ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Advocates say an ambitious plan by Connecticut announced a month ago to deploy up to 150,000 electric vehicles in five years faces even more challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS:
• Shell sells its Pennsylvania oil and gas assets for $541 million that includes 450,000 acres but is keeping its petrochemical operations in the state. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• State plans to cap abandoned oil wells face the dual challenge of falling prices that make more wells uneconomic and declining budgets caused by COVID-19. (E&E News, subscription required)
***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***
SOLAR:
• At 7.2 MW, the second-largest community solar project in New York is operating in the northern part of the state. (Solar Power World)
• Maine issues permits for Encore Renewable Energy to begin construction of a 5 MW solar project in the Town of Oakland. (Solar Power World)
• New Jersey Motorsports Park completes a solar array and says it is one of the first in the country to add one at its facility. (Road Racing World)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A Long Island town will spend nearly $600,000 for required upgrades to tanks used to hold runoff from from its trash-burning plant. (Newsday)
WIND: Maryland officials schedule an online hearing for a 70 MW wind development in the westren part of the state where the developer seeks an exemption from certain regulatory requirements. (WCBC)
DIVESTMENT: New York resists calls from climate activists to divest state pension holdings in fossil fuels as that sector suffers large losses during the coronavirus pandemic. (Gotham Gazette)
POLLUTION: A Maryland Republican asks federal agencies to review a Harvard study linking air pollution to coronavirus deaths after it is cited in a lawsuit against the EPA. (The Hill)
TRANSPORTATION: Boston’s transit agency can rely on federal funds to balance its budget for now but faces major deficits in 2022. (CommonWealth Magazine)
COMMENTARY:
• A clean energy proponent says now would be a good time to deploy a $5 million fund for renewable energy development set aside from Eversource’s divestment of New Hampshire coal generation plants in 2017. (Concord Monitor)
• A natural gas development advocate praises Pennsylvania officials for maintaining public hearing schedules remotely during COVID-19 to keep permitting processes moving. (Observer-Reporter)