BUILDINGS: New York approves a new state budget that requires electrification in most new residential and commercial buildings, as well as a requirement that the state’s public power utility generates only clean energy by 2030. (Buffalo Business First, The Guardian)
ALSO: Vermont’s governor says he’ll veto the clean heat standard just passed by lawmakers over its potential cost to residents. (Burlington Free Press)
OFFSHORE WIND: Massachusetts kicks off its fourth and largest offshore wind contract solicitation, seeking the equivalent of more than a quarter of the state’s yearly electricity demand, or up to 3.6 GW. (Boston Globe)
OIL & GAS: Federal officials pin the cause of the recent Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion on natural gas in their preliminary report. (NBC News)
CLIMATE:
• Vermont is unlikely to meet its legally required emissions reduction targets without new policies, according to a new state agency report. (VT Digger)
• Maine and Maryland are among the states whose laws do the most to protect their beaches and oceans from climate change, according to a nationwide conservation group’s report. (News Center Maine)
• In New Jersey, a university hosts a climate change education workshop to help educators teach the topic in class, as the state now requires. (NJ Spotlight)
SOLAR:
• A New Hampshire zoning board grants two land use variances to a developer’s plan to build a 50 MW solar farm and a 50 MW battery storage system. (Keene Sentinel)
• New Jersey regulators approve a university’s three-year-long pilot program on the feasibility of agrivoltaic projects. (news release)
• A coastal New Jersey school district installs a 2.14 MW solar canopy across several of its schools’ parking lots. (news release)
RESILIENCY:
• After surviving the aftermath of a 2021 hurricane, a group of Wilmington, Delaware, residents launch a climate resilience hub to keep their community ready for future disaster mitigation. (Delaware Online)
• A Rhode Island doctor testifies to Congress as to how climate change worsens public health and threatens the national healthcare system. (Providence Journal)
• Federal officials say about $691,000 in funds should be directed toward climate resiliency work along Rhode Island’s Port of Providence shoreline and the Narragansett Bay. (PBN)
TRANSIT: Federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have so far amounted to $2.6 billion for a variety of Maryland projects, including electric buses and multimodal facilities in Prince George’s County. (Maryland Reporter)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Since its first charger was installed in 2012, Pennsylvania-based convenience chain Sheetz says it has clocked in two million total sessions across its electric vehicle charger network, one million more since last April. (Reading Eagle)
• Tesla is developing a dealership, service center and charging station in South Burlington, Vermont. (NBC 5)
UTILITIES:
• In an earnings report, the CEO of New Jersey’s PSEG says the state’s offshore wind-related grid upgrades and electric vehicle transition will benefit the utility’s future earnings. (news release; RTO Insider, subscription)
• Long Island business groups want to throw out the results of a state-commissioned report on regional grid municipalization because of the consultant’s inappropriate video call behavior. (Long Island Business News)
• Rhode Island Energy’s new parent corporation supports reviving a ‘pay as you can’ utility bill plan for low-income residents. (Providence Journal)
COMMENTARY: A central Maine editorial board urges for more meaningful action against the climate crisis after flooding and record-breaking rainfall struck the region. (Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel)
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