Solar energy

Justices told a lower court to revisit their decision to uphold cuts of 75 percent to payments for solar panel owners.

California spent decades building one of the greenest power grids on Earth. It ditched coal, cut fossil fuels, and built so much solar it now runs the world’s second-largest battery fleet to keep clean power flowing after dark.Now lawmakers are poised to tie that grid to coal-burning states.

Oregon lawmakers have passed a pair of bills to enable “microgrids” within the larger power system.

Clean-energy projects have new deadlines for federal tax credits and limits on foreign parts, taking aim at California’s climate agenda. Eleven major solar projects and one onshore wind project now face potential delays or cancellation.

Community microgrids allow groups of homes and businesses to generate their own electricity without relying on large utilities

Environmental groups want to revive higher payments to panel owners. But the subsidies were unfair to non-solar ratepayers, regulators say.

The Bonneville Power Administration has identified roughly $3 billion of transmission line and substation projects it said would be key for accommodating growing electricity demand and the expansion of wind and solar power.

More than 1 million acres of federal land in central and southern Oregon could soon be leased for solar energy projects.

Fossil fuels are still a large source of electricity, but California has made progress with renewables while keeping the lights on.

Legislators and Gov. Newsom are working behind the scenes to draft energy legislation before the end-of-the-month deadline.

These community projects can give renters and low-income homeowners a chance to go solar, but the PUC’s action is unlikely to give them the option.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Oregon will receive $86.6 million through the Solar for All grant.