california

The Interior Department paid Golden State Wind $120 million to abandon its Morro Bay lease; California subpoenaed the developer and its attorney general anticipates litigation.

California batteries discharged 12,000+ MW in late March 2026, equal to 12 nuclear plants and over 40% of state demand, as installed capacity climbs past 16 GW.

Pattern Energy's 3.5 GW SunZia project in New Mexico—the largest clean energy infrastructure project in US history—started commissioning in April 2026, delivering power across a 550-mile HVDC line to California and Arizona.

Colorado, California, and Oregon are all enforcing or adopting wildfire-resistant construction standards in 2026, though municipal capacity and cost concerns threaten to slow the rollout.

Merino Energy debuts the Mono, a single-unit heat pump that plugs into a standard 120-volt outlet and costs roughly half the price of a conventional mini-split, as California races to install millions of heat pumps by 2030.

Executive Order N-5-26 requires AI vendors seeking California state contracts to certify safeguards against illegal content, bias, and civil rights violations within 120 days.

Federal regulators approved a 20-year license extension for California's last nuclear plant, but state law limits operations to 2030 without legislative action.

A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for enabling child exploitation, and a California bellwether jury found both Meta and YouTube negligent in designing addictive platforms that harmed a minor.

Carbon TerraVault has completed construction of carbon capture equipment at Elk Hills and targets first CO2 injection in spring 2026, marking a milestone for California's carbon management ambitions.

As the Commerce Department's 90-day deadline approaches, a constitutional confrontation over AI governance is taking shape between the White House and state legislatures across the country.