OFFSHORE WIND: Following an offshore wind solicitation, Massachusetts selects the 1.2 GW Commonwealth Wind project and a 400 MW projected pitch by Mayflower Wind for further contract negotiations, which will double the amount of offshore wind in the state if constructed. (State House News Service)

ALSO:
• Maryland regulators approve renewable energy credits for expansions of the Skipjack and US Wind offshore power projects. (Baltimore Sun)
• A Maine island conservation group balks at the possibility that Sears Island may host an offshore wind assembly and fabrication facility and suggests the state should build it in an already industrial area on the mainland. (Maine Monitor)

OIL & GAS:
• An independent power producer in New York City will retire its oil-fired peaker plants and build more than 350 MW of battery storage capacity on the sites. (S&P Global)
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont partially blames fossil fuel industry lobbyists for the collapse of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. (CT Post)

PIPELINES: The utility behind a proposed 3.5 mile Maryland pipeline is renewing its permits as it seeks to appeal a 2019 regulatory decision against granting the company an easement. (Maryland Matters)

EFFICIENCY:
• ISO New England is unconcerned by claims, outlined in a recent letter from regional oil and gas companies to the region’s governors, that financial incentives to install electric heat pumps would lead to heightened power demand. (Spectrum News)
• New Hampshire’s consumer advocate wants to bar a new regulator who once worked for its office from weighing in on the state’s energy efficiency debate due to internal strategy knowledge and potential bias. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

NUCLEAR: In Massachusetts, the Pilgrim nuclear power plant’s last spent fuel cask was placed in dry storage — an operation the decommissioning company says was completed in record time. (news release)

EQUITY: New York Power Authority’s board allows the utility to begin considering diversity, equity and inclusion impacts when it considers applications for its economic development programs. (NNY360)

SOLAR: An almost 5 MW solar farm comes online to service multiple large commercial customers in a rural northern Maine county. (Bangor Daily News)

CLIMATE:
• New York issues over $1.3 million in economic recovery grants for a planned net-zero and carbon-neutral Hudson Valley facility pitched as the continent’s first certified passive warehouse. (Times Union)
• As the Gulf of Maine warms and pushes lobsters’ habitat into colder waters further north, fishers pivot to harvest quahog clams. (Bangor Daily News)
• Reducing wood smoke from home heating by 40% in New York would benefit both public health and the climate, according to a researcher. (Times Union)

COMMENTARY: A former Maine consumer advocacy leader details why she thinks the proposal to take over the assets of the state’s investor-owned utilities would hurt ratepayers. (Telegram)

Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.