PIPELINES: As Colonial Pipeline operators continue trying to restore service after a ransomware attack, experts don’t expect New England to see gas shortages or extreme price hikes. (Boston Globe)
ALSO: Still, the cyberattack is being attributed to a rise in gas prices from New York to Massachusetts. (Syracuse.com, CBS 4 Boston)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• The Biden administration will reportedly announce Vineyard Wind’s final permit today, marking the country’s first completely permitted, utility-scale offshore wind farm. (New York Times)
• The developer of the Boardwalk Power Link transmission project — which could bring New Jersey’s offshore wind power ashore — has wrapped up a second round of oceanographic surveying. (news release)
NATURAL GAS:
• Pennsylvania’s utility regulator is hosting two public hearings for residents to voice their concerns over a controversial natural gas reliability station that would be sited near businesses and homes. (CBS 3 Philly)
• Eversource-sponsored activity books touting natural gas as an “invisible friend” were handed out to students at an elementary school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• New Jersey residents sue their township over concerns that a 600-acre solar array and related infrastructure would weaken agricultural soil quality and property values. (NJ.com, subscription)
• A solar developer has finished a series of solar arrays for Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, but the state’s virtual net metering cap limits further capacity additions.
RELIABILITY: A report by a Connecticut emergency management agency finds that a Category 2 hurricane could cause month-long power outages in the state, while a Category 3 storm would knock out power for months. (NBC Connecticut)
EFFICIENCY: Ithaca, New York, will soon require new buildings to produce 40% fewer emissions than required by the state’s energy efficiency requirements. (Ithaca Voice)
GRID: A Pennsylvania utility intends to inject certain aging distribution lines with a fluid mix that it says will prolong the life of the infrastructure by decades. (news release)
COMMENTARY:
• Something is missing in the Indian Point closure discourse: any talk of Irene Dickinson, “the mother of the anti-nuclear movement,” says the director of a water quality academic program. (lohud.com)
• Three Vermont officials say the state can reach its 2025 emissions reduction target by taking actions like swapping out 46,000 gasoline vehicles for electric ones — but “little time remains to do this work.” (Vermont Business Magazine)