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.
Questions, comments, or tips? Contact editor@californiaenergyjournal.com.
From the California Energy Journal
California Brings Multiple Legal Challenges to Block Sable Pipeline Restart (March 19, 2026) – California launched a legal effort to stop Sable Offshore Corp.’s restart of the Las Flores Pipeline System serving the offshore Santa Ynez Unit. The response to the recent restart of the pipeline system could signal an escalating conflict between California and the Trump administration over federal emergency powers and state environmental authority. Read more.
California, Washington, Quebec Publish Draft Agreement on Carbon Markets (March 20, 2026) – California and Washington state released a draft agreement outlining how their carbon emissions trading programs could be linked. This step would expand the existing California–Québec cap-and-trade market and potentially create a larger West Coast carbon market. Read more.
California Sues to Block Federal Order Restarting Sable Pipeline (March 23, 2026) – California has filed suit to block a federal order directing Sable Offshore Corp. to restart the oil pipeline system serving the offshore Santa Ynez Unit. The suit escalates a legal dispute over the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to override state energy and environmental controls. Read more.
Additional California News and Analysis
Oil and gas
The Trump administration dropped a lawsuit against two Northern California cities after council members rescinded ordinances that could have been used to ban gas hookups in new construction. E&E News, March 24, 2026. (see earlier coverage Trump Administration Sues Petaluma and Morgan Hill Over Natural Gas Bans.)
Commentary and analysis
Blanca Begert, “Oil prices are skyrocketing, but this is why companies won’t rush to drill in California,” Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2026.
David S. Secrest, “Trump to California’s Courts: Drop Dead,” Santa Barbara Independent, March 16, 2026.
Gasoline and fuels
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa are among those are calling on the California legislature to eliminate the state excise tax on gasoline for the time being. NBC, March 17, 2026.
Commentary and analysis
Alejandro Lazo, “California passed a law to curb spikes in gas prices. Why isn’t it using those powers now?,” Cal Matters, March 13, 2026.
Matthew Zeitlin, “Why Gas in California Is Almost $6 a Gallon — and Could Go Higher,” Heatmap, March 19, 2026.
Wind and solar
Commentary and analysis
Jeff St. John, “The fight over California’s community solar plan is heating up,” Canary Media, March 17, 2026.
Jeff St. John, “‘We’re harvesting the sun’: A huge solar project grows in California,” Canary Media, March 24, 2026.
Data centers and AI
Two data center bill passed out of the California Senate Energy Utilities and Communications Committee. SB 886 would establish a tariff on data centers to protect ratepayers from the increased costs of supplying data centers; and SB 978 would require the CPUC to establish a special rate structure for large-scale energy users, who would be defined as customers of electrical corporations operating facilities with operational requirements of at least 75 megawatts of electricity.
Lake Tahoe’s longtime power supplier, NV Energy, will cut off the region next year. It has said data centers are driving “unprecedented” demand. Cal Matters, March 20, 2026.
Carbon emissions
California is challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of the U.S. EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding, which provides the legal basis for the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Governor’s Office, March 19, 2026.
Power and utilities
“Replacing California’s Peaker Plants with Long-Duration Energy Storage,” Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, March 23, 2026.
Additional News and Analysis
Wind and solar
Senior administration officials are drafting settlement agreements that would pay nearly $1 billion to TotalEnergies, the French energy company behind two wind farms off New York State and North Carolina, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times, including copies of the agreements. New York Times, March 17, 2026; Yahoo, March 18, 2026.
Oil and gas
President Donald Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, which requires that the transport of goods between U.S. ports must be conducted by U.S. vessels, in an attempt to stabilize oil markets amid the Iran war, the White House confirmed to CNBC. The waiver “will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for sixty days.” CNBC, March 18, 2026.
The International Energy Agency has declared the current disruption in oil, gas, and key commodities resulting from the Iran war the most severe energy crisis on record, surpassing the shocks of the 1970s and the Russia-Ukraine war. MSN, March 23, 2026; FT, March 20, 2026.
Commentary and analysis
“Iran war will scar the global economy,” FT, March 20, 2026.
Nuclear
The nuclear industry is poised to capitalise on Donald Trump’s war in Iran, as governments around the world seek more stable low-cost sources of energy and rethink prior resistance to atomic power. FT, March 12, 2026.