Trump defunds California offshore wind and bat study

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.

WIND

• The Trump administration revokes $1.6 million in federal funding for the Electric Power Research Institute to study how proposed California offshore wind installations might affect bats. (Canary Media)

SOLAR

• New Mexico’s Interfaith Power & Light launches a project aimed at installing solar systems and reducing energy use at houses of worship. (Albuquerque Journal)

• ContourGlobal secures $350 million in financing for its 324 MW Black Hollow Sun solar project in Colorado. (news release)

COAL

• Navajo Nation citizens and officials debate the future of the coal industry in the Southwest, weighing the economic benefits against the environmental and human health impacts. (New York Times)

• U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican, urges the Trump administration to force Xcel Energy to keep its Comanche 2 coal plant in Pueblo running beyond its planned closure in December. (CPR)

URANIUM

• Mining firms’ efforts to reopen idle uranium facilities and construct new ones in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming run up against the industry’s toxic legacy in the region and environmental and safety concerns. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS

• A fire breaks out in a Sinclair petroleum refinery in the Permian Basin, injuring three workers and sending thick smoke across parts of Artesia, New Mexico. (Associated Press)

• Alaska’s Oil & Gas Association hires Steve Wackowski, a former staffer of the first Trump administration’s Interior Department, as its new CEO. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Southern California Edison expands eligibility for its Eaton Fire victims’ compensation program and about 400 claim applications have been filed, but some advocates say the effort still falls short. (Los Angeles Times, Press-Enterprise)

• Colorado Springs Utilities implements a new pricing plan for larger load users such as data centers aimed at protecting other ratepayers from associated extra costs. (CPR)

• Wyoming residents and advocates urge state regulators to reject Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed integrated resource plan, saying it leaves customers reliant on obsolete and expensive coal technology. (Oil City News)

GRID

• An analysis finds rural communities in California experience 600% more fast-trip power outages aimed at mitigating equipment-sparked wildfire hazard than urban and suburban areas. (High Country News)

TRANSPORTATION

• California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanches says the agency will ​“rethink” the state’s 2035 goal for transitioning to electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid sales. (E&E News)

• California regulators shutter a statewide electric bike incentive program after the San Diego nonprofit chosen to manage it allegedly botched the rollout. (Mercury News)

• Las Vegas’ Metropolitan Police Department plans to begin using 10 donated Tesla Cybertrucks as patrol vehicles this month. (Associated Press)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• The loophole that could give clean heat a boost under Trump — Jeff St. John

• Europe’s flagship green-steel project gets a financial lifeline — Alexander C. Kaufman

• The key elections to watch for energy and climate — Kathryn Krawczyk

• Illinois lawmakers just passed another big clean-energy bill — Kari Lydersen