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)

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.