Long-duration battery storage goes online in California

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.

STORAGE

• Rev Renewables brings online its 125-MW Tumbleweed battery energy storage system with an eight-hour duration in Kern County, California. (Canary Media)

• NextEra Energy breaks ground on a 100-MW battery energy storage system in northern Colorado for the Platte River Power Authority. (Coloradoan)

• Robotaxi firm Waymo partners with B2U Storage Solutions to repurpose its depleted EV batteries for grid-scale energy storage. (Gizmodo)

NUCLEAR

• U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says a nuclear microreactor under development at the Idaho National Laboratories last week reached criticality — a self-sustaining and energy-producing chain reaction. (Associated Press)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A federal oil and gas lease sale for acreage in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge draws bids from two entities and nets $3.7 million, which was lower than expected but still drew advocates’ protests. (Los Angeles Times)

• New Mexico economists predict high petroleum prices driven by the Iran conflict will lead to the state collecting $850 million more in oil and gas tax revenue than previously expected. (Source NM)

• Data show independent firms are ramping up oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin, but analysts say the resulting production boost won’t bring down oil prices. (E&E News)

• A petroleum company says a lack of a signature on a court-ordered federal Bureau of Land Management analysis is stalling drilling on more than 1,300 oil and gas leases in Wyoming. (Cowboy State Daily)

• California lawmakers push back on the Trump administration’s planned $75 million subsidy for a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, saying the project would harm air and water quality and increase electricity costs. (Bay City News)

UTILITIES

• Colorado consumer advocates push back on Xcel Energy’s proposed $225 million rate increase, saying it would hit residential customers especially hard. (Colorado Sun)

• Nevada advocates rally to protest NV Energy’s new daily demand charge and rising utility rates generally, saying affordable electricity is necessary to battle extreme heat in the southern part of the state. (Utility Dive)

DATA CENTERS

• Portland General Electric proposes increasing data center rates by 29% to comply with Oregon’s new POWER Act requiring utilities to create separate rate classes for large load customers. (OPB)

• Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) backs a proposed pipeline expansion that would quadruple the flow of natural gas to the northern part of the state to power data centers. (Nevada Current)

• Lyon County, Nevada’s commissioners move to establish a new power district to serve proposed data centers and other tenants of a planned industrial park. (Carson Now)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Hanwha Renewables proposes the 150-MW Muddy Creek solar-plus-storage agrivoltaic facility in Linn County, Oregon, drawing some residents’ opposition. (OPB)

GEOTHERMAL

• An equity analyst says transmission constraints could keep Fervo Energy’s Cape Station enhanced geothermal facility from delivering enough power to contracted customers. (Utility Dive)

MINING

• Firms move forward with the Thacker Pass and Rhyolite Ridge lithium mines in Nevada despite opposition, rising construction costs, and lack of Trump administration support. (Nevada Independent)