WIND: A top Massachusetts energy policy maker says renegotiating offshore wind farm contracts should only slow down the clean energy transition by a year or two. (WBUR)

ALSO:
• A Maine legislative committee advances a bill that would have state utility regulators aim for 3 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2040. (Maine Public Radio)
• The head of New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities bemoans the slow-moving, delay-riddled progress of the state’s offshore wind projects. (KYW)
• Constellation will repower the Criterion wind farm in western Maryland with higher-efficiency rotors, turbine blades and generators. (news release)

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WILDFIRES:
• Low-income people living through the wildfire smoke emergency are forced to pay high energy prices to operate both an air conditioner and an air purifier or live in hot conditions. (HuffPost)
• Essential workers had to continue working outside during the wildfire smoke emergency despite unhealthy air quality or risk not getting paid. (Gothamist)
• The Philadelphia area experiences record-breaking poor air quality levels exceeding most Northeast locations, leading to a small rise in emergency respiratory complaints. (Washington Post)
• While the wildfire smoke billowing across the Northeast is expected to clear up over the weekend, vulnerable people in the region deal with poor air quality much more frequently. (CNN)

GRID:
• The chief executive of New Jersey’s biggest utility suggests PJM Interconnection will need to split itself up as load demands and state policies shift across its territory. (Bloomberg Law)
• An energy storage developer electrifies a 20 MW energy storage system near Buffalo, New York, its third utility-scale storage project in the state. (PV Magazine)

SOLAR:
• The Chesapeake Conservatory maps out solar arrays across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and finds that projects have typically been sited on already developed land, thus not impacting prior biodiversity levels. (PV Magazine)
• Wildfire smoke is limiting solar output below forecasted levels across the Northeast, regional transmission organizations report. (RTO Insider, subscription)

COAL: Pennsylvania isn’t in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and its coal plants are still scheduling closures in the coming years, leading some observers to suggest the state should join to help secure funds for communities that will struggle without them. (E&E News)

CLIMATE:
• Massachusetts’ governor extends a pause on new state forest logging contracts as her administration works to address the connection between forests and climate change in new state guidelines. (New England Public Media)
• Connecticut environmentalists are disheartened as the state ends its latest legislative session without passing any meaningful bills to address climate change. (CT Mirror)

UTILITIES: In Hartford, Connecticut, a mayoral candidate says he wants to form a municipal electric utility to combat rising energy prices if elected. (CT Insider)

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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.