GRID: Generators that couldn’t supply power to PJM Interconnection during a late December storm may face roughly $2 billion in penalties from the grid operator following its investigation. (Reuters)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• Optimistic that Maryland’s incoming governor will stick to his promise of being a “climate champion.” environmentalists back legislation to incentivize up to 8.5 GW of new offshore wind capacity. (DCist)
• An offshore wind developer buys a New York City power plant, intending to use the site to interconnect one of its projects. (Commercial Observer)
• Black business owners make inroads in the offshore wind supply chain and test developers’ promises around diversity and inclusion. (E&E News, subscription)
• Offshore wind opponents in New Jersey seize upon recent whale deaths and call for an investigation; state officials will oblige despite no evidence connecting the deaths to wind development. (NJ Advance Media)
• New Jersey’s rate counsel warns that inflation, high interest rates and worker shortages could add billions to the cost of offshore wind projects unless the state pushes harder during future project negotiations. (Asbury Park Press)
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PIPELINES: Federal regulators approve a $980 million Transco pipeline expansion project in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, despite the former finding the work was unnecessary. (NJ Spotlight; RTO Insider, subscription)
CLEAN ENERGY: Over 50 environment, health and labor advocacy groups tell New Jersey’s governor to stop using money in the state’s Clean Energy Fund for activities unrelated to its clean and renewable energy goals. (news release)
HYDROPOWER: A new leadership shake-up at Hydro-Québec may signal trouble ahead for New England to some regional energy sector observers. (RTO Insider, subscription)
CLIMATE: Higher fleet management expenses and fewer snow events are pinching Maine’s snow removal businesses. (Times Record)
SOLAR: Some residents of a central New York town push back against plans for a 350 MW solar array. (WKTV)
OIL & GAS: Pennsylvania regulators investigate what caused a late December explosion at a natural gas processing plant near Pittsburgh. (StateImpact Pennsylvania)
TRANSIT:
• Philadelphia’s transit agency is revitalizing old trolley cars as it restores service along a 1940’s-era trolley line that ran from the northeast section of the city to the western neighborhoods. (CBS Philadelphia)
• New York’s transit agency estimates a potential daily ridership of over 100,000 people for a light rail line being developed to connect Brooklyn and Queens. (Brooklyn Eagle)
UTILITIES: Federal officials cite Eversource for numerous workplace safety violations related to a Boston manhole explosion that killed a worker last summer, which could mean more than $333,000 in penalties. (Boston.com)
AFFORDABILITY: A Maine school district superintendent says “uncontrollable increases” in the cost of diesel, gasoline, heating oil and propane make it difficult to keep its next-year budget low. (Rumford Falls Times)
COMMENTARY: A local Washington, D.C., columnist evaluates whether a now-former councilmember’s solar incentive legislation was “a giveaway to the solar industry” or a useful community benefit. (Washington City Paper)
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