GRID: Grid operator PJM approves a new interconnection process and will table about half of its existing backlog — around 1,200, mostly solar projects — for two years while it focuses on those most ready for construction. (Inside Climate News)
ALSO: Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoes a bill that would have created new requirements for approving transmission lines considered nonessential, saying it would hinder the state’s clean energy goals. (MaineBiz)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Connecticut utility regulators end a program that provided incentives to homeowners who switched to natural gas, saying it no longer fits the state’s clean energy goals or is in ratepayers’ best interest. (New Haven Register)
• Connecticut lawmakers approve a goal of completely powering the state with clean energy by 2040, sending it to the governor for his signature. (CT Insider)
• Vermont’s state senate advances a bill to establish a clean heat standard that would require and incentivize heating fuel distributors to curb their sales and start implementing heat pumps and other cleaner heat sources. (VTDigger)
SOLAR:
• A half-built solar farm on a former Pennsylvania coal mine foreshadows the U.S. solar industry’s future, solar developers say, if a federal probe of solar imports further disrupts the supply chain. (Bloomberg)
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater property in western Pennsylvania now runs entirely on clean energy after installing a solar array. (news release)
• A Maryland electric co-op announces the operation of three new solar-plus-storage systems. (Daily Record)
• A downstate New York development agency approves one solar and two storage projects and incentives for developers. (Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals)
OFFSHORE WIND: Wind developer Orsted will lease a state-financed manufacturing port in New Jersey to build the state’s first offshore farm. (Associated Press)
TRANSPORTATION: The Boston-area transit authority announces plans to increase bus service by 25% across its entire network in a years-long rollout starting next month. (State House News Service)
EFFICIENCY: Supermarket chain Hannaford is adding self-closing doors to its coolers after a pilot project found it reduced electricity usage and didn’t affect sales. (Concord Monitor)
BIOMASS: A New Hampshire House committee approves a bill that will help a troubled biomass power plant keep running for another year, but stops short of forgiving its debt to ratepayers. (Concord Monitor)
CLIMATE:
• Buffalo, New York, could become a climate refuge as it faces a low risk of hurricanes, extreme heat, and other disasters as the world warms. (Fast Company)
• The Philadelphia metro area is about 3.4 degrees warmer now than it was in 1970, an analysis finds. (Axios)
• Philadelphia’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped 20% since 2006, meaning the city will have to step up cuts to reach its net-zero by 2050 goal. (WHYY)
COMMENTARY:
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a “fracking moment” as she decides whether to let a gas power plant reopen to mine Bitcoin, a climate advocate argues. (Post-Standard)
• A climate advocate pushes Rhode Island lawmakers to set a goal of 100% clean energy by 2030 and be a nationwide leader on renewables. (Providence Journal)
• Connecticut labor unions and workers should organize around clean energy to drive change, such as decarbonizing public transit, two union leaders write. (CTPost)
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