Seattle utility poised to spend $1 billion on dam relicensing

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.

HYDROPOWER

• Seattle City Light is poised to spend more than $1 billion for fish passage infrastructure, salmon habitat restoration, and water quality monitoring at its three hydropower dams on the Skagit River as part of a federal relicensing agreement with tribal nations. (Cascadia Daily News)

• Northwest tribal nations, advocates, and fish advocates continue to debate whether to prioritize affordable power or fish protection at Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams. (Montana Free Press)

• Wyoming regulators approve a water quality permit for Black Canyon Hydro’s proposed Seminoe pumped hydropower storage project in the southern part of the state. (WyoFile)

OIL & GAS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management looks to help drilling companies develop new uses for oil and gas wastewater beyond injecting it underground, which can lead to earthquakes and well blowouts. (E&E News)

• California’s petroleum industry pushes back on proposed state carbon cap-and-trade program updates, saying the changes could force the firms to shutter refineries. (Inside California Politics)

• Colorado regulators fine Sinclair more than $365,000 for mistakenly distributing 1.6 million gallons of diesel-contaminated gasoline to fuel stations across the state. (Colorado Sun)

• A U.S. Interior Department official who oversees offshore oil operations in Alaska goes on leave after warning that his office lacked the staff to regulate escalating drilling pushed by the Trump administration. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Avantus secures $300 million in financing for its 100 MW Kitt solar-plus-storage project under development in Pinal County, Arizona. (news release)

COAL

• Energy analysts find the Springerville coal plant in eastern Arizona is no longer financially viable, but say the operator should replace it with new solar rather than converting it to run on gas. (KRWG)

POLITICS

• Proposed Oregon bills that would have boosted plug-in solar, required on-bill utility financing for heat pumps and solar panels, and created a climate superfund all failed to advance during this legislative session. (Oregonian)

• Right-wing organization Turning Point USA endorses candidates in Arizona utility Salt River Project’s board elections, raising analysts’ concerns. (E&E News)

DATA CENTERS

• Washington state lawmakers advance a bill that would revoke data centers’ exemption from a 6.5% sales tax on replacement or refurbished server equipment. (Washington State Standard)

• Anchorage, Alaska, officials work to develop land-use regulations for data centers. (Anchorage Daily News)

URANIUM

• Federal lawmakers introduce legislation that would extend the life of a uranium disposal site in western Colorado to accommodate material from ongoing Cold War-era mill and mine cleanups. (KKCO)

COMMENTARY

• A U.S. Geological Survey official says his agency is working to extract critical materials from mine and mill waste in the West. (Deseret News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Trump asks tech titans to sign an energy pledge, but is it just PR? — Kathryn Krawczyk

• Span looks to cut smart panel costs with $75M Eaton partnership — Jeff St. John

• Metal powders help fuel rockets. Now they could heat up factories, too. — Maria Gallucci