WIND: The Biden administration approves the country’s second utility-scale offshore wind project: the 130 MW South Fork project, to be built off the Rhode Island coast to help power New York. (NBC News, E&E News)
ALSO: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wants to spend hundreds of millions in federal pandemic relief funds on wind port development and dredging. (NJ Advance Media)
EFFICIENCY: Massachusetts’ latest three-year energy efficiency plan prioritizes lower-income households and residents of color through outreach provisions and program eligibility expansion. (Energy News Network)
GRID:
• Maine environmental officials suspend a permit for Central Maine Power’s controversial transmission line expansion project following a public hearing; utility executives say they look forward to further litigation. (News Center Maine)
• Dozens of Maine lawmakers ask Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to cancel the transmission project, which would bring hydropower from Canada to the New England grid to help Massachusetts meet its climate goals. (State House News Service)
• Environmental justice neighborhoods in the Massachusetts cities of Boston and Chelsea turn to microgrids for climate resiliency. (WBUR)
UTILITIES:
• Published emails show city-owned Philadelphia Gas Works helped draft new legislation that critics say would hinder electrification efforts across Pennsylvania. (WHYY)
• A utilities commissioner and a former attorney for Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative testify in the trial of five Connecticut utility executives accused of improperly using funds for lavish trips. (The Day)
GAS:
• Environmentalists in Peabody, Massachusetts, say a fully permitted gas peaker plant soon slated for construction is a bad investment for the climate and their community, but utility officials argue it’s needed. (Boston Globe)
• Danskammer Energy officials will appeal New York’s denial of an air permit for a proposed natural gas-fired power plant, saying the state is applying climate standards that “don’t even exist” yet. (Times Union)
CLIMATE:
• Rain storms made more severe by the climate crisis threaten the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of priceless American artifacts in Washington, D.C. (New York Times)
• Higher autumnal temperatures are leading Vermont ski resorts to open their gates later in the season. (VT Digger)
PIPELINES: A Massachusetts town board and residents question Eversource officials over its plan to run a secondary pipeline through their town. (The Reminder)
TRANSPORTATION: The first of five planned electric vehicle fast-charging stations in upstate New York opens, helping build a repowering network for travelers. (Times Union)
SOLAR:
• A Maine town adopts a six-month solar project moratorium, which local officials say will provide time to codify aesthetic and financial ordinances. (Sun Journal)
• A young northern Maine entrepreneur builds a 200-panel solar array to power his landscaping and apartment rental businesses. (Houlton Pioneer Times)
• A Maine school district says it’s poised to save $40,000 annually through a power purchase agreement with a planned solar farm set to come online in 2023. (Times Record)
RATEPAYERS:
• A new report suggests nearly half a million Massachusetts ratepayers owe $630 million in unpaid utility bills from the first 15 months of the pandemic. (Boston Globe)
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy appoints a new director to the state’s rate counsel division: chief litigator Brian Lipman. (NJ Spotlight)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Some Vermonters fear a new facility that ‘depackages’ food products before they’re sent to a nearby waste-to-energy facility will contribute to the growing microplastics concern. (Seven Days)