Editor’s note: Northeast Energy News will not publish on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back on Tuesday.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: As electric vehicle adoption slowly reduces the amount of money collected for highway funding via fuel taxes, Maine lawmakers strike a deal to earmark part of the vehicle sales tax for the fund. (Portland Press Herald)
ALSO:
• New Jersey officials question how to fill the hole in its road maintenance fund currently supported by the gasoline tax as electric vehicles become more common. (NorthJersey.com)
• Massachusetts lawmakers acknowledge numerous issues still plague the state’s electric vehicle charging stations, but tensions within the relevant joint committee make legislating on the matter challenging. (State House News Service)
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OFFSHORE WIND:
• A federal accountability office plans to examine how New Jersey’s offshore wind industry impacts the environment and different ocean stakeholders, like commercial fishers and the military. (Asbury Park Press)
• The University of Rhode Island and federal officials agree to a five-year partnership studying the offshore wind industry’s impact on marine ecosystems and coastal human communities. (news release)
GAS: Eight Baltimore community organizations intend to sue the local utility over a gas pipeline project that will add gas regulators outside of their homes, leading to safety, aesthetic and cost concerns. (Baltimore Sun, subscription)
TRANSIT:
• Maryland’s governor announces plans to resurrect an east-west transit line plan in Baltimore, but doesn’t detail whether it will be a rapid bus or train line. (Washington Post)
• Plans for free subway and ferry fares during a scheduled highway tunnel closure don’t assuage concern among some East Boston residents; one noted the difficulty emergency services will have accessing the community. (NBC Boston)
• Pittsburgh releases data showing relatively few injuries among riders of the city’s e-scooter service, but those who were hurt often had serious or life-threatening issues. (Next Pittsburgh)
SOLAR:
• In Philadelphia, a solar training program for high school students loses its hands-on instructional time after their school building shutters due to the discovery of damaged asbestos. (WHYY)
• In New York City, the roof of a grocery distributor in one of the Bronx’s most environmentally overburdened areas now hosts the borough’s largest community solar project. (Bronx Times)
• A 91-acre parcel originally slated for a mixed-use housing complex in Ithaca, New York, may now host a 5 MW solar farm developed by Nexamp. (Ithaca Voice)
• A New Hampshire council allocates almost $1 million in federal funds to four solar projects set to benefit 61 low-to-moderate-income households. (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• A New York town passes new local laws related to solar project siting and battery storage policies amid residential anxiety over a planned 350 MW solar farm. (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)
CLIMATE: Vermont’s microclimate-dependent maple sugaring industry saw uneven harvests this season, but some businesses are optimistic about next year despite the “existential threat of climate change.” (VT Digger)
COMMENTARY: A bill before the Maine legislature would help retain younger workers of the state’s offshore wind workforce, writes a young marine engineer whose studies focused on the industry’s development. (Portland Press Herald)
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