EFFICIENCY: New Hampshire’s utility regulator was supposed to make a decision on an energy efficiency plan over a month ago; until that vote happens, weatherization contractors are in limbo (New Hampshire Public Radio)
COAL: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should reconsider an issued permit and require water cooling towers at New Hampshire’s Merrimack Station coal plant, environmental groups say. (Energy News Network)
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NATURAL GAS:
• A Pennsylvania administrative law judge has denied Philadelphia-area residents’ request to shut down the Mariner East natural gas pipeline despite acknowledging numerous violations of state and federal regulations. (Law360, subscription)
• Pursuing environmental credentials, a major natural gas producer will have an independent inquirer assess the impact of its over 200 Pennsylvania well pads in the Marcellus Shale. (S&P Global Platts)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Environmentalists are questioning how NJ Transit’s decision to purchase 118 new diesel-powered buses is in compliance with a recent law on electric vehicle adoption. (NJ.com)
• With the town council’s approval in hand, code enforcement workers in Kittery, Maine, will soon be driving leased electric vehicles, reducing both costs and emissions. (Portsmouth Herald)
• New York City has chosen three e-scooters companies for a dockless scooter pilot program in an area of the East Bronx. (Smart Cities Dive)
EQUITY: Experts at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health have developed an environmental justice mapping website that screens for social and environmental factors and accordingly rates census tracts. (Bay Journal)
OFFSHORE WIND: To support multiple planned offshore wind projects, Ørsted and Eversource Energy intend to use Rhode Island’s Port of Providence to assemble turbine foundation platforms. (Providence Business News)
TRANSMISSION:
• Québec has approved an interconnection project to bring hydropower to the U.S.-Canadian border, where it will be carried by Central Maine Power’s New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line. (Hydro Review)
• The planning board of Lewiston, Maine, has authorized Central Maine Power to widen two sections of existing transmission corridors by about 75 feet for its New England Clean Energy Connect project. (Lewiston Sun Journal, subscription)
SOLAR: New Jersey’s utility regulator has issued a straw proposal that suggests cutting down the fixed incentive payments for certain small solar projects, including solar canopies. (National Law Review)
COMMENTARY:
• Clean Air Council’s executive director calls on Pennsylvanians to push for stronger penalties against Chesapeake Energy for illegally damaging wetlands and streams at dozens of fracking sites. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Offshore wind developers must ensure equitably procured contracts to enable minority- and women-owned businesses to share the wealth of the burgeoning industry, says the head of a renewable energy-focused urban planning firm. (Energy News Network)