Montana advocates target Colstrip coal plant deal

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.

COAL

• Montana advocates urge federal regulators to reject NorthWestern Energy’s proposed purchase agreement for power from the Colstrip coal plant, saying it could lead to higher customer bills. (Utility Dive, Daily Montanan)

• Advocates push back on U.S. EPA plans to allow coal plants in Utah, Wyoming, and other states to continue to operate and dump coal ash into unlined ponds beyond scheduled closure dates. (news release)

• A federal judge vacates a bankruptcy court’s ruling that could have forced Oakland, California, to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to a proposed coal export terminal developer. (Oaklandside)

OIL & GAS

• BP’s leaky Olympic Pipeline in the Northwest continues to operate at reduced capacity, prompting Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek to declare an emergency. (ABC News)

• Washington state regulators fine BP $3.8 million over a 2023 gasoline spill from its Olympic Pipeline. (My Bellingham Now)

• The Trump administration moves to sidestep standard environmental analyses of its plan to open waters off California and Alaska to offshore oil and gas drilling, drawing advocates’ criticism. (E&E News)

• The U.S. EPA joins the effort to clean up and reclaim the site of a December 2024, 97,000-gallon gasoline pipeline spill in southwestern Colorado. (Pagosa Daily Post)

• The U.S. Interior Department disperses $14.61 billion in federal land energy revenues, including about $3.3 billion to New Mexico and Wyoming. (news release, E&E News)

DATA CENTERS

• A Washington state governor-appointed workgroup votes not to recommend tying data center tax incentives to clean energy generation for the facilities. (OPB)

• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, proposes legislation aimed at protecting consumers and the power grid from rising data center-driven electricity demand. (E&E News)

• An investigation finds the cooling system for an Amazon data center in Oregon has increased nitrate pollution concentrations in groundwater supplies, possibly sickening residents. (Rolling Stone)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Federal data show increasing utility-scale solar output on California’s grid continued to displace natural gas generation during the first eight months of 2025. (Utility Dive)

• Sacramento County, California’s supervisors vote to approve the proposed Coyote Creek solar-plus-storage project. (Renewables Now)

GRID

• Southern California residents call on utilities to restore power to their neighborhood after relying on solar, battery storage, and diesel generators since landslides forced gas and electric service to stop over a year ago. (Los Angeles Times)

UTILITIES

• California regulators propose decreasing utility shareholders’ ​“return on equity” by .35%, but observers say it won’t significantly lower ratepayers’ power bills. (CalMatters)

• An Arizona court blocks state regulators’ plan to expedite proposed utility rate hike approvals. (Arizona Capitol Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• California’s air quality board plans to begin developing new heavy-duty truck emissions limits after Congress shot down the state’s gas-fueled vehicle ban. (Politico)

• A southern California transit district says high fuel costs prevent it from operating all of its hydrogen-powered buses at one time. (Voice of San Diego)

COMMENTARY

• A Colorado columnist says the rapid expansion of energy-intensive data centers in the Western U.S. could transform the region’s power grid, economies, and landscapes as dramatically as the post-war buildup of coal plants and transmission lines. (High Country News)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Connecticut’s pioneering model for publicly owned, small-scale solar — Jeff St. John

• Small but mighty grid batteries take root in Virginia amid energy crunch — Elizabeth Ouzts

• T1 Energy is betting big on all-American solar, even under Trump — Julian Spector

• Aluminum giants hit major milestone with low-carbon production — Maria Gallucci