Lawsuit pauses Colorado’s gas stove health warning label rule

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• Colorado agrees not to enforce a new rule requiring health-warning labels on new gas stoves until a court reaches a decision on an industry lawsuit seeking to block the rule. (Canary Media)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic lawmakers consider legislation aimed at boosting oil production in Kern County, with one state senator saying they can have a ​“muscular version of climate policy that doesn’t have to be so all-or-nothing.” (Times of San Diego)

• Wyoming lawmakers consider legislation that would transfer abandoned mineral rights to current surface owners instead of to the state. (Cowboy State Daily)

• Firefighters contain the Middle Mesa blaze that threatened dozens of oil and gas wells in northern New Mexico before any infrastructure was damaged. (Source NM)

• Campbell County, Wyoming’s commissioners call on the federal Bureau of Land Management to expedite the Navajo Transitional Energy Company’s proposed Spring Creek coal mine expansion in Montana. (County 17)

UTILITIES

• NorthWestern Energy proposes merging with Black Hills Corp., saying the combined utility would be better positioned to meet rising power demand. (Montana Free Press)

• California utilities launch a marketing campaign aimed at building public support for legislation that would bolster the state’s wildfire fund with ratepayer and shareholder funds. (E&E News)

• Flathead Electric Cooperative in Montana seeks public input on its wildfire hazard mitigation plan. (NBC Montana)

DATA CENTERS

• Colorado regulators question Xcel Energy’s plan to spend $22 billion to build new generation and transmission to serve projected new data centers, saying it could double or triple other customers’ rates. (Colorado Sun)

• Wyoming observers say new data center-driven electricity demand could transform the physical and regulatory utility landscape in the state and potentially drive up costs for ​“legacy” customers. (WyoFile)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Oregon and five other Western states join a lawsuit seeking to block a Trump administration policy capping staff and administrative costs on federally funded clean energy and efficiency projects, saying it is unlawful and will lead to job losses. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

• Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and other Democratic lawmakers call on the Trump administration to revive the U.S. EPA’s Solar for All program and restore obligated grant funding. (KJZZ)

• Arizona regulators seek public input on their proposal to eliminate renewable energy standards. (KVOA)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Oregon restarts its EV charging infrastructure buildout program after a court ordered the Trump administration to restore frozen federal funds. (OPB)

• California agencies propose a strategy boosting zero-emission vehicle sales and reducing tailpipe emissions after the Trump administration killed federal EV incentives and rolled back the state’s clean car mandate. (Los Angeles Times)

• The San Diego-Coronado Ferry plans to replace two diesel boats with electric ones by fall 2026. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

GRID

• A California test of more than 100,000 residential batteries coordinated as a virtual power plant revealed that their output rivaled a mid-size gas plant and that they can help offset peak power demand. (Latitude Media)

• Federal regulators issue a finding of ​“no significant impact” to the ​“human environment” for a proposed high-voltage transmission line to service Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, clearing the way for construction. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

• The Brattle Group predicts California’s Demand Side Grid Support virtual power plant program will double its distributed storage capacity by 2028 and could save residents up to $206 million. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL

• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks nominations for geothermal leasing in Idaho. (news release)

MINING

• Southeast Utah residents push back on a copper, uranium, and lithium mining resurgence, saying it could contaminate or diminish groundwater. (E&E News)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• The Constitution gas pipeline won’t solve New England’s energy problems — Sarah Shemkus

• State AGs demand DOE fix its flawed grid-reliability report — Jeff St. John

• NYC just launched its first hybrid-electric ferry — Maria Gallucci

• ‘Come to America and lose $1B’: Trump drives new offshore wind losses — Clare Fieseler

• Cruising Virginia countryside in an electric vehicle is a lot easier now — Elizabeth Ouzts