COAL: PSEG retires a 400 MW coal-fired generating unit in Connecticut, which was only used for peaking purposes and is the last of its kind in the state. (S&P Global Platts)

ALSO: The closure leaves New Hampshire with the last coal-burning facility in the region: the 448 MW Merrimack Station (Granite Geek)

UTILITIES:
• A Maine legislative committee advances a bill that would form a consumer-owned power authority by seizing the assets of the state’s two investor-owned utilities. (Portland Press-Herald)
• Every electric distribution company in Pennsylvania raised rates on June 1, with some raising prices by as much as 30%. (WENY)
• A New Jersey utility resumes indoor electric meter reading after a nearly 15-month suspension due to the pandemic; customers who received estimated monthly bills may see unexpected charges as the utility determines actual usage. (Tap Into)

GRID: Massachusetts activists urge the municipal power procurement nonprofit behind a planned natural gas power plant to consider whether battery storage could do the job with fewer climate concerns. (Energy News Network)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• A Texas shipyard will build a $500 million turbine installation vessel for Eversource Energy and Ørsted to use for two planned Northeast wind farms. (Boston Globe)
• Maryland looks toward a future of offshore wind farms, but skeptics in the state’s coastal communities are eying proposed projects for potential problems. (Maryland Matters)
• Some New Hampshire leaders watching the rise of the region’s nascent offshore wind industry want to bolster the clean energy workforce in the Granite State. (Portsmouth Herald)

EFFICIENCY:
• Sustainable cannabis activists want Massachusetts to allow outdoor cultivation of the plant, which they say would help reduce the industry’s energy intensity. (State House News Service)
• Efficiency Vermont wants to pay residents to recycle old and inefficient refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers and window-mounted air conditioners. (news release)

PIPELINES: In New York City, adversaries of the North Brooklyn pipeline encourage residents to withhold $66 from each of their gas bills — equal to the amount National Grid wants local ratepayers to each pay for the project. (BK Reader)

SOLAR:
• A solar developer plans to build roughly 74 MW of community solar projects in south-central Maine and allow Central Maine Power ratepayers to subscribe. (pv magazine)
• A bakery in New York’s Hudson Valley plans to use a mix of solar-powered electricity and wood-fired ovens for its operations. (Times Union)

Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.