This weekly newsletter highlights the latest from the California Energy Journal along with links to articles and analysis on key developments in California energy policy.
From the California Energy Journal
Business Groups Petition U.S. Supreme Court to Pause California Climate Law (November 17, 2025) – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups filed an emergency appeal on November 15, 2025, requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to put California’s climate reporting laws on hold while legal challenges continue. The laws take effect January 1, 2026. Read more.
Trump Offshore Drilling Plan Focuses on Santa Barbara Coast (November 13, 2025) – The Trump administration is proposing to offer six lease sales off the coast of California between 2027 and 2030 as part of its five-year offshore drilling plan. The proposed lease sales would primarily be offshore from Santa Barbara County, where Sable Offshore Corp. is looking to restart three drilling rigs in federal waters. Read more.
Additional California Developments
Oil and gas
Sable Offshore raised the $225 million it needed to keep it afloat. Had the company not been able to raise those funds, ExxonMobil would have called Sable’s loan — just shy of $700 million — early next year. Santa Barbara Independent (November 11, 2025).
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signaled that state regulators are making progress on blunting the impact of the impending closure of two of the state’s nine gasoline-producing oil refineries. E&E News (November 13, 2025).
The Valero refinery in Benicia is set to close by spring 2026. A city-commissioned report projects the loss of more than $10.6 million in annual revenue and up to 1,200 jobs including indirect impacts. Richmond Standard (Chevron) (November 14, 2025).
Climate policy
California Governor Gavin Newsom assured an audience at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil that his state would continue to prioritize green technology, while blasting U.S. President Donald Trump’s “dumb” decision to reverse the federal government’s course on climate action. Reuters (November 11, 2025). Fox (November 14, 2025.
Storage
California added 1,200 megawatts of battery energy storage to its electrical grid over the last six months, state officials said. With the latest additions, the state has reached 16,942 megawatts of available battery storage — about one-third of the estimated capacity needed to reach its goal of 100% clean energy by 2045. Los Angeles Times (November 13, 2025).
Data centers
A new report released this week by the environmental think tank Next 10 and a UC Riverside researcher attempts to quantify that impact of data centers on the state’s grid, but its authors say the report is only an estimate without harder data from the centers themselves. CalMatters (November 14, 2025).
Interesting Reads
Blanca Begert, “An Oil Company Running Into Rough Waters off the California Coast Is Looking to Trump for Help,” Inside Climate News, November 11, 2025.
Melody Gutierrez, “At Brazilian climate summit, Newsom positions California as a stand-in for the U.S.,” Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2025.
Simon Montlake, “Make Oil Great Again? Even California drills as global climate action stalls,” Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 2025.
Collin Eaton, “Trump’s Offshore Drilling Push Faces Deep-Rooted Opposition in California, WSJ, November 13, 2025.
Dan Walters, “Newsom’s gas price crusade morphs into bid to keep refiners open,” CalMatters, November 14, 2025.
Additional News
Oil and gas
The International Energy Agency reported that renewable energy is still expanding faster than fossil fuels around the world, while demand for oil and gas could continue to grow until 2050. France 24; (November 12, 2025). WSJ (November 12, 2025).
Wind and Solar
A new report states that 76% of solar projects and 86% of wind projects slated to come online by the end of 2028 are already safe-harbored. Those projects account for around 33 gigawatts of capacity eligible for tax credits. Latitude Media (November 13, 2025).
Carbon pricing
A delay to the European Union’s new carbon-pricing system may weigh on the outlook for inflation and potentially revive calls for more interest-rate cuts. Bloomberg (November 11, 2025).
Lawmakers in the European Parliament agreed to exempt more companies from green reporting rules after the center-right, right-wing and far-right groups allied to pass the EU’s first omnibus simplification package. Politico (November 13, 2025).
Carbon reporting
Carbon Measures, founded last month and backed by U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil, aims to create an accounting system based on the direct emissions of products and one that avoids the double counting seen in current supply-chain—or Scope 3—reporting. WSJ (November 10, 2025).
Emissions trading
Pennsylvania left the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro said he was focused on “cutting costs” when he signed a budget deal that exits the Northeast’s cap-and-trade system in exchange for Republicans supporting about $2 billion in additional spending. E&E News (November 13, 2025). E&E News (November 17, 2025).
Data centers
US data center developers are flooding utilities with inflated growth plans, muddying efforts to plan for future power needs with projects that may never materialize. Developers are approaching multiple utilities with the same project in a quest to find the lowest-priced power. FT (November 12, 2025).
International
Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was the sole representative of the U.S. government at global climate summit COP30. E&E News (November 14, 2025).
Interesting Reads
David Ferris, “Why Trump Couldn’t Stop the Electric Vehicle Dream,” Politico, November 14, 2025.