Feds greenlight Wyoming reactor construction

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.

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission greenlights a construction permit for Bill Gates-backed TerraPower’s advanced liquid sodium-cooled reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming. (WyoFile)

OIL & GAS

• A federal offshore oil and gas lease auction in Alaska’s Cook Inlet receives no bids, prompting advocates to proclaim it a ​“huge embarrassment” for the Trump administration’s energy dominance agenda. (New York Times)

• A judge revokes the federal Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the proposed 5,000-well Converse County oil and gas project in Wyoming, saying the agency’s analysis violated environmental laws. (WyoFile)

• Utah officials and advocates criticize the state for extending a tax credit to SM Energy for a 400-well drilling project in the Uinta Basin. (Utah Investigative Journalism Project)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California advocates say state policies are hampering community solar development, and holding the state back from meeting its clean energy targets. (Los Angeles Times)

• Arizona regulators repeal a state rule requiring utilities to obtain at least 15% of their electricity from renewable sources, including residential rooftop solar, drawing pushback from advocates. (KJZZ)

• Colorado’s House of Representatives passes legislation that would establish safety standards for plug-in solar and require utilities to accommodate their use. (news release)

ELECTRIFICATION

• Oregon regulators adopt energy-efficiency standards encouraging builders to equip new homes with dual-purpose heat pumps instead of conventional central ACs. (Canary Media)

GEOTHERMAL

• A Denver startup and Colorado’s energy office launch a study on repurposing orphaned oil and gas wells for geothermal power. (news release)

COAL

• Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser files a lawsuit challenging the U.S. EPA’s rejection of the state’s clean air plan that would force the closure of six coal plants, saying it illegally impinges on state authority. (Colorado Sun)

• Central Utah residents push back on a proposed coal mine, saying it might harm the tourism industry. (Fox 13)

UTILITIES

• Arizona regulators approve Salt River Project’s proposal to convert its Springerville and Coronado coal plants to run on natural gas by 2030. (KJZZ)

TRANSITION

• Colorado’s just transition office awards a nonprofit $75,000 to develop ways for the community in the western part of the state to weather the coal industry’s decline. (Colorado Sun)

DATA CENTERS

• Energy Transfer proposes a 17-mile natural gas pipeline in southern New Mexico to provide fuel to power the contested Project Jupiter data center. (Source NM)

• A California government watchdog calls on policymakers to regulate data centers to ensure they pay for associated infrastructure and grid services. (CalMatters)

• A Republican Idaho lawmaker introduces legislation that would require new data centers or other large-load customers to fund associated electrical infrastructure upgrades and ensure utility rate increases aren’t passed on to other customers. (Idaho 6 News)

CLIMATE

• California and Washington state take steps toward linking their carbon cap-and-trade markets, saying it would decrease and stabilize decarbonization costs. (Washington State Standard, Politico)

• An Oregon law-enforcement group proposes a ballot initiative that would funnel money from Portland’s climate fund to hire more police officers. (OPB)