Inside a California plan to develop solar on fallow farmland

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

• A California water district says its plan to build up to 21 GW of new solar-plus-storage capacity on fallow, water-constrained agricultural fields in the San Joaquin Valley will ​“give farmers another crop to grow, which is the sun.” (Canary Media)

• The Navajo Nation approves a lease for an Indigenous-owned developer to build a 750 MW solar-plus-storage installation and associated transmission line, raising concerns from some residents. (Arizona Republic)

• California regulators say they blocked the planned shutdown of the 386-MW Ivanpah solar thermal plant to help meet rising data center-driven electricity demand. (Los Angeles Times)

• Wyoming residents criticize the state’s land commission for failing to adequately address wind developments’ potential cumulative impacts to tourism, agriculture, and private property rights. (WyoFile)

• Colorado’s Energy Office launches a study of clean energy and associated transmission development’s potential benefits and negative impacts on the state’s eastern plains. (Big Pivots)

GRID

• Xcel Energy says its $1.7 billion Power Pathway transmission line in eastern Colorado remains in limbo as it awaits regulators’ ruling on two counties’ land-use permit denials for the project. (PBS)

POLLUTION

• The U.S. EPA rejects Colorado’s regional haze-fighting plan, saying its provision shuttering polluting coal plants goes too far and violates the Clean Air Act. (Colorado Sun)

OIL & GAS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management issued 5,742 drilling permits during the first 12 months of President Donald Trump’s term, a 55% increase over the previous year. (E&E News)

• Alaska economists predict continued oil and gas industry expansion will add about 1,000 new jobs to the state in 2026, an 11.1% increase over last year but far below the sector’s 2014 employment peak. (Alaska Beacon)

• Industry observers say Hilcorp’s and other firms’ interest in drilling for oil in Venezuela could siphon some petroleum company investments from Alaska’s fields. (Northern Journal)

BIOFUELS

• Washington state officials and firms launch the state-funded Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator to encourage alternative jet fuel research, development, and deployment. (Washington State Standard)

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Energy Department signs an agreement with California advanced nuclear reactor firm Oklo to support the design, construction, and operation of a radioisotope pilot plant. (NUCNET)

• The U.S. Army says it is considering building nuclear microreactors at up to nine installations, including Fort Wainwright in Alaska and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. (Oil Price)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Commerce City, Colorado, launches an all-electric residential recycling and garbage collection fleet as part of its long-term sustainability action plan. (electrek)

COMMENTARY

• A Colorado columnist says the Trump administration’s ​“drill, baby, drill” agenda has failed to bolster oil and gas drilling or production from federal lands and has left firms sitting on nearly 9,000 unused drilling permits. (Land Desk)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• 2025 wasn’t a great year for green steel ambitions. What happens now? — Maria Gallucci

• Finally, New England’s clean-energy transmission line is ready to go — Sarah Shemkus

• Clean energy will take center stage in Virginia’s legislature this year — Elizabeth Ouzts

• How Trump’s offshore wind halt is derailing his party’s energy agenda — Kathryn Krawczyk