TRANSMISSION: Maine’s top court rules a ballot referendum aimed to stop a transmission line to import Canadian hydropower is unconstitutional. (Maine Public)

UTILITIES:
• New York regulators fine two utilities a record $10.75 million for inadequate responses to winter storms in 2018. (E&E News, subscription required)
• Slow responses to restore power after Tropical Storm Isaias revives talk of revoking utility franchises, but the process is long and complicated. (City & State)

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SOLAR:
• A solar developer launches a marketing campaign in Maine for its three solar farms by offering subscribers a 15% credit on their electric bills. (Portland Press Herald)
• A Long Island town considers a 12-month moratorium on new solar construction, including one project that has already performed extensive work. (Riverhead News-Review)

EMISSIONS: A Pennsylvania state environmental board will hold a key vote next month whether to join a regional emissions compact while legislative opponents plan more hearings. (Morning Call)

OIL & GAS: Shell seeks to dismiss a lawsuit that would require it to take precautions to protect a Rhode Island fuel terminal from sea level rise. (Providence Journal) 

TRANSPORTATION:
• New Jersey has received applications for 1,800 electric vehicle rebates in the two months since it opened its program. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• A New Hampshire city uses $1.5 million of Volkswagen settlement money to buy 14 propane-powered school buses as state officials say $9 million in the fund remains unclaimed. (NHPR)
• A federal grant to a Delaware city will provide $2.5 million to construct a bus canopy and install solar panels to power the six vehicles that will be parked there. (Dover Post)

BIOMASS: Council members in a Massachusetts city object to a provision in a massive climate bill that passed the state House that is favorable to a proposed 35 MW biomass plant. (Masslive.com)

OFFSHORE WIND: The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm and a technology incubator pick three startups to monitor marine life as part of a Massachusetts-supported effort to promote clean energy. (reNEWS)

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CLIMATE: A new report says New York farms can negate their own carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions by improved agricultural practices. (Cornell Chronicle)

COMMENTARY:  
• An energy attorney in New Jersey says an offer by the state’s utilities to give up $300 million in nuclear subsidies is a “one-sided proposition” to assert market power and extract windfall profits from ratepayers. (NJ Spotlight)
• The operator of a Maryland coal plant files to formally retire it next June as the Sierra Club says the state is unprepared to deal with the economic fallout of such closures. (news release)

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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.