NATURAL GAS: New York’s Power Generation Advisory Panel says it will recommend a moratorium on new fossil fuel-fired plant construction to the state’s climate council next week. (S&P Global Platts)
ALSO:
• The precipitous price drop for natural gas hurts former shale boomtowns like Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, where producers aren’t resigning gas leases and officials don’t have enough tax money to cover the budget. (WTAE)
• The Indian Point nuclear plant’s closure likely won’t impact the type of power exported from New York’s grid to New England, as the state already sends mostly fossil fuel power to the region, according to a trade group leader. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
SOLAR:
• Clark University researchers say almost 4,000 acres of private forest land have been cleared for solar arrays in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, backing up their work with satellite imagery and machine-learning algorithms. (Telegram & Gazette, subscription)
• A Vermont ski resort recently completed a solar array that will power 41% of its operations, saving the company $130,000 in annual energy costs. (WCAX)
CLIMATE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently approved the state’s largest-ever budget, but it provides almost no new financial assistance to support climate goals passed in 2019. (Grist)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Clean power projects across the country — such as the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line and the proposed Champlain Hudson Power Express — are driving a wedge between environmentalists with conflicting priorities. (Associated Press)
COAL: The Sierra Club and the owners of the Cheswick Power Station, a coal plant near Pittsburgh, debate in court whether the environmental group can sue the plant for allegedly violating its Clean Water Act permit when it dumped warm water into the Allegheny River. (Law360, subscription)
RATES: Vermont utilities can now raise rates up to 2% annually without a traditional regulatory review, following a new measure signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott. (news release)
EFFICIENCY: A Maryland school district will receive almost $103,000 in rebates and bill credits for participating in a local utility’s demand response program, money it will use to further reduce its energy demand. (news release)
COMMENTARY: Amid New Jersey’s efforts to balance solar development with farmland preservation, a power developer argues that both interests can win through agrivoltaic practices. (NJ Spotlight)