Oakland faces bankruptcy over coal terminal fight

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

• A federal court is set to order Oakland, California, to pay up to $654 million in damages for canceling a contract with a coal export shipping terminal developer over climate concerns in 2016, potentially pushing the city into bankruptcy. (New York Times)

• Colorado advocates call on Xcel Energy to permanently close the Comanche 3 coal plant, which has faced several malfunctions since it opened in 2010, rather than repairing and bringing it back online. (Big Pivots)

OIL & GAS

• California regulators approve Crimson California Pipeline’s proposed rate increase for transporting Los Angeles Basin oil to area refineries in an effort to preserve refining capacity. (E&E News)

• The Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil and gas drilling would open nearly all of Alaska’s coastal waters to new leasing. (Alaska Beacon)

• Analysts say Alaska utility customers could end up paying for two separate proposed natural gas import projects even though only one is necessary to stem an impending fuel shortage. (Northern Journal)

• Democratic federal lawmakers from New Mexico and Pueblo leaders call on the Trump administration to keep in place an oil and gas leasing ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. (KUNM)

DATA CENTERS

• Democratic New Mexico state lawmakers worry a plan to power the proposed $165-billion Project Jupiter data center complex with natural gas generation will exacerbate pollution in the southeastern part of the state. (Source NM)

• Researchers find that building data centers on power grids with high shares of ​“dry renewables” such as solar and wind will decrease their indirect water consumption for electricity generation. (Grist)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The recently completed 685 MW Faraday solar installation in Utah will power a Meta data center under development in Eagle Mountain. (Daily Herald)

• Silicon Valley Clean Energy awards Sunnyvale, California, $1.1 million to install a solar-plus-storage array at its fire station. (Mercury News)

• The University of Washington plans a solar canopy-powered microgrid with EV chargers in an existing parking lot. (ETH)

EQUITY

• A co-chair of California’s Environmental Justice Advisory Committee resigns, accusing air pollution regulators of favoring industry over low-income residents and communities of color. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES

• Xcel Energy proposes a 9% rate hike, telling Colorado regulators it must raise $356 million to recover infrastructure and operating costs and lost revenue. (Colorado Sun)

COMMENTARY

• A Colorado author says the Trump administration’s plan to reduce oil and gas reclamation bonding requirements will hoist billions of dollars of abandoned and orphaned well cleanup costs onto taxpayers. (Colorado Newsline)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Feel the cold? Offshore wind alleviates grid woes in winter, study says. — Clare Fieseler

• New England kicks off $450M plan to supercharge heat pump adoption — Sarah Shemkus

• Chicago-area mayors push ahead on EVs despite federal pullback — Kari Lydersen

• Trump wants new nuclear power. So far, it’s all restarts. — Kathryn Krawczyk