Hawaii’s rooftop solar boom

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Hawaiian Electric says its customers added nearly 8,000 new rooftop solar systems to its network last year, bringing the total to 113,999 grid-connected arrays. (Spectrum News)

• Colorado lawmakers advance a bill that would require larger counties and municipalities to adopt automated residential solar permitting software. (PV Magazine)

• A developer brings a 44 MW solar-plus-storage system online in southern California. (news release)

• California and the Mexican state of Sonora sign on to continue collaborating on clean energy-related issues. (S&P Global)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Advocates file a lawsuit seeking to force the U.S. EPA to review air quality permits for oil and gas facilities in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, saying they emit toxic pollution. (news release)

• South Korea’s industry minister is set to meet with Alaska officials to discuss the nation’s potential investment in a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export project. (Korea JoongAng Daily)

• A Colorado county urges the federal Bureau of Land Management to cancel a proposed oil and gas lease sale in the northwestern part of the state, saying drilling would harm wildlife. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)

• New Mexico lawmakers advance legislation that would raise oil and gas royalty rates for drilling on state land in the Permian Basin. (Roswell Daily Record)

GRID

• Oregon’s congressional delegation calls on the Trump administration to reverse its termination of about 20% of the Bonneville Power Administration’s workforce, saying the staff cuts ​“jeopardize the stability of our energy infrastructure.” (KOIN)

• Data show intensifying winds strained Southern California Edison utility lines in the Los Angeles area up to 14 hours before possibly sparking the deadly Eaton Fire. (New York Times)

• A winter storm damages transmission lines in southeastern Utah, leaving about 10,000 customers without power. (KUTV)

HYDROPOWER

• Observers warn the Trump administration’s workforce cuts at the Bureau of Reclamation threaten Northwest hydropower dam safety and grid reliability. (Associated Press)

MINING

• Wyoming’s energy authority awards a firm $6.1 million for its proposed rare earth and critical minerals processing facility. (Mining)

COMMENTARY

• A California columnist urges climate advocates not to make deals with the Trump administration on clean energy permitting reform, saying it legitimizes the erosion of democracy. (Los Angeles Times)

• An Arizona advocate praises state regulators for approving a program allowing residential battery customers to export power back to the grid. (Arizona Daily Star)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• Three years after Russia invaded Ukraine and set off an energy crisis in Europe, Julian Spector examines how far the continent went in phasing out fossil fuels altogether.

• Indiana legislators are considering multiple bills to promote modular nuclear reactors, including one that would let utilities charge ratepayers for projects that may never be built, Kari Lydersen reports.