Today’s headlines: Good news for carbon removal, propping up Western coal plants, and more

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• A federal judge rejects the Trump administration’s attempt to shut down clean energy developers’ challenge to five federal policies that are slowing solar and wind projects, finding the developers are likely to win the legal fight. (E&E News)

CARBON REMOVAL

• Carbon removal market Frontier announces $915 million in carbon-removal purchases from buyers including AI developer Anthropic — a welcome boost as the industry struggles. (Axios)

WIND

• Pattern Energy’s 3.6-GW SunZia wind project in eastern New Mexico has been generating power for the past two months and has now begun commercial operations, with most of the power going to Arizona and California. (Semafor)

• Nine Northeastern states and Washington, D.C., are working together to consider policies for developing transmission infrastructure to support future offshore wind projects. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR

• The DOE has redirected tens of millions of dollars allocated under the Biden administration for building a resilient network of solar panels and batteries around Puerto Rico toward a gas pipeline and other fossil fuel infrastructure. (Grist)

• Utility-scale solar has produced more electricity than gas power plants in California across most days this year. (Bloomberg Law)

FOSSIL FUELS

• South Carolina regulators approve Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper’s proposal to build a $5 billion, 2.1-GW gas power plant without a cost cap or other ratepayer protections advocated for by environmental groups. (Post and Courier, Utility Dive)

• The Trump administration plans to weaken restrictions on oil and gas wells that release large amounts of methane but produce little energy, which would boost profits for a Texas oil billionaire and Trump donor who has specialized in buying up those sites. (ProPublica)

• Democratic U.S. senators launch an inquiry into oil companies’ recent windfall profits — more than $40 billion in the first three months of the year. (E&E News)

COAL

• 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)

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)