PIPELINES: Dark money groups spent $517,000 to oppose two candidates in the Pennsylvania legislature’s June primary from the Philadelphia suburbs who are opposed to the Mariner East pipeline. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

ALSO:
• Six new sinkholes appear along the Mariner East pipeline route in eastern Pennsylvania as opponents press state officials to shut the project down. (StateImpact Pennsylvania)
• The developer of a pipeline in Maryland asks federal regulators for an extension due to delays related to the state’s refusal to grant an easement across a rail trail. (Herald-Mail)
• Six years after it was first proposed, the PennEast pipeline roils supporters and opponents in a northeastern Pennsylvania county. (Times News)

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SOLAR:
• New York regulators approve an overhaul of net metering for residential solar systems but delay its implementation until 2022 due to COVID-19. (Utility Dive)
• The developer of a proposed 200 MW solar project with 20 MW of storage in New York is expected to present its plan and to seek tax breaks from county officials this week. (Auburnpub.com)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: New York’s landmark climate law is a year old and advocates say there have been some successes in its environmental justice provisions that need to be continued. (Grist) 

OIL & GAS:
• Momentum is waning to build another ethane cracker plant in western Pennsylvania or other areas of the Marcellus Shale gas region due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Shell puts a COVID testing site at its petrochemical plant under construction in Pennsylvania after workers test positive and building activities are scaled back. (Allegheny Front)

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POWER PLANTS: Federal regulators tweak orders that allow New England’s largest natural gas power plant to recover its operating costs for an additional two years through 2024. (RTO Insider, subscription required)

COMMENTARY:
• The Philadelphia Inquirer says Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf should veto a $670 million tax break bill for the petrochemical industry that makes only “minor adjustments” from one he nixed earlier this year.
• A former county executive in New Jersey says the state Senate’s consideration of a climate lawsuit is a waste of time and effort and ignores the reduced emissions impacts of natural gas. (ROI-NJ.com)
• The director of a political action committee that supports a Maine power line from Canada says opponents raise new objections every time developers satisfy any previous complaint. (Sun Journal)

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.