BUILDINGS: Maine will soon become the latest state to offer Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loans, which let property owners pay for solar, energy efficiency and other projects through a line on their property tax bills. (Energy News Network)
CLIMATE:
• New York City’s public housing agency has a climate resiliency plan to sink some complexes’ basketball courts by several feet to act as flood water reservoirs during the next Hurricane Sandy-level storm. (Grist)
• Sections of New Jersey and New York are still abnormally dry, a continuation of the summertime drought that experts say will persist in the Hudson Valley, North Jersey and even parts of Connecticut. (Gothamist)
• Academics at universities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont receive a federal grant to jointly study climate resiliency at mobile home parks in the Northeast. (news release)
SOLAR:
• Nearly two-thirds of municipal power needs in South Portland, Maine, will now be offset by a single 4.7 MW solar array sited on a landfill. (news release)
• A New Jersey community college installs 5.4 MW worth of solar parking canopies at two of its campuses. (news release)
OIL & GAS: Oil dealers want Maine’s governor to issue a waiver to reauthorize the import and sale of non-low-sulfur heating oil products to mitigate price jumps. (Maine Wire)
AFFORDABILITY: A news outlet fact check finds that two Connecticut gubernatorial candidates have both made inaccurate claims about utility bill affordability in the state. (CT Insider)
TRANSIT:
• Cities including Boston and New York City are testing out solar-powered e-paper signs with screens akin to an e-reader for a cheaper, higher-contrast transit connection display. (NextCity)
• In Pittsburgh, disability rights advocates say the city’s “mobility as a service” app — through which residents can buy, rent or share a variety of transit services — has created or deepened problems for disabled residents. (Streetsblog USA)
BIOMASS: Rising home heating oil costs lead more Vermonters to try switching to firewood, but wood stove backorders; worker and material shortages; and rising industry costs are forcing companies to deny new customers. (VTDigger)
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