FINANCE: New York’s state public pension fund — one of the largest in the U.S. — divests from some coal investments and plans to review hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments in 42 shale oil and gas companies. (Reuters)
SOLAR:
• A New England solar developer’s litigious approach to challenging projects and policies that dampen the regional solar industry is harming the sector’s reputation, critics say. (Energy News Network)
• The New York Farm Bureau backs a Saratoga County town’s proposed prohibition on solar development on certain prime farmland soils, but otherwise objects to other aspects of a proposed solar policy. (Post Star)
• Construction should conclude in mid-fall on two new solar canopies with a combined 4 MW output at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
• In Vermont, a solar array installed by the Rutland Housing Authority saves the agency hundreds of dollars monthly, and it puts those funds toward its transitional housing program. (Rutland Herald)
GRID:
• The developers behind a controversial transmission line project in Maine and several state agencies indicate they’ll appeal a judicial decision to cancel a public lands lease vital to the project. (Portland Press Herald)
• Intense heat left New York City utilities asking residents to conserve energy; the ensuing cooling demand, coupled with a Long Island transmission outage, led state power prices to dramatically rise. (Bloomberg, S&P Global)
• The Philadelphia Navy Yard adds a 6.4 MW battery storage system to its site along the Delaware River, which has its own grid. (WHYY)
NATURAL GAS:
• A natural gas explosion at a residential building near Boston seriously injures a woman and displaces nearly two dozen other residents. (WHDH)
• Two Connecticut natural gas-fired power plants are likely included in New Jersey utility Public Service Enterprise Group’s sale of its entire fossil fuel generation portfolio. (New Haven Register)
PIPELINES: In Pennsylvania, regulations imply a gas utility’s responsibility for pipeline maintenance ends where a landowner’s property line begins — a policy the state utility regulator wants to amend. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
HYDROELECTRIC: The owner of three hydroelectric dams in Massachusetts says relicensing the facilities supports climate goals and balances the grid, but activists worry about impacts to local ecology and recreation. (MassLive)
GRID: Maine needs a massive electrical grid revamp, but utility accountability, data sharing and encouraging more members of the public to participate in the process will be vital. (Maine Monitor)
UTILITIES: New York regulators approve additional funds for low-income household energy bill assistance, expanding the program by about 10% from last year. (Times Union)
HYDROGEN: A New York-based hydrogen fuel cell maker says a new report showing that “blue hydrogen” is nowhere near a low-to-no-emissions source of energy doesn’t impact their operations because they’re developing “green hydrogen.” (New York Times, Times Union)
WIND:
• Four of the Block Island Wind Farm’s five turbines are still offline for safety inspections and maintenance weeks after they were taken offline. (Providence Journal)
• Maine selects a Scottish firm to analyze the potential of the state’s port and supply chain infrastructure to bolster the burgeoning offshore wind industry. (Maine Monitor)
CLIMATE: Eastern Massachusetts climate activists want a new fire station to be net-zero, but some officials were cautious about using the public safety facility as a test case for environmentally friendly design. (iBerkshires)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A Tesla sales and service center is planned to take over a dilapidated warehouse and hopefully revitalize a retail corridor in a New Jersey shore town. (Asbury Park Press)
• A northern New Jersey county purchases a Tesla for its police department, saying the purchase will let other county officials test drive the vehicle before purchasing one for their own agency. (NorthJersey.com)