POWER PLANTS: Federal regulators issue a permit for a New Hampshire coal plant that allows it to discharge heated water into the Merrimack River without using a cooling tower. (Concord Monitor) 

MARKETING: Connecticut churches and nonprofits band together for group purchases of electricity for the second time in a year, with double the number of participants. (Energy News Network)

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STORAGE: Despite ambitious targets set for storage in a 2018 law, New Jersey has shown virtually no progress with the technology since. (Greentech Media)

SOLAR:
• Democrats in Congress, including New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, urge federal regulators to reject a petition that would remove solar net-metering programs from state control. (E&E News, subscription required)
• A New Jersey solar installer runs a virtual training program for potential workers with the aim to permanently hire 20 by year’s end for projects serving low-income communities. (Next City)
• Two community solar projects totaling 5.5 MW in central New York are completed. (Solar Power World)
• A New Hampshire school board reverses course on a high school solar installation, opening it to competitive bidding that will imperil incentives. (Ledger-Transcript)

REGULATIONS: Pennsylvania’s budget for environmental regulation will remain flat due to COVID-19, eliminating a plan to hire more staff in its air quality bureau. (StateImpact Pennsylvania)

UTILITIES: Maryland regulators seek ways to remove unsafe mercury service regulators from gas furnaces present in older homes that have been blamed for a fatal apartment explosion. (Maryland Matters)

OIL AND GAS: The Marcellus Shale region stretching through Pennsylvania and West Virginia dethrones the Permian Basin in Texas as the largest fracking area in the country. (CBS7)

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EFFICIENCY: Several Maine towns convert to LED street lights with projected savings of more than $800,000 over 20 years. (PenBay Pilot)

COMMENTARY:
• An environmentalist says a New Jersey city’s plan to build a microgrid powered by a trash-burning plant endangers children’s health. (ROI-NJ)
• A sustainability nonprofit says Pennsylvania joining a regional emissions reduction compact will clean the state’s air and provide an economic boost. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

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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.