Trump tariffs could stifle Montana coal mine expansion

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

COAL

• Industry analysts and environmental advocates say the Trump administration’s trade wars could inadvertently stifle Signal Peak Energy’s bid to expand its Montana coal mine that exports much of its product. (Associated Press)

• Wyoming lawmakers consider revising a 2020 state law that requires utilities to consider installing carbon capture on coal plants rather than retiring them, saying that it may be harming the industry more than helping it. (Wyoming Public Media)

OIL & GAS

• An analysis finds active oil and gas wells expose about 29,500 New Mexico school students to noxious drilling-related emissions, potentially elevating health risks and diminishing student performance. (Associated Press/​Searchlight New Mexico)

• New Mexico’s Court of Appeals rules that regulators can hold oil and gas companies responsible for damages and cleanups on state land after they have transferred the lease to another firm. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

• Democratic California lawmakers accuse state regulators of failing to consider how petroleum industry rules will affect fuel prices and consumers after two refineries announce they will close. (KCRA)

• Hawaii regulators cite a petroleum firm for installing and operating underground fuel storage tanks without permits. (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)

• Utah advocates oppose the Trump administration’s plan to lease 19,000 acres in Utah for oil and gas development, saying it would harm the White River ecological refuge. (news release)

GRID

• Nevada advocates file a lawsuit seeking to overturn federal approvals and halt construction on the Greenlink West transmission line aimed at facilitating solar development, citing environmental impacts. (Nevada Independent)

UTILITIES

• SoCalGas begins restoring service to a southern California neighborhood that lost some utilities following a landslide. (Fox 11)

POLITICS

• Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, urges the Senate to restore some clean energy tax credits to the House-passed budget package before voting on it to avoid ​“significant disruptions” to the industry. (Deseret News)

SOLAR

• Meyer Burger lays off as many as 350 employees at its solar panel assembly facility that opened last year in Goodyear, Arizona. (Solar Power World, Phoenix Business Journal)

• Clean energy firms install solar panels and batteries at an Oregon transitional housing community to power and heat 43 tiny homes. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL

• Northwest Colorado officials call on Xcel Energy and state officials to replace a retiring coal plant with geothermal power generation. (Steamboat Pilot)

NUCLEAR

• An Idaho lawmaker calls on firms and federal agencies to develop small nuclear reactors to power AI data centers. (Idaho Statesman)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A small Idaho school district replaces three diesel buses with electric ones. (Spokesman-Review)

COMMENTARY

• An Alaska analyst says a capacity-limiting provision in the state’s new community solar law is impossible to measure and would render the projects useless. (Alaska Energy Blog)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Startup OCOchem wants to clean up the traditional chemical-making process by replacing large, fossil fuel-powered machines with more, smaller machines powered by electricity, Jeff St. John reports.

• A new Ohio state law aimed at expanding gas and nuclear power plants includes some technology-neutral provisions that could also benefit clean energy, Kathiann M. Kowalski reports.