Washington state judge overturns gas-friendly ballot measure

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

FOSSIL FUELS

• A Washington state judge overturns a voter-approved ballot measure blocking government restrictions on natural gas hookups or appliances, saying the initiative was unconstitutional because it dealt with multiple subjects. (Washington State Standard)

• New Mexico lawmakers pass legislation that would raise oil and gas drilling royalty rates on state land. (New Mexico Political Report)

• A coal mine in southwestern Wyoming lays off 28 workers, citing a lagging market and competition with natural gas generation. (WyoFile)

• Advocates say New Mexico’s oil and gas facility methane emissions rules will help insulate the state from the Trump administration rolling back federal regulations. (Public News Service)

• Wyoming’s energy authority seeks proposals for a comprehensive statewide coal resource study. (news release)

• Arizona utilities award four communities $65,000 in grants for economic development in the wake of coal plant retirements. (news release)

GRID

• Utah advocates push back on a proposed substation in the southwestern part of the state, saying it would damage one of the nation’s most important dinosaur fossil sites. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• A Los Angeles-area school district files a lawsuit against Southern California Edison alleging the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire and seeking compensation for damages. (Sacramento Bee)

CLIMATE

• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says his state will continue its efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change — with or without federal support. (Inside Climate News)

• New Mexico advocates praise state lawmakers for creating a climate and community resilience grant program, but criticize them for failing to pass other environmental protection bills. (New Mexico Political Report)

• Oregon lawmakers consider legislation that would require multi-family landlords to provide tenants with cooling devices as climate change increases summer temperatures. (OPB)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A developer proposes a 250 MW solar-plus-storage installation on private land in western Colorado to help replace generation from a retiring coal plant. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)

UTILITIES

• Arizona utility regulators criticize state lawmakers for introducing legislation concerning energy costs, grid reliability and wildfire mitigation without consulting them. (Arizona Capitol Times)

LITHIUM

• Proposed and existing lithium mining projects in Nevada continue to move forward even though commodity prices have plummeted 86% since 2023. (Nevada Independent)

• A southern California county publishes a plan aiming to build an economy around proposed lithium extraction projects around the Salton Sea. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION

• California officials say the 178,549 public and shared private electric vehicle chargers in the state now outnumber gasoline pumps. (Cal Coast News)

NUCLEAR

• Arizona advocates worry an effort to build new nuclear reactors in the state could revive long-idled uranium mines and contaminate water supplies. (AZFamily)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• A Massachusetts vehicle-to-everything pilot program will pay EV owners to let utilities tap the power stored in their vehicle batteries and provide the expensive bidirectional chargers that let electricity flow back to the grid, Jeff St. John reports.

• Texas legislators look to upend the state’s competitive energy market with a bill that would boost new gas deployment while penalizing renewables and battery storage, Julian Spector reports.