RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Connecticut solar developer sues the federal government over its approval of the Vineyard Wind offshore project, citing hurricane resistance and endangered species protection concerns. (Reuters)
ALSO: A New Jersey industry group claims to have calculated the cost of the state’s clean energy goals to its 45,000 members — an analysis state regulators also hired a consultant to complete but won’t be finished for the next year and a half. (NJ Spotlight)
PIPELINES: Residents of a Philadelphia-area county and some of their representatives blame a recent series of sinkholes on Mariner East 2 pipeline construction work. (Patch)
UTILITIES:
• Maine’s legislature fails to secure enough votes to override the governor’s recent veto of a consumer takeover of the state’s biggest electric utilities. (Maine Public)
• A nonprofit claims 1.2 million New York households owe over $1.5 billion in unpaid energy bills — an increase from $745 million when the pandemic began. (Spectrum News 1)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: One of the largest anaerobic digesters on the East Coast is expected to be operational by the end of 2021, in anticipation of a new Maryland law requiring certain food producers and sellers to bring their organic waste to composters or anaerobic digesters. (Maryland Matters)
CLIMATE:
• Mini golf, anyone? An 18-hole course in New York City’s Brooklyn borough tries educating recreators about the climate crisis while having a little fun. (Reuters)
• Southwestern Pennsylvanians may benefit the most from a proposed federal carbon emissions policy, with a new analysis predicting the state would see 580 fewer air quality-related deaths per year by 2030. (The Allegheny Front)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: National Grid will pay consumers $20 each time it stops their electric vehicles from charging during peak demand — but only if they’re already plugged in when the utility interrupts service. (Torque News)
SOLAR:
• A Baltimore-area county enters into a solar power purchase agreement that will provide over half of its energy use. (The Daily Record, subscription)
• Construction of a small community solar project in a central Vermont town begins. (Valley News)
COMMENTARY: Two Connecticut River advocates argue that hydropower companies need to ask the public what they’d like from the companies’ legally mandated public recreation offerings. (VT Digger)