GAS: Officials block a proposed gas-fired power plant in New York City on the basis that the facility would impede the state’s energy goals, citing a 2019 state climate law in a decision for the first time. (City Limits)
ALSO:
• Those officials use the same reasoning to reject another gas-fired power plant, the Danskammer Energy Center in Newburgh, which activists called a “major victory and first interpretation” of the climate law. (Times Union)
• Pennsylvania regulators receive a formal complaint from a district energy supplier alleging Philadelphia Gas Works’ natural gas pricing method is anti-competitive and drives up certain customers’ costs. (Natural Gas Intelligence)
STORMS:
• The nor’easter that tackled the Northeast yesterday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, although coastal Maine also saw thousands of outages that have since been handled. (CNN, Portland Press Herald)
• Just under 350,000 outages were still being reported this morning across New England, while Eversource and state officials tell southeastern Massachusetts residents to expect power outages to last for days. (PowerOutages.Us, Boston.com, Cape Cod Times)
• Massachusetts car owners face long lines and closed gas stations as they attempt to fuel up. (WHDH)
UTILITIES:
• State regulators formally approve Eversource’s $103.4 million settlement with Connecticut over its handling of a 2020 tropical storm. (News Times)
• Amid criticism that New Hampshire utility regulator’s isn’t moving quickly enough on several dockets, the body’s chair resigns to take a job with the court system. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
SOLAR:
• Long Island Power Authority considers passing along a solar tax to its net-metering customers to pay for other system benefits — an idea that solar installers say will slow clean energy adoption. (Newsday)
• New Jersey’s community solar program has seen national admiration but faces criticism that solar companies are failing to sign up enough low-income households. (E&E News)
• Another Maine town considers a solar moratorium following its third utility-scale solar project application in as many years. (Livermore Falls Advertiser)
• A former Superfund site in New Jersey’s Gloucester County will soon be the site of a 4.5 MW solar array. (NJ.com)
• A New Jersey school district completes almost 1 MW of rooftop solar across six academic buildings. (news release)
PIPELINES: In New Jersey, a Passaic County commissioner pulls a resolution opposing a new natural gas compressor station to give supporters of the plan time to comment. (NorthJersey.com)
CLIMATE: In Pennsylvania, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate distances himself from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which the current governor is fighting to enter the state into. (Associated Press)
WIND: A New York City community college will receive $1.5 million in municipal funds, with the state expected to match that amount, to help it become a certified offshore wind basic safety training facility. (Brooklyn Eagle)