Trump throws $700 million lifeline to coal

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.

COAL

• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon lauds the Trump administration’s plan to invest $700 million in the coal industry to keep existing plants running, restart shuttered facilities, and boost exports, saying it will help Powder River Basin mines. (WyoFile and Associated Press)

• The Trump administration plans to spend $75 million to jumpstart a proposed coal export terminal in Oakland, California, that has been delayed for years by local opposition. (Los Angeles Times)

• Rocky Mountain Power officials support the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate an Obama-era rule requiring the Dave Johnston coal plant’s Unit 3 to shut down in 2027, citing an increase in power demand. (Oil City News)

OIL & GAS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management opens its oil and gas lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, drawing rebukes from environmental advocates nationwide. (Re:Public)

• The U.S. House passes legislation backed by Western Republican lawmakers that would streamline federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas permitting. (KSL)

• The Trump administration moves to revoke Endangered Species Act protections from the dunes sagebrush lizard, which has been affected by oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Utah advocates call on PacifiCorp to develop more solar, wind, and geothermal projects, saying new clean energy resources would save ratepayers about $10 billion. (Utah News Dispatch)

• NV Energy plans to spend more than $3 billion on capital projects in northern Nevada over the next three years to accommodate projected data center-driven demand growth. (Nevada Current)

DATA CENTERS

• Residents of Monterey Park, California, vote to ban new data centers, making it the nation’s first city to permanently block the facilities via a popular vote. (Los Angeles Times)

• Analysts find Northwest utilities are acquiring gas-fired power and building new fossil fuel infrastructure to meet growing demand from data centers. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

• The developer of the proposed Stratos Project data center complex in northern Utah commits to downsizing the facility and making other changes after conservative state lawmakers urge him to scale back. (Deseret News)

• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) directs state agencies to coordinate efforts to ensure data center construction does not raise other utility customers’ rates, harm communities, or threaten water supplies. (WyoFile)

• Reno, Nevada’s city council votes to extend its moratorium on new data centers until it adopts new regulations for the facilities. (Nevada Current)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Bernalillo County, New Mexico’s supervisors consider a $1.2 billion industrial revenue bond for DESRI’s proposed 400 MW solar-plus-storage project west of Albuquerque. (Albuquerque Journal)

• University of Texas at El Paso researchers find solar arrays in southern New Mexico lose 2% to 3% of their power output to dust accumulation, a rate far lower than in other desert regions. (news release)

• Developers bring online six community solar projects at a Superfund site in Aurora, Colorado. (ColoradoBiz)

• Pacific Gas & Electric says more than 1 million of its customers have connected rooftop solar systems to their grid. (Solar Power World)

• A Phoenix startup secures a $250 million investment to support commercialization of its nanoparticle coating technology for satellites’ solar panels. (Phoenix Business Journal)

• California’s Energy Commission awards Scale $4.2 million to fund a solar-plus-storage microgrid with EV charging at Santa Barbara City College. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs legislation requiring automakers to establish a statewide EV battery recycling program and banning landfills from accepting the devices. (CPR)

HYDROPOWER

• A developer proposes a pumped hydropower storage project on Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, sparking pushback from Indigenous advocates over potential impacts to tribal land, water, and cultural resources. (news release)