POWER PLANTS: A new report says New Yorkers paid $4.5 billion over the last decade to keep peaker plants available for summer operations even though they only ran from 90 to 500 hours a year. (Grist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A utility says New Jersey’s rate counsel misconstrues state law in her opposition to ratepayer funding for electric vehicle charging stations in the state. (NJ Spotlight)

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/fellowship*** 

HYDROPOWER:
• Federal regulators relicense a Maine dam that includes controlled releases to provide whitewater rafting opportunities up to five times a year. (Sun Journal)
• A Maine utility district reassesses the future of three hydropower dams as federal regulators reject their sale to a private firm whose relicensing application was deemed “patently deficient.” (Portland Press Herald)

OFFSHORE WIND: The Port of Albany sets an aggressive schedule to become a staging area for the offshore wind industry in New York. (Albany Business Review, subscription required)

FINANCE: New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer filed failed shareholder resolutions at two utility holding companies seeking to split executive duties to provide better accountability for climate-related policies. (E&E News, subscription required)

PIPELINES: A virtual rally is held against an undersea pipeline to transmit natural gas into New York City as a deadline for a key environmental permit looms on May 17. (Grist)

CLIMATE: A University of Rhode Island researcher says warming seas caused by climate change shift where fish populations congregate, thereby causing increased conflicts within the industry. (ecoRI)

CYBERSECURITY: Utilities say they are still assessing the impact of a cybersecurity executive order by President Trump on their operations. (T&D World)

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SUSTAINABILITY: A Massachusetts town passes a sustainability and climate resilience law to promote green infrastructure development that could be a model for surrounding communities. (The Recorder)

COMMENTARY: New Jersey’s largest utility and the NAACP say energy efficiency is sound environmental policy and a way to provide economic opportunity through employment in urban communities. (NJ Spotlight)

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.