SOLAR: Massachusetts solar developers are skeptical of a utility plan to enroll low-income customers in community solar projects, saying it may limit their marketing opportunities. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Residents and officials meet in a New York town to oppose a 360-acre solar project that they say is too big for the area. (HudsonValley360)
• A Maryland county is amending its solar law to make reviews of community solar projects more public. (Baltimore Sun)
***SPONSORED LINK: Save the date! Registration for the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s International Partnering Forum opens March 15. Unique this year, IPF will be in-person (August) *AND* virtual (April, May, June.)***
OFFSHORE WIND:
• A report says a final environmental review of the 800 MW Vineyard Wind offshore project in Massachusetts could be issued by federal officials as soon as next week. (E&E News, subscription required)
• A group of New York legislators say an offshore wind assembly facility planned for upstate should include a plant to manufacture the turbines instead of importing them. (Albany Times Union)
EFFICIENCY:
• The nonprofit responsible for developing model building energy codes used by cities and states nationwide finalizes a controversial plan to strip voting rights from thousands of public sector members — a move clean energy advocates fear will slow progress on energy efficiency. (Energy News Network)
• A New Jersey senate committee advances a bill to set minimum water and electricity usage standards for appliances. (NJ Spotlight)
HYDROPOWER:
• Green Mountain Power in Vermont signs a 30-year contract to buy hydropower in increasing amounts over time from a company that operates 13 power plants throughout New England. (Vermont Biz)
• Maine Congressman Jared Golden asks the Biden administration to review the grant of a presidential permit that allows the importation of Canadian hydropower over a new transmission line. (Caledonian Record)
NATURAL GAS: Unconventional gas production grew modestly in Pennsylvania last year but at the slowest growth rate ever recorded, state figues show. (Natural Gas Intelligence)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Massachusetts city considers charging a fee for public electric vehicle charging stations that have been free since their 2019 installation. (Masslive.com)
TRANSMISSION: Construction begins at a $530 million Hudson Valley transmission project in New York to move more renewable energy from upstate regions to the New York City load center. (Pelham Daily Voice)
MARKETING: A Maryland bill to require regulators’ approval of third-party energy marketers selling to low-income residents advances in the state senate. (Maryland Matters)
UTILITIES: Observers say a major controversy is brewing in Maryland as a key legislator is championing a bill that would fully deregulate the state’s electric and gas utilities. (Maryland Matters)
COMMENTARY:
• Local officials in New Jersey say recent events in Texas show the importance of developing a microgrid in the City of Camden that would operate on renewable energy resources during power outages. (NJ.com)
• Environmentalists urge Massachusetts to accelerate to 2025 a federal goal to preserve land resources that enhance climate resilience. (Telegram & Gazette)
• An attorney says New Jersey has a clear choice of either granting subsidies to nuclear power plants or seeing a dramatic spike in greenhouse gas emissions. (NJ Spotlight)