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)

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.