RENEWABLE ENERGY: A bill has passed out of a Senate committee in Massachusetts that promotes clean energy while avoiding new natural gas infrastructure. (MassLive.com)
ALSO: City officials raise questions about costs and staffing regarding a proposed plan to have Concord, New Hampshire operating on 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. (Concord Monitor)
***SPONSORED LINK: Change the future of the energy industry with hundreds of professionals, visionaries, and academics at the 2018 MIT Energy Conference: Transformational Technologies, March 2nd & 3rd. Register here!”***
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Several Massachusetts communities will conduct outreach to encourage residents to undergo home energy audits as part of a home energy initiative supported by National Grid. (Gloucester Times)
WIND:
• Nestle has entered into an agreement with a renewable energy company to power five of its facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania using wind energy. (The Morning Call)
• Falmouth, Massachusetts officials have reached a deal on debt the city owes on a wind turbine. (Cape Cod Times)
REGULATION: Developers of a proposed natural gas pipeline are asking federal energy regulators to review their decision regarding a water permit denial by New York regulators. (Reuters)
SOLAR:
• Changes to Vermont’s net metering policy are being blamed for the state’s 50 percent drop last year in solar installations and job losses. (PV Magazine)
• A small town in New York expects to have a one-megawatt solar farm online by 2019 – an idea percolating since 2016. (Times Herald-Record)
• New York regulators are reviewing a proposal for a solar energy center that would stretch over three towns and produce a maximum 180 megawatts. (Watertown Daily Times)
NATURAL GAS: A coalition is pushing back on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe’s plan to impose a state severance tax on natural gas production. (North American Shale)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join 100+ leading transmission executives & policymakers, including Southern Company, MISO, NYISO and New York Transco, LLC at the 21st Transmission Summit East, March 7-9, Register here!***
POLITICS: Federal funding for programs that protect Mainers from pollution and climate change would be threatened under the Trump administration’s proposed budget, environmentalists say. (Bangor Daily News)
COMMENTARY:
• New York lawmakers should allow Tesla to expand the number of stores in the state so it can market its electric vehicles and solar panels – a possible economic boon to the state. (The Buffalo News)
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy needs to go beyond reentering a nine-state cap and trade program and push for bolder strategies in order to achieve the goal of 100 percent clean energy in the state, says a policy advocate. (NJ.com)
• The Kennebec Journal editorial board says the Maine legislature should step in and investigate the University of Maine’s award of a power contact to ConEdison.