SunZia wind reaches commercial operations

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Pattern Energy has begun commercial operations this month at its 3,650 MW SunZia wind project in eastern New Mexico, with most of the power going to Arizona and California. (Semafor)

• Federal data show utility-scale solar output exceeded gas-fired generation on California’s grid during most of the first five months of this year. (Bloomberg Law)

• An Arizona appeals court finds that state regulators violated due process when approving APS’s grid access fee for rooftop solar customers. (ABC15)

STORAGE

• Arizona utility Salt River Project and Energy Dome plan a 19 MW long-duration carbon dioxide battery energy storage project at the Coronado coal plant in the eastern part of the state. (Utility Dive, Energy Storage News)

DATA CENTERS

• University of Utah researchers find data centers can serve as demand response resources and ease grid strain through temporal and spatial flexibility and by deploying on-site power generation. (news release)

• A marketing agency looks to hire social media influencers to promote the controversial Project Jupiter hyperscale data center under development in southern New Mexico. (Source NM)

• Washington state utility Avista pauses negotiations to provide power to a proposed 500 MW data center following customer pushback. (Public Power)

• Advocates file a petition with Montana regulators seeking to intervene in proceedings for NorthWestern Energy’s proposed data center tariff and electricity service agreements for the facilities. (news release)

OIL & GAS

• A federal judge vacates about 1.7 million acres of Trump-era oil and gas leases in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas after finding the federal Bureau of Land Management violated environmental laws when auctioning the parcels in sage grouse habitat. (Courthouse News Service, Cowboy State Daily)

• The Trump administration moves to roll back Biden-era rules increasing reclamation bond requirements for oil and gas wells on federal lands, drawing criticism from environmental advocates. (E&E News)

• Advocates file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal Bureau of Land management’s approval of a proposed oil-hauling highway in eastern Utah, saying it would harm wildlife and cultural resources. (news release)

• A federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale nets $35 million for 147 parcels covering more than 134,000 acres in Colorado. (news release)

COAL

• U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-California, pushes back on the Trump administration’s $75 million subsidy for a coal export terminal in Oakland with an amendment that would ban using federal energy and water funds for coal-related projects. (KQED)

• The Trump administration extends its order to keep the TransAlta Centralia coal plant in Washington state available for operations beyond its scheduled retirement date at the end of 2025, citing increased summer power demand. (Utility Dive)

• Xcel Energy proposes extending operations at its Comanche coal plant by another 15 months to meet surging demand, even though the facility was scheduled to close last year. (E&E News)

• Wyoming’s coal industry criticizes Republican political candidates’ opposition to data center development, saying the facilities’ energy demand is driving the fossil fuel’s comeback. (Cowboy State Daily)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Eugene, Oregon’s Water & Electric Board pauses its EV rebate program after higher-than-expected demand depletes funding. (OPB)

GEOTHERMAL

• A federal Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease sale brings in more than $16.5 million for 47 parcels totaling about 152,000 acres in New Mexico. (news release)