SOLAR: Vice President Kamala Harris announces a deal for the “largest community solar effort in U.S. history” that will result in 1.2 GW of community solar projects in Maine, Maryland and Illinois. (Boston Globe)
ALSO:
• Rhode Island’s legislature advances a bill to help energy developers install more solar generation without clearing trees or raising electric rates. (Johnston Sunrise)
• EDF Renewables files an application for a 240 MW solar project in Canton, New York, breaking the project into smaller parcels to circumnavigate a state limit. (North Country Now)
• The Boston Landmarks Commission allows the owner of a historical home to replace the current roof with a Tesla Solar Roof system. (news release)
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BUILDINGS: In a bid for increased energy efficiency, a bill introduced in New York would require hotels and motels to adhere to a default air conditioner temperature range, which guests would be allowed to alter. (Auburn Citizen)
TRANSIT: A new report finds that bringing back rail service along a line between New York City; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and numerous northern New Jersey towns would spur over $80 million in new regional economic activity, as well as reduce transportation emissions. (NJ Spotlight)
OIL & GAS:
• In New Jersey, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez calls for federal energy regulators to reconsider its approval of a gas pipeline upgrade project between his state and Pennsylvania. (New Jersey Herald)
• A truck overturns on a northeastern Pennsylvania road, spilling around 800 gallons of heating fuel and knocking over power lines. (Times News)
CLIMATE:
• Massachusetts’ governor previously promised a commercial tree-cutting moratorium in state forests until the forest-climate connection was made clear, and now opponents and supporters of the idea want more details. (NEPM)
• A University of Maryland researcher studies how climate change impacts those suffering from chronic ailments affected by temperature swings and extreme weather. (Inside Climate News)
• An endangered whale species may be hanging out more frequently in the Cape Cod Bay because of warmer waters full of their food supply. (Boston Globe)
• Worsening drinking water quality in a typically pristine Maine lake is being tied to less winter ice cover, warmer temperatures, more algae and increased extreme storm frequency. (Maine Public Radio)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• Rhode Island’s coastal regulatory agency, which oversees offshore wind projects, struggles to fill numerous vacancies and should open new roles, but the governor’s proposed budget shows stagnant funding. (Rhode Island Current)
• In Maine, the Governor’s Energy Office answers questions from a state legislative committee about potential offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine and local industry impacts. (Maine Public Radio)
FINANCE:
• States in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have more economic growth and fewer power plant carbon emissions but should lower reporting thresholds, a clean energy advocacy group’s report suggests. (Utility Dive)
• New York City’s comptroller plans to divest from fossil fuels in the future private equity holdings of two retirement funds his office oversees, a rare step that contrasts with the state comptroller’s policies. (The City/New York Focus)
UTILITIES: Opponents of Rhode Island Energy’s plan to replace hundreds of thousands of smart meters nearing the end of their lives focus on unsubstantiated health claims. (Providence Business News)
HYDROELECTRIC: Maryland’s federal delegates want the states’ environment secretary to impose stricter measures in the Conowingo Dam’s new licensing agreement. (Salisbury Daily Times)
GRID: Opening arguments begin next week in the trial as to whether the developers of the New England Clean Energy Connect power line vested rights to finish the stalled project. (Bangor Daily News)
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