
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: As Maine lawmakers consider requiring the state to prioritize disadvantaged communities when making environmental policy choices, advocates want the bill to provide a clearer definition of frontline groups and take other stronger steps. (Portland Press Herald)
CLIMATE:
• New York City partners with Stony Brook University and other nonprofits to build a $700 million climate research and education hub on Governors Island, with a focus on green jobs training and solutions research. (The City)
• Dartmouth College researchers compare the Northeast’s snowmelt-driven rivers to West Virginia’s rainfall-dependent Shenandoah River to see how they’re affected by climate change. (NHPR)
EMISSIONS: A loophole in the U.S. Clean Air Act has let fossil fuel power plants — including Pennsylvania’s shuttered Hatfield’s Ferry station — collect emissions allowances even after they shut down, and then sell those allowances to other plants that exceeded their own emissions limits. (Reuters)
GRID:
• New York regulators approve a scaled-back version of Con Edison’s proposed grid hub that will connect offshore wind power to a former fossil fuel site and the grid. (RTO Insider, subscription; E&E News)
• New York’s grid manager is expected to say the state needs fossil fuel-powered peaker plants to provide reliable power for the foreseeable future in an upcoming report. (Crain’s New York Business, subscription)
• A New Hampshire electric co-op wants 50 customers to pilot a grid management program by asking them to fill their electric vehicles and battery storage systems during forecast periods of low power demand. (Concord Monitor)
• Federal regulators approve plans for New York’s grid operator to use dynamic line ratings when measuring how much power their transmission systems can carry. (Utility Dive)
• West Springfield, Massachusetts, considers ideas to redevelop its shuttered power plant. (MassLive)
UTILITIES:
• New Hampshire lawmakers advance legislation to let utilities enter 20-year power-purchase agreements that could ultimately save ratepayers money. (InDepth NH)
• Hudson Valley Community Power secures new deals to provide renewable power to several New York towns through a community choice aggregation program. (Hudson Valley One)
SOLAR:
• A Vermont solar project needs customers to commit to buying its 500 kW of power before it can start construction on a reclaimed gravel pit. (Brattleboro Reformer)
• A New Jersey insurance company unveils a new solar facility and will sell its power to nearby residents. (New Jersey Herald)
GAS: A controversial New York proposal would set targets for utilities to reduce natural gas use while encoding a state goal of capping household energy bills at 6% of their income. (New York Focus)
GEOTHERMAL: Developers break ground on what will be New York state’s largest geothermal-powered residential building. (Real Estate Weekly)
COMMENTARY:
• An environmental policy professor praises New York City’s “clear, feasible” climate plan rolled out last week. (Columbia State of the Planet)
• Maryland legislators missed an opportunity to advance environmental justice by failing to pass a resolution ensuring residents’ rights to a healthy environment, environmental law students write. (Maryland Matters)
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