Nuclear plant proposed for defunct Idaho wind facility site

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.

NUCLEAR

• Sawtooth Energy Development Corporation proposes building a 462 MW nuclear plant made up of six modular reactors in southern Idaho on the site of the defunct proposed Lava Ridge wind facility. (KIVI)

• Industry experts accuse Valar Atomics of making exaggerated safety claims about its products after the firm partners with Utah in an effort to develop an advanced nuclear reactor by 2026. (Utah News Dispatch)

• Small modular reactor manufacturer NuScale Power launches a fully integrated hydrogen production simulator at its Oregon headquarters. (Interesting Engineering)

CLIMATE

• California advocates accuse Democratic state lawmakers of backing away from efforts to rein in fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions after climate Superfund legislation stalls. (Politico, Los Angeles Times)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser considers joining a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s ​“energy emergency” after it was invoked to fast-track an oil-train loading facility in Utah. (Colorado Newsline)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management moves to rescind a Biden-era coal-leasing ban in the Powder River Basin as demand for the fuel continues to drop. (WyoFile, Cowboy State Daily)

• The U.S. Interior Department proposes allowing oil and gas drillers to combine production from multiple leases with different ownership and royalty rates, saying it would reduce environmental impacts and increase efficiency. (news release)

• The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to auction 14 oil and gas parcels totaling 7,896 acres in Colorado and 37 parcels totaling 45,178 acres in Wyoming in September. (news release, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle)

BATTERIES

• The U.S. EPA announces a settlement with Gateway Energy Storage related to a 2024 fire at the firm’s grid-scale battery system in southern California. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

GRID

• Advocates worry that two competing Western day-ahead energy markets will offer consumers fewer benefits than a single transmission organization headed by California’s grid operator. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• President Donald Trump orders the U.S. Interior Department to revise any regulations deemed to ​“provide preferential treatment” to wind and solar facilities on federal land. (Reuters)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Washington state lawmakers reconsider a plan to transition its ferry fleet to hybrid-electric boats after the first conversion project goes over budget and falls behind schedule. (Washington State Standard)

• Colorado regulators hold off on enforcing a rule banning government entities from using small gas-powered lawn equipment that went into effect last month. (CPR)

• WattEV breaks ground on its sixth heavy-duty electric truck charging depot in California. (Trucker)

• Tesla opens its 84-unit, solar-powered 11 MW Oasis electric vehicle charger station along I-5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. (EVXL)