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)

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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)

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.