Editor’s note: Northeast Energy News is taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ll be back Nov. 27.

GRID: Construction hasn’t yet started on a pair of community microgrid projects in Massachusetts, but they’re already inspiring similar projects across the state. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: 

  • PJM Interconnection says the Maryland grid may be too unstable if the state’s largest coal-fired power plant closes in 2025, but the operator hasn’t yet agreed to take payments to keep it running for three more years. (E&E News)
  • New York’s grid operator says it will keep two gas-fired peaker plants online beyond their mandated retirement date over power shortfall concerns in New York City. (RTO Insider, subscription; Reuters)
  • Two Massachusetts offshore wind farms face pushback from Cape Cod residents over, among other concerns, unsubstantiated health concerns related to power cables’ electromagnetic fields. (Boston Globe) 

BUILDINGS: 

  • The council of Burlington, Vermont, passes a carbon-impact fee for new or updated buildings heated with fossil fuels and approves a plan to decarbonize a major medical center, but opponents decry the city’s continued reliance on biomass. (Seven Days)
  • Maine’s top Democratic lawmaker says he’s working to rescind some heat pump rebate rules that require residents to completely disconnect from back-up fossil-fuel heat sources. (Bangor Daily News)

OFFSHORE WIND: 

  • A company looking to build an offshore wind farm will spend $10.6 million to invest in New Jersey’s supply chain and ocean tech startup scene. (Associated Press)
  • The first turbine has been installed at the 130 MW South Fork Wind farm off the coast of Montauk, New York. (news release)

SOLAR: 

WORKFORCE: In Vermont, a collaboration of business- and energy-focused entities will soon kick off a mentoring program to connect business coaches with energy business owners, helping them overcome workforce and strategy challenges. (Bennington Banner)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Over a year after promoting new hubs to help safely power up delivery workers’ e-bikes, New York City has yet to finish building one. (Streetsblog)

NUCLEAR: Vermont’s Yankee nuclear plant is about two years away from completed decommissioning, but the leftover spent fuel still needs a permanent home. (VT Digger)

COMMENTARY: “Rather than signaling the end of the road for public power in Maine,” two professors write of the state’s failed public power ballot measure earlier this month, “this vote could be the beginning of a sustained conversation about transforming our utilities.” (Energy News Network)

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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.