Invenergy abandons California offshore wind lease

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

• Invernegy agrees to relinquish four offshore wind leases off the coasts of California, Maine, and New York in exchange for a $765-million payout from the Trump administration, and says it will use some of the proceeds to fund geothermal development. (Canary Media, East Bay Times)

• Real-estate logistics firm Prologis works with California energy providers to develop more than 16 MW of community solar arrays on warehouse rooftops across the state. (Canary Media)

• Federal data show solar generation surged ahead of natural gas-fired power on California’s grid during the first five months of this year, even though the state added more gas than solar capacity. (Canary Media)

• Kern County, California’s supervisors approve Terra-Gen’s proposed 1,400-MW Discovery solar-plus-storage project on about 7,700 acres of private land. (KGET)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management issues a final environmental review and management plan for the proposed 400-MW Purple Sage solar-plus-storage project near the Nevada-California border. (Nevada Current)

• Convalt Energy proposes establishing a solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Gallup, New Mexico. (Solar Power World)

HYDROPOWER

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues an environmental impact statement for the proposed Seminoe pumped-hydropower storage project in southern Wyoming. (WyoFile)

STORAGE

• Aypa Power brings online its 250-MW Pediment battery energy storage system under a contract with Arizona utility Salt River Project. (PV Magazine)

• Washington state advocates and industry push back against increasing opposition to grid-scale battery energy storage with public education efforts. (Washington State Standard)

DATA CENTERS

• Petroleum firm California Resources Corporation proposes a hyperscale data center complex in the Elk Hills oil field that would be powered by an existing 550-MW natural gas plant. (Grist)

• Clark County, Nevada’s commissioners approve Switch’s proposed data center expansion after the company pledged to source all of the facility’s energy from renewable sources. (Nevada Current)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Erie, Colorado’s town council is set to reconsider a proposal to sell its mineral rights to SM Energy for a 26-well oil and gas drilling project. (Colorado Hometown Weekly)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management approves a right-of-way for a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in western Nevada. (Pipeline & Gas Journal)

• A Montana county commissioner says Signal Peak Energy cost him the Republican primary by branding him an environmentalist for developing a plan for the possible end of coal revenues from the firm’s Roundup mine. (Inside Climate News)

• Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) pitches a South Korea delegation on the state’s coal as part of an effort to expand exports of the fossil fuel. (KTVQ)

ELECTRIFICATION

• Bend, Oregon’s city council votes to levy a climate pollution fee on natural gas furnaces installed in new homes in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Oregonian)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Electrify America opens a 20-unit fast EV-charging station in Santa Barbara, California, with 1.9 MW of battery energy storage. (news release)

GRID

• Data show Oregon utilities are bringing more gas, solar, and wind-generated electricity on their grid as their reliance on coal power wanes. (Oregonian)

• NextEra Energy brings online a 137-mile transmission line in southeast New Mexico to deliver power to the Permian Basin oil and gas fields. (OK Energy Today)