HYDROPOWER: Officials in New York and New England embrace Canadian hydropower as a more efficient path to low carbon emissions, but many environmentalists say it comes with unacceptable costs. (InsideClimateNews)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• Advocates in New Hampshire hope delays caused by COVID-19 gives the state a chance to catch up to its New England neighbors in developing offshore wind. (Energy News Network)
• National Grid and Orsted say they have assembled teams to begin repairs on a transmission cable for the Block Island offshore wind project. (news release) 

PIPELINES: Federal regulators open an investigation into the two unplanned shutdowns of a Massachusetts compressor station that have delayed the facility’s opening. (WBUR) 

SOLAR: New Jersey regulators adopt a two-year community solar pilot program that ensures participation by underserved and low-income communities. (Solar Power World)

GRID: The New England grid operator endorses a “net carbon pricing” regime that it says avoids the political impediments to a carbon tax while creating incentives for electricity wholesalers to buy cleaner resources. (CommonWealth Magazine)

TECHNOLOGY: A Connecticut start-up patents a technology that turns waste into a burnable char that eliminates the need for trash incinerators. (Hartford Business)

CLIMATE: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a climate lawsuit by the City of Baltimore against oil companies should be heard in state or federal court. (Reuters)

ACTIVISM: Students rally in Bangor, Maine to ask city leaders to declare a climate emergency. (NewsCenterMaine)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Vermont advocates discuss ways to electrify rural transit at an annual meeting. (RTO Insider, subscription required)

UTILITIES: Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signs a bill from an emergency legislative session that gives consumers credits and reimburses them for lost food during extended electric utility outages. (The Advocate)

COMMENTARY:
• The Green Party says New Jersey must adopt smart meters as part of its energy strategy to improve system resilience. (NJ.com)
• Electrifying trucks plays an oversized role in bringing the transportation sector to zero emissions. (Environmental Defense Fund)

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Bill Opalka

Bill is a freelance journalist based outside Albany, New York. As a former New England correspondent for RTO Insider, he has written about energy for newspapers, magazines and other publications for more than 20 years. He has an extensive career in trade publications and newspapers, mostly focused on the utility sector, covering such issues as restructuring, renewable energy and consumer affairs. Bill covers Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and also compiles the Northeast Energy News daily email digest.