TRANSMISSION: A case over whether the Clean Energy Connect line amounts to a “substantial change” to a 9/10-mile section of existing transmission line through a Maine township’s land could have a significant impact on the project’s future. (Press Herald)

ALSO:
• The Maine Ethics Commission declines to investigate a Clean Energy Connect opponent’s $140,000 payment to a group backing a ballot measure to impose new restrictions on transmission projects. (Bangor Daily News)
• A fact-check examines claims being made in ads for and against the Maine transmission measure. (Bangor Daily News)

PIPELINES: A federal judge rules a Philadelphia suburb must release emails between town officials and developers of the Mariner East pipeline, who face criminal charges over environmental violations. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS: Pennsylvania regulators reject a drilling company’s request to withdraw up to 3 million gallons of water a day from a creek for fracking operations. (Tribune-Review)

CLIMATE:
• A new report warns that thousands of Massachusetts buildings — including emergency facilities and Boston’s airport — are at risk from flooding in the coming decades. (Boston Globe)
• Indigenous climate advocates wrap up a week of protests in Washington D.C. (Washington Post)

EMISSIONS: Advocates push New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject permits for companies aiming to revive shuttered power plants for cryptocurrency mining. (Associated Press)

WIND:  Empire Wind pushes back the expected completion date of New York’s first offshore wind farm into 2026. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR:
• A new advisory group in Maine will recommend policies to preserve the state’s limited farmland amid a push for solar development. (Bangor Daily News)
• Officials in Hanover, New Hampshire, unveil the state’s largest solar project, expected to offset nearly 100% of the town’s electricity use. (Associated Press)

GRID: Eversource urges New Hampshire residents to plant shorter trees that are less likely to interfere with power lines as some have pushed back on the company’s effort to clear vegetation for grid reliability. (New Hampshire Public Radio)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Officials in Salem, Massachusetts, are seeking to bypass a state law that effectively bans electric-assist bicycles from city streets. (Salem News)
• A Vermont dealership is seeing a surge in interest in Ford’s electric F-150. (Seven Days)

COMMENTARY:
• Climate activist Bill McKibben notes that while Vermont regulators rejected a proposed solar farm on aesthetic grounds, a warehouse or other development on the same land would not have faced similar scrutiny. (Rutland Herald)
• Two Connecticut car dealers say their industry has an important role to play in the transition to electric vehicles. (Hartford Courant)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.