NUCLEAR: The New Jersey Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal of utility regulators’ controversial decision to provide almost $1 billion in subsidies to three nuclear power plants. (NJ Spotlight)
UTILITIES: An independent audit of Central Maine Power’s management finds structural and managerial concerns, but concludes the utility is not “a fundamentally or irredeemably flawed operation.” (Associated Press)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• A recently passed law in Maine requires the state to legally define environmental justice and the communities most vulnerable to the climate crisis, a difficult endeavor with major consequences for who is or isn’t included in the final definition. (Energy News Network)
• A business leader and former state legislator recommends Massachusetts raise its gas tax, but not at the expense of low-to-middle-income drivers. (MassLive)
PIPELINES: A trial begins for two constables near Philadelphia who were arrested on bribery and official oppression charges after patrolling an Energy Transfer Partners pipeline in their off-hours. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
SOLAR: A downeast Maine town votes against a proposed 5.5 MW solar array, with one town councilmember citing panel recycling concerns and another saying they would prefer residential lots on the site. (Bangor Daily News)
HYDROPOWER: New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster co-sponsors legislation that would pour billions of dollars into the rehabilitation, removal or retrofitting of thousands of hydroelectric dams. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
NATURAL GAS: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joins protests against a proposed natural gas plant conversion in New York City’s Queens borough, signaling he’ll lobby against the plans in the state capitol. (NY Daily News)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: A former mill town in New Hampshire waits for state regulators to approve its community power plan, which advocates hope will allow residents to purchase cheaper, greener electricity. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
POLLUTION: After major rainfall from Tropical Storm Elsa, a central Connecticut river rises and dislodges oil and creosote accumulated from nearby railroad tracks. (Fox 61)
CLIMATE: Rhode Island environmental advocates are pleased that state lawmakers passed legislation on renewable energy standards and waste-to-energy facilities, but say there is still more work to be done. (Boston Globe)
WIND: A wind power developer partners with environmental entities to survey daily movement of whales near Maryland’s oceanside coast by launching an ocean monitoring buoy. (news release)