PIPELINES: A board of Maryland officials votes against an easement for a proposed natural gas pipeline that would have run under the Potomac River in the western part of the state. (Baltimore Sun)
ALSO:
• Pennsylvania lawmakers introduce 12 bills to reform the state’s pipeline regulatory process to improve safety. (Daily Local News)
• New Jersey’s attorney general asks the federal government to reconsider a ruling allowing developers of the PennEast natural gas pipeline to take possession of properties in eastern New Jersey through the use of eminent domain. (WFMZ)
• Some residents in southeast Pennsylvania are fearful about the startup of Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 natural gas pipeline, saying they “have to worry about being blown up.” (StateImpact Pennsylvania)
NATURAL GAS:
• A Vermont utility halts plans to expand natural gas service to a town in the central part of the state due to a pending lawsuit. (VTDigger)
• A New Jersey utility asks state regulators for approval to increase its energy tariffs by 5 percent due to a 44 percent surge in wholesale natural gas prices this winter. (Smart Energy International)
GRID: Massachusetts energy officials announce that no clean peak resources are providing energy during seasonal peak load hours, which will be used to set the baseline for a new Clean Peak Energy Standard in the state. (State House News Service)
POLITICS: A green group in Maine is hopeful that incoming Gov. Janet Mills will protect the environment and promote renewable energy. (North American Windpower)
WIND: Only 10 percent of beachgoers say their experience would be worsened by wind turbines placed 20 miles offshore, while 17 percent said it would be improved, according to a survey by University of Delaware researchers. (University of Delaware)
SOLAR:
• New solar co-ops are working to expand solar access in western Pennsylvania. (WESA)
• How activists helped turn a shuttered coal plant in central Massachusetts into the largest solar-plus-storage project in the state. (Fast Company)
RENEWABLES:
• Employment in the clean energy industry jumped from 12,335 in 2016 to 13,266 in 2018 in four western Massachusetts counties, according to a new report. (The Reminder)
• A town in southern Maine sets a goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 100 percent by 2050, and 50 percent by 2030.
NUCLEAR:
• A caucus of Pennsylvania lawmakers recommends supporting the state’s nuclear power plants, saying their closure “would be a devastating and permanent blow to Pennsylvania’s communities, economy and environment.” (Natural Gas Intelligence)
• Federal nuclear energy regulators file a complaint against Holtec International for using newly designed radioactive waste storage casks at Vermont’s shuttered Yankee nuclear plant without prior federal approval. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
POWER PLANTS: A new 940 MW natural gas plant begins operating in southwest Pennsylvania. (Pennsylvania Business Report)