GRID: Advocates say federal rejection of a New England grid policy to lock in prices for new resources will harm the development of energy storage in the region. (Energy News Network)

NATURAL GAS: Massachusetts towns ask the state legislature to overrule the attorney general who says local laws to ban natural gas in new construction are not allowed under current statutes. (E&E News, subscription)

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TRANSPORTATION: The Federal Highway Administration has not acted on New York City’s congestion pricing proposal after more than a year and a half, with one advocate saying “there’s no question that it’s being held up for political purposes.” (InsideClimate News)

SOLAR:
• A defense contractor says it will buy solar energy from six pending projects to offset electricity costs at its Maine shipyard. (Portland Press Herald)
• A Vermont solar developer and its investor agree to make 14 of its installations more pollinator-friendly by adding plants that attract bees. (Rutland Herald)
• The first community solar project at an affordable housing complex in Rhode Island is now operating. (Providence Business News)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY:
• Connecticut seeks a way to replace an aging waste-to-energy plant that is set to close in 2022, but some officials say shipping trash out-of-state is not an acceptable solution. (Hartford Courant)
• A Massachusetts company opens its processing facility that collects waste food and other organic materials that are then sent to an anaerobic digester. (Waste Today)

TRANSMISSION: Sixteen Massachusetts elected officials challenge a state siting board’s decision to allow a substation in East Boston and urge a delay in a hearing to gather more public input. (WBUR)

BIOFUELS: The owner of a Pennsylvania biofuel company convicted of fraudulently claiming renewable energy tax credits is sentenced to federal prison. (Morning Call)

COMMENTARY:
• A Connecticut environmental organization urges the state to impose a moratorium on large-scale solar development until a governor’s climate change council makes recommendations on project siting. (CT Mirror)
• A former electric cooperative chairman in New Hampshire says a Republican attack on the state’s energy efficiency plan ignores more than $600 million in  customer savings over the next three years. (Concord Monitor)
• The owner of a hydroelectric dam in Maine says it may be forced to close the facility if its federal relicensing application continues to drag on and its environmental mitigation measures are rejected. (Bangor Daily News)
• A columnist says residential solar is as libertarian as one can get in independence-minded New Hampshire, but the state continues to fall further behind its neighbors. (Concord Monitor)

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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.