UTILITIES: Proponents of a consumer-owned Maine utility file two referendum proposals that outline distinctly different approaches to taking over the state’s investor-owned utilities. (Bangor Daily News)

ALSO:
• Two Massachusetts utilities dealt with more storms in 2020 than a state cap allows them to be reimbursed for, so the companies want the state to allow them to seek reimbursement for some of the storms at a later date. (Associated Press)
• Vermont’s Green Mountain Power asks customers to apply for $55 million in grant funding to pay for accrued utility bills. (news release)

HYDROELECTRIC: Conservation groups and regional businesses dependent on a Kennebec River dam in Benton, Maine, argue the merits of relicensing the facility. (Bangor Daily News)

CLIMATE:
• A Massachusetts lawmaker seeks to create a state climatologist office to gather and analyze climate data relevant to the state. (Boston Globe)
• A plan to raise a pier in Annapolis, Maryland, and improve its stormwater infrastructure is one part of an expensive attempt to minimize the effects of climate change on the historic shoreline. (CBS Baltimore)

RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Massachusetts policy group releases a report detailing the lessons learned from numerous recent projects focused on renewable power, energy storage, energy efficiency and more. (WBUR) 

SOLAR:
• A mid-Hudson New York town planning board deadlocks over approving a solar array that would be sited on a forested cemetery, forcing a second vote in September. (Examiner)
• A New Hampshire solar developer wants to bring a 65-acre solar farm to a rural Maine town west of Lewiston. (Sun Journal)
• A western New York planning board approves a 45-acre solar array on existing farmland after modifications were made to appease state and local agriculture officials. (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)
• A Canadian solar developer wants over $5 million in tax breaks to build a $7.8 million, 5 MW array in New York’s Chautauqua County. (Buffalo News)
• A developer installs a 25.6 MW solar array on a covered landfill in northern New Jersey, claiming it’s the largest sited on that type of brownfield on the continent. (news release)

GRID:
• Proposals to install high-voltage electric transmission lines to bring renewable energy into New York City call for either burying the lines or submerging them in the Hudson River. (Post Star)
• New York State Electric and Gas is rebuilding over eight miles of 46 kV transmission line in Essex County. (Press Republican)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A new electric vehicle charging station is installed at a supermarket in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. (Daily Record)

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Bridget Reed Morawski

Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.