Northeast Energy News

NOTE TO READERS: Northeast Energy News will be taking a break for Independence Day. We will return on Tuesday, July 7. ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Massachusetts expands electric vehicle incentives to include fleet vehicles in a move advocates say will greatly enhance their carbon reductions impact. (Energy News Network)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• An ongoing grid study in New England says the region would need 58 to 71 GW of new clean energy capacity and up to 10 GW of storage by 2040. (Platts)
• Two utilities file plans with New York on how they will integrate distributed energy resources to help meet the state’s climate goals.

Federal court rules regulators cannot stall pipeline challenges

By Bill Opalka

PIPELINES: A federal appeals panel rules regulators cannot indefinitely keep pipeline challenges out of court while construction proceeds in a case that originated in Pennsylvania. (Bloomberg Law)

CLIMATE: New Jersey releases a scientific report on what climate change is expected to do to the state but avoids policy prescriptions on how to address it. (NJ Spotlight)

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/fellowship. ***

EMISSIONS: A broad coalition urges PJM to continue work on carbon pricing as the most effective means to reduce emissions in light of a federal regulator’s move to examine the policy.

Northeast Energy News

Bill gives New Jersey communities more say in polluters’ permits

By Bill Opalka

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The New Jersey Senate passes a bill that gives “overburdened communities” a say in the approval process of new facilities that add polluting sources. (NJ Spotlight)

PIPELINES:
• The U.S. Supreme Court wants the Trump administration’s views before it rules on New Jersey’s decision to block the PennEast pipeline by preventing seizure of state land along the pipeline’s route. (Bloomberg Law)
• An attorney in a case over private security for a Pennsylvania pipeline project says local politics influenced the arrest of his client. (The Mercury)

Northeast Energy News

New Jersey nuclear operators would trade subsidies for energy contracts

By Bill Opalka

NUCLEAR: Two companies that won a $300 million annual subsidy for their nuclear plants offer to give it up if New Jersey switches to contracts for energy produced in the state. (NJ Spotlight)

OIL & GAS:
• Hilco Development now officially owns a closed Philadelphia refinery site and calls it a “generational opportunity” to invest in the city and create an environmentally conscious commercial hub. (WHYY)
• Some Pennsylvania residents say they are not surprised by a grand jury report slamming oversight of fracking in the state, while Republican legislators defend the industry. (TribLIVE, StateImpact Pennsylvania)

Northeast Energy News

Grand jury report slams fracking monitoring in Pennsylvania

By Bill Opalka

OIL & GAS: After a two-year investigation, a Pennsylvania grand jury report says state environmental officials failed to protect residents from the health effects of fracking. (StateImpact Pennsylvania)

ALSO:
• The bankruptcy sale of a closed Philadelphia refinery is expected to close Friday after the owner agrees to accept $26.5 million less due to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• A new report says progress is slow in fixing thousands of gas line leaks in Massachusetts as required by a 2014 law. (Salem News)