Harvesting the sun in California’s Central Valley

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Observers say a plan to convert 136,000 acres of farmland into a 21,000 MW solar-plus-storage complex in California’s Central Valley can be a model for clean energy development in the state and nation. (Canary Media)

• Arevon Energy begins constructing its 250 MW Cormorant battery energy storage system in Daly City, California. (news release)

• Southern California residents push back on proposed utility-scale wind and solar developments, saying the ​“green colonialism” threatens wildlife, ecosystems, and cultural sites. (KPBS)

OIL & GAS

• Chevron plans to purchase oil for its El Segundo refinery from Sable Offshore’s newly restarted drilling platforms along California’s coast. (Bloomberg)

• A Utah economist says new state legislation slashing fuel taxes to give motorists relief at the pump could be offset by high prices stemming from the Iran conflict. (Utah News Dispatch)

• Industry analysts say a protracted conflict in Iran could drive California gasoline prices to a record high of over $7 per gallon. (KTLA)

UTILITIES

• Advocates call on federal regulators to reexamine a sale of $400 million in Public Service Company of New Mexico stocks to private equity firm Blackstone, which is looking to acquire the utility. (Source NM)

• A federal appeals court sides with Colorado electrical cooperative United Power on fees for terminating its contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission. (Big Pivots)

NUCLEAR

• Republican Utah lawmakers propose converting a subterranean salt deposit in rural Millard County into a nuclear waste storage facility. (Grist)

• Aalo Atomics unveils the world’s first experimental extra modular nuclear reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. (KIVI)

BIOFUELS

• The U.S. Agriculture Department awards Blue Mountain Electric a $25 million loan guarantee to develop a proposed 3 MW biomass gasification project in California. (Biomass Magazine)

COAL

• Montana advocates appeal a state court’s ruling upholding the Bull Mountain coal mine’s proposed expansion. (E&E News)

• Utah lawmakers propose creating a special district to raise funds to facilitate the potential sale and revival of the shuttered Intermountain coal plant in the central part of the state. (Utah News Dispatch)

• Analysts say the fate of the proposed 1,250 MW Terra Energy coal plant in Alaska hinges on politics, and ​“that can be fleeting.” (E&E News)

ELECTRIFICATION

• The Trump administration drops lawsuits targeting northern California cities’ natural gas hookup bans after the city councils rescind the associated ordinances. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Puget Sound Energy launches Washington state’s first bidirectional electric vehicle charging pilot that will use residents’ EV batteries to provide backup home power and peak demand grid support. (Utility Dive)

GRID

• Washington state utilities begin stepping up demand response programs as power consumption patterns change, loads increase, and hydropower supplies are stretched. (Seattle Times)

DATA CENTERS

• Observers say a California bill that would require data centers to finance associated grid upgrades and new capacity could establish energy storage as a critical component of new projects. (Carbon Herald)