GAS: Electric and gas utility ConEdison has been quietly lobbying New York City’s council to pass a bill banning gas connections in new buildings, in contrast to its fossil fuel peers. (The American Prospect/New York Focus)
CLIMATE: Vermont’s climate council adopts a plan sketching out dozens of strategies the state can deploy to reach its goal of reducing carbon emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. (Seven Days)
POLITICS: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, one of the Republican Party’s few climate champions and an offshore wind supporter, announces he won’t seek a third term in 2022. (E&E News)
TRANSPORTATION:
• Massachusetts environmental and transit advocates see an opportunity to make even more equitable and effective policies to fight the climate crisis following the state’s decision to withdraw from a regional transportation emissions pact. (Energy News Network)
• Boston’s city council approves a proposal by newly instated Mayor Michelle Wu to expand free bus service to two additional lines for the next two years. (GBH)
• Pittsburgh’s city council adopts an ordinance mandating new and renovated city-owned buildings have the electrical capacity and equipment for electric vehicle charging. (TribLive)
SOLAR:
• Two years after opening the gates for small-scale renewable development in Maine, officials turn to a stakeholder advisory group to determine how to situate new projects in prime spots on the grid. (Energy News Network)
• New York regulators approve an 80 MW solar farm in the Finger Lakes region, which intends to finish construction in 2022. (FingerLakes1)
• Six farms in Rhode Island have collectively received $118,000 in solar array installation grants from the state. (Providence Business News)
• Two energy developers want to begin constructing a 6.8 MW community solar project in 2022 in a western New York town. (news release)
• An energy developer and a realty company are seeking local approvals in Howell, New Jersey, to build a 4.7 MW solar farm on a fully forested site. (CentralJersey.com)
GRID:
• Atlantic Power Transmissions files a bid to develop a 3.6 GW offshore wind energy transmission project serving a central New Jersey substation. (S&P Global Platts)
• Dozens of power line crew members working on Central Maine Power’s transmission line corridor have transitioned from constructing to stabilizing the existing open space as its developer fights in court over its future. (Portland Press Herald)
• While announcing $25 million in extreme weather infrastructure and emissions reduction funds that local governments can tap into, Maine Gov. Janet Mills reiterated her backing of the contentious Central Maine Power line. (Bangor Daily News)
UTILITIES:
• A New York utility sells Bell Station, the largest privately owned undeveloped lake shoreline in the Finger Lakes region, to the state government, which will create a public wildlife management area on part of the parcel. (WSYR)
• Eversource appoints its first president of Connecticut operations, a stipulation of the settlement with state regulators over its management of a tropical storm in 2020. (Hartford Courant)
WIND: Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee plan to tour the offshore wind infrastructure assembly and manufacturing hub under development at the Port of Providence. (Providence Journal)
COMMENTARY: A Natural Resources Council of Maine climate change advocate examines what lessons can be learned from the “debacle” that is the Central Maine Power transmission corridor expansion, such as building public support for “well-designed projects.” (Utility Dive)