Fe County, New Mexico’s commissioners consider a year-long moratorium on new data centers to allow time to develop land-use regulations and environmental standards. (KOB 4)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Data show Colorado obtained 44% of its total electricity consumption from solar, wind, and geothermal sources in 2025, up from 19% in 2016. (CPR)

• Oregon plans to open its rooftop solar and residential battery system rebates program June 15, with officials expecting residents to claim the $1.1 million in incentives on the first day. (OPB)

• Republican Arizona lawmakers introduce legislation that would bar the state land department from developing maps guiding utility-scale solar developers to the most feasible sites, saying it unfairly prioritizes clean energy. (KJZZ)

• A clean energy industry group gives New Mexico its highest grade for distributed solar and energy storage interconnection practices. (Utility Dive)

• The University of Colorado brings online a 1.1 MW solar array at its Boulder campus. (Solar Power World)

• IPX Power secures $4.95 billion in financing for its 1.1 GW Darden solar-plus-storage project on private retired agricultural land in California’s Central Valley. (ESG Today)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A federal judge rejects California’s bid to block Sable Offshore from sending oil from its drilling platforms through a pipeline segment underneath Gaviota State Park, saying the state failed to show it faces irreparable harm. (Courthouse News Service)

• Colorado regulators find a drop in oil and gas drilling activity last year led to lower overall greenhouse gas emissions, but that emissions per well are increasing. (Colorado Sun)

• A state appeals board sets the trans-Alaska pipeline’s value $3 billion higher than a previous assessment, potentially increasing the owners’ property tax bill by about $60 million. (Northern Journal)

• New Mexico’s State Land Office begins public hearings on proposed oil and gas reclamation bond increases and annual reporting requirements. (Source NM)

• California advocates say a recent oil spill in East Los Angeles was the ​“predictable outcome” of placing fossil fuel infrastructure in pollution-burdened, densely populated communities. (news release)

GRID

• Federal energy analysts say extreme heat in the West in late March helped drive a 4.5% year-over-year increase in national electricity generation that month. (Utility Dive)

• Colorado utilities say they are likely to implement public safety power outages this summer as widespread drought increases wildfire hazard. (Summit Daily)

NEW FROM CANARY

• The tax credit cliff has hit EV sales hard — Dan McCarthy

• New York state gives up on its most ambitious climate targets — Ysabelle Kempe

• As geothermal networks grow, so does the call for a new utility model — Sarah Shemkus

• Charge your car at Menards? Its Illinois stores are adding EV ports. — Kari Lydersen