SOLAR: A Maine state senator proposes a moratorium on community solar projects through June to give legislators more time to deal with a rush of projects that regulators say is overburdening the system’s ability to handle them. (Maine Public)
ALSO:
• A developer proposes a 175 MW solar farm on 1,100 acres of a recently closed coal mine in western Maryland. (PV Magazine)
• A planning board in a Maine town approves a 55-acre solar farm just days after a referendum to thwart it fails. (CentralMaine.com)
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UTILITIES:
• Pennsylvania-based PPL is buying National Grid’s Rhode Island utility business for $5.3 billion. (GoLocalProv)
• Vermont’s largest private manufacturer, semiconductor maker GlobalFoundries, may form a self-managed power utility — which would make it the third-largest utility in the state. (Milton Independent)
TRANSMISSION: A Maine judge rules that the state land bureau lacks the authority to issue a permit for a transmission corridor from Canada if public lands are substantially altered, creating another obstacle for the Central Maine Power project. (Portland Press Herald)
GRID:
• A study shows more Mainers are staying home during the pandemic, driving up residential electricity use. (Bangor Daily News)
• Con Edison plans to aggregate 300 home storage systems in New York City to form a 500 kW virtual power plant, which the company intends to use as a non-wires solution for local load congestion. (Energy Storage News)
BIOMASS: Vermont’s Senate votes unanimously to require state utilities to purchase power from the wood-fired Ryegate power plant through 2024. (Seven Days)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• At an event unveiling the state’s first electric school bus, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont urges lawmakers to support the Transportation and Climate Initiative. (Hartford Courant)
• A Quebec diplomat tells a Maine audience that early adopters of electric vehicles “need a little help” as the government there has come close to meeting its targets. (Portland Press Herald)
PIPELINES:
• Federal regulators hold their first “listening session” to gain feedback on their pipeline approval process and hear complaints on eminent domain from Pennsylvania landowners. (E&E News, subscription)
• A spill from a gasoline pipeline that leaked into a New Jersey creek has been contained. (NJ.com)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• Orsted says the first stage of an offshore wind staging area for its Skipjack project in Maryland is complete. (4C Offshore)
• A debate over a cable to connect Long Island’s first wind farm to the shore in a wealthy enclave has turned rancorous. (The Guardian)
COMMENTARY:
• The Maryland governor in office during the state’s deregulation of the electricity market says the recent experience of blackouts in Texas shows that the policy decision was a mistake. (Baltimore Sun)
• An attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation believes Rhode Island should prohibit waste-burning facilities. (Providence Journal)