TRANSMISSION: Outside groups have spent $3.7 million to continue the dispute over a Central Maine Power transmission line after a court ruled an anti-power line ballot referendum unconstitutional over the summer. (Bangor Daily News)

ALSO: Vermont wants to solve transmission constraints in its northeast corner that are constraining recently built wind and solar projects. (VPR)

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OFFSHORE WIND: The U.S. Interior Department reverses a previous ruling to set a stricter standard for offshore wind development where it might interfere with other uses like fishing. (E&E News, subscription)

STORAGE: Con Edison signs a contract to build an energy storage facility in New York City with enough electricity to power the World Trade Center for a day. (NY1)

CLEAN ENERGY: Researchers estimate more than 6,200 jobs, or 16% of New Jersey’s clean energy workforce, have been wiped out by the pandemic. (NJ Spotlight)

SOLAR:
• Nine public buildings in a Hartford suburb will install solar panels. (Hartford Courant)
• A community solar project in Maine with 1,200 residential and small business customers nears completion. (Village Soup)

POWER PLANTS: Opponents of a new natural gas power plant in eastern Connecticut continue to rally against it as the state’s environment commissioner says the regional power grid must be reformed to prevent more facilities like it. (WNPR)

REGULATION: Maine regulators seek public comments on whether they should change the way they rate utility performance after a recent spate of weather-related service outages. (Bangor Daily News)

TRANSPORTATION: Interstate highways in Connecticut now have signs that mark the start and end points of federally designated alternative fuel corridors. (NGT News)

COMMENTARY:
• A former Rhode Island legislator says climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies with little chance of success waste taxpayer dollars and distract officials from addressing the state’s energy challenges. (Providence Journal)
• A New York union leader says the state needs a carbon price in the interim to ease the shift to renewable energy that will take years to achieve. (Syracuse.com)
• Energy attorneys endorse a proposal by New York regulators that utilities reveal their climate change risks similar to the way that some companies assess their financial exposure. (Utility Dive)
• The New Jersey Utilities Association endorses adoption of smart energy devices to assist in energy efficiency efforts, the conversion to clean energy, and solving service outages. (NJ Spotlight)

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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.