ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Republican lawmakers in Delaware want to take away the state environmental secretary’s power to execute a proposal that would require new cars sold in the state be electric by 2035. (WHYY)
HYDROGEN: In a bid to secure $1.25 billion from federal officials, seven Northeast states jointly submit a roughly $3.6 billion proposal outlining a regional “clean hydrogen hub.” (news release)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Over half of Maine homes need fuel oil to heat their homes, but a variety of hurdles stand in the way of electrification, including upfront installation costs and contractor availability. (Maine Monitor)
• Brown University researchers kick off a new sustainability initiative that teaches renewable energy, efficiency and sustainable fuel topics in hopes of developing technological breakthroughs. (Boston Globe)
• Anticipating a nearby development will bring many new residents and businesses to the area, a New York county considers renewable energy generation to fulfill the additional power demand. (Auburn Citizen)
BIOMASS: Efforts to keep a Fort Drum, New York, biomass facility alive seem to be put on hold, as New York’s state budget no longer includes language defining a biomass as renewable energy. (WWNY, NNY360)
CLIMATE:
• Several experts discuss whether New Jersey could see more frequent tornadoes as a result of climate change. (NJ Advance Media)
• A wave of mostly domestic migrants arrived in Maine during the pandemic, providing a glimpse of what climate migration to the state could look like, but some recent studies suggest extreme weather won’t be enough to spur much movement. (Maine Monitor)
TRANSIT:
• New York City considers creating small neighborhood delivery hubs to reduce emissions and other problems associated with last-mile package deliveries. (Brooklyn Eagle)
• A lack of public transit options is one of the reasons young people aren’t flocking to New Hampshire, according to a nonprofit’s recent survey. (Concord Monitor)
UTILITIES: Maryland regulators suspend a retail energy supplier’s license, ordering it to return thousands of customers to utility default service due to violations including unauthorized service swaps. (Maryland Daily Record)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• A Massachusetts select board election may hinge on which candidate residents believe can best navigate the town through the redevelopment of Brayton Point into an offshore wind hub. (CommonWealth Magazine)
• Turbine components for the Vineyard Wind I project have begun to arrive at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, with installation slated to start in June. (Standard-Times)
SOLAR:
• New Jersey utility regulators want the state’s community solar program to approve new developments that collectively amount to at least 750 MW in five years, but limits the maximum size of a single project. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A Massachusetts judge decides the owner of a property adjacent to one of three proposed solar arrays in Northfield can appeal a special permit granted to them. (Greenfield Recorder)
• A Connecticut town’s plan to use federal funds to install solar panels at a municipal building this summer will help save an anticipated 70% on their annual power bills. (The Bulletin)
BUILDINGS:
• A net-zero hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, becomes the tenth hotel to ever earn LEED Platinum status, and the first to do so in the past decade. (CT Mirror)
• The University of Vermont Medical Center’s energy efficiency projects have earned it LEED Gold certification. (news release)
• Benefactors of a historic building on a midcoast Maine island will spend around $250,000 to raise the structure to prevent damage from rising sea levels. (News Center Maine)
GRID: The National Park Service begins a slate of public meetings as it considers a proposal to build a transmission line that would cross the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. (New Jersey Herald)
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