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)