Discover the Latest News and Initiatives for a Sustainable Future

RENEWABLES: In northern Illinois and across the nation, waitlists to connect large renewable energy projects to the electric grid have ballooned, leaving over 1,400 gigawatts of wind and solar projects in limbo. (Chicago Tribune)

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ALSO:

• The CEO of Kansas City-based utility Evergy says renewables are a cost-effective option to meet rising demand for electricity. (Kansas City Business Journal)
• An Iowa county will consider amendments next month to its utility-scale wind ordinance, including new requirements related to setbacks, noise, wildlife and agricultural impact, and shadow flicker. (Gazette)
• Solar generation saw its ninth consecutive year of growth in Ohio while wind production declined, largely due to unfavorable weather. (Axios)

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CLIMATE:

• North Dakota’s new climate plan highlights energy efficiency, tree-planting and soil health and makes no mention of coal, oil or gas. (North Dakota Monitor)
• Ohio State University has made progress on its 2015 climate and sustainability goals, including carbon neutrality by 2050, but is nowhere near on-track to meet its targets, according to school officials. (Columbus Dispatch, subscription)

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OHIO: FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a dark money group backing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign, according to newly released records. (Floodlight/USA Today)

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OIL & GAS:

• Ohioans living near a state park where legislation recently authorized fracking operations discuss with sadness how it has changed the area for the worse. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Ohio regulators order three injection wells to stop pumping fracked waste underground, six months after they were deemed an “imminent danger” for leaking toxic waste into the surrounding area. (Cleveland.com)
• A watchdog group’s analysis finds Ohio had more than 1,400 oil and gas well incidents from 2018 to 2023, and that official state reports often downplayed the severity of the cases. (WVXU)

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COAL: A St. Louis-area coal plant emitted far more sulfur dioxide pollution than any plant in the country, a news organization’s analysis finds. (Post-Dispatch)

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NUCLEAR:

• A shuttered Ohio plant that once made uranium for nuclear weapons is attracting new interest from companies tied to small nuclear reactors or hydrogen fuel, while local groups have concerns. (Ohio Newsroom)
• A package of bipartisan bills would create incentives and remove barriers for establishing small modular nuclear reactors in Michigan. (WNEM)

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BUILDINGS: A monastery expects to become Wisconsin’s first net-zero retreat center this year after it integrates battery storage and geothermal systems with its existing ground-mounted solar array. (Cap Times)

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ETHANOL: The U.S. EPA issues an emergency fuel waiver allowing gasoline blended with 15% ethanol to be sold during the summer despite concerns that it contributes to ground-level ozone in warmer weather. (South Dakota Searchlight)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Minnesota electric vehicle driver has used a website and app to review nearly 2,100 charging stations over the last seven years. (Star Tribune)

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SOLAR: The U.S. EPA announces $7 billion in Solar for All grants for 60 projects expanding solar power access in low- and middle-income communities. (Associated Press)

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ALSO: California grid operators look to exports, added transmission and battery storage to tame the deepening “duck curve” resulting from a growing solar power glut. (Washington Post)

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CLIMATE: The White House launches a website that lists openings and accepts applications for the Climate Corps jobs and training program. (NPR)

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MANUFACTURING: The U.S. Energy Department announces the first 35 projects receiving a total of nearly $2 billion in tax credits meant to accelerate clean energy manufacturing and emissions-reducing industrial projects. (E&E News, subscription; news release)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant that makes electric vehicles overwhelmingly vote to unionize, handing the United Auto Workers a major breakthrough in its push to organize Southeast auto factories. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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OIL & GAS:

• A media investigation finds new federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas reclamation bonding amounts are based on faulty calculations and will not adequately cover cleanup costs. (Capital & Main)
• Immigrants, including undocumented workers, make up much of the Permian Basin oilfield workforce, putting conservatives’ calls for more drilling and less immigration at odds. (USA Today)

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OFFSHORE WIND:

• New York decides not to offer contracts to several offshore wind projects pitched in a recent solicitation that had received provisional approvals, noting design changes had “materially altered” the plans. (Reuters, Politico)
• New York cited GE Vernova’s cancellation of its plans to build one of the biggest wind turbines ever designed as a reason behind its denial of the projects. (E&E News)
• A U.S.-built vessel that meets Jones Act requirements takes to the water ahead of Dominion Energy’s construction of an offshore wind farm near Virginia. (Canary Media)

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GRID:

• Waitlists to connect large renewable energy projects to the electric grid have ballooned across the U.S., leaving over 1,400 gigawatts of wind and solar projects in limbo. (Chicago Tribune)
• Georgia’s approval of the construction of more natural gas-fired power plants to meet soaring energy demands of data centers is causing concern among the tech companies operating those data centers, many of which have aggressive clean energy goals. (Canary Media)
• New York’s grid operator launches new market rules setting a minimum 10 kW capacity for distributed energy resources to participate in the wholesale markets, the first-such program of its kind in the country. (Utility Dive)

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OHIO: FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a dark money group backing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign, according to newly released records. (Floodlight/USA Today)

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POLICY: Maryland environmentalists say they have a lot to celebrate after the state’s most recent legislative session, but also several setbacks, including failed bills to stop trash incineration subsidies and permitting changes to reduce further pollution in disadvantaged communities. (Bay Journal)

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ALSO: Maryland’s chief sustainability officer says a budget amendment that delays building efficiency measures would put the state years behind on its climate goals and risk federal funding. (WBAL)

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WIND:

• An Ørsted executive says the wave of East Coast project cancellations shows how offshore wind developers need to derisk their projects as early as possible before making final investments. (Utility Dive)
• Delaware lawmakers consider requiring the state to solicit bids from offshore wind developers for enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. (Delaware Public Media)
• Construction gets underway at the 55 MW Dan’s Mountain onshore wind farm in northwest Maryland. (Windpower Monthly)
• The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority sues a maintenance contractor over a Deer Island wind turbine that had a blade tip fly off last year. (WHDH)

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HYDROPOWER:

• In Canada, Hydro-Québec and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake agree to jointly own a transmission line that will send hydropower to New York City. (Montreal Gazette)
• Some Massachusetts farmers support relicensing four hydroelectric dams and a pumped storage facility on the Connecticut River, with one saying the infrastructure could help with flooding. (WWLP)
• Hundreds of public comments have been filed against a proposed $2.5 billion dam and pumped storage project on the Lower Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania’s York County. (Penn Live Patriot News)

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SOLAR:

• New Jersey utility officials approve eight solar projects with a combined capacity of 310 MW, more than the target capacity, following a solicitation they reissued after receiving too-costly bids last year. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A life science building just outside of Boston has installed a 252 kW rooftop solar array with storage, as well as 15 electric vehicle chargers. (news release)
• An affordable housing development on Martha’s Vineyard was supposed to have rooftop solar but hasn’t been able to install panels for two years because Eversource and Massachusetts officials need to upgrade a substation. (Vineyard Gazette)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Eversource says it’s taking a break from processing new Connecticut electric vehicle charging rebate applications while it waits for a regulatory decision on funding the initiative. (Hartford Courant)
• Two Delaware public school districts will introduce their first electric school buses this summer and begin installing charging infrastructure at the end of the current school year. (Delaware Business Times)
• In New York, Amazon begins using electric delivery vans on routes near Buffalo — its second upstate New York location to make the switch. (WIVB)
• A New Jersey mall installs 20 level 2 electric vehicle chargers across its parking lots. (MyCentralJersey.com)

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RENEWABLE ENERGY:

• Northeast climate advocates want billions in federal climate dollars to be dispersed before the 2024 presidential election, as they’re concerned that another Trump term will end further renewable energy funding. (Boston Globe)
• While New York lawmakers look to accelerate renewable energy project approvals, some rural municipalities worry they’ll remove local power to regulate projects. (CBS 6)

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BIOGAS: An anaerobic digester company based in the Boston suburbs aims to hire up to 100 more workers in the next year as it looks toward its goal of opening 100 waste-to-gas facilities. (Boston Business Journal)

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BUILDINGS: Federal energy officials grant $158 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds to New York to help homeowners pay for energy efficiency upgrades. (NCPR)

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UTILITIES: Although New York’s Assembly is considering a bill to fully municipalize the Long Island Power Authority, state senators have yet to introduce such legislation. (TBR News Media)

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INCINERATION: A new documentary highlights the plight and resilience of residents of a suburban Philadelphia city burdened with air pollution from a trash incineration plant. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

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OIL & GAS: A $67 million medical claims settlement for cleanup workers in BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has fallen far short of expectations, leaving the vast majority of workers with no more than $1,300 each for complicated, lasting health conditions. (Associated Press)

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ALSO: Congressional Republicans grill a Biden administration official over how the pause on permitting new liquified natural gas export terminals is affecting U.S. allies in Asia and Europe. (Houston Chronicle)

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TRANSITION: Health care emerges to account for more than 20% of all jobs in eastern Kentucky counties where coal mining jobs have declined 70% over the last generation, with jobs in educational services, remote work and tourism also growing. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

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GRID:

• Texas’ grid operator adjusts its power demand projections upward as data centers built to support artificial intelligence platforms strain grid capacity. (Houston Chronicle)
• A report finds Southern Co. and Entergy are among the utilities particularly well positioned to financially benefit from building out generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure as data centers drive up power demand. (S&P Global)
• A Georgia university institute receives a $10 million federal grant to partner with a Tennessee lab on a regional cybersecurity research and operations center to protect the grid. (news release)

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SOLAR: A Georgia-based company strikes a deal to incorporate its monocrystalline silicon solar cells into solar panels made by a Minnesota company, ensuring a source of entirely domestically made solar panels. (Electrek, The Cool Down)

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STORAGE: A Virginia commission approves incentives for a California company backed by a $100 million federal grant that’s considering building a lithium-ion battery factory. (Cardinal News)

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WIND: “I hate wind”: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reportedly rants about the wind industry during a Florida fundraising meal with oil and gas executives. (Washington Post)

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GEOTHERMAL: A Texas business park built on a former military airfield unveils a geothermal HVAC system. (KXAN)

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CARBON CAPTURE:

• A Florida county board approves a carbon capture pilot project at its waste-to-energy plant over the objections of environmental groups. (Tampa Bay Times)
• An Arkansas pipe manufacturer sues a company that wants to build a carbon capture network in Iowa over delays. (Arkansas Advocate)

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UTILITIES:

• Officials in San Antonio, Texas, debate whether windfall profits by the city’s municipal utility the last two years should be used to lower electric rates or for other purposes. (San Antonio Report)
• The new interim director of Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility has returned from retirement to resume working for it twice in the past eight years. (Florida Times-Union)

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COMMENTARY:

• A South Carolina bill to fast-track construction of a natural gas-fired power plant will benefit utilities but not state residents or ratepayers, who will be stuck with a less-than-reliable power source and potentially higher bills, writes a state regulator who resigned last month. (Post and Courier)
• An Appalachian advocacy group calls on Virginia lawmakers to engage with coalfield communities to ensure they have a voice in the transition from fossil fuels. (Cardinal News)
• Policymakers should listen to Gulf Coast communities that live in the shadow of liquified natural gas export facilities over the claims of oil executives, writes a community activist. (Common Dreams)

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OVERSIGHT: Hydrogen industry leaders and environmentalists expect the U.S. EPA to exclude hydrogen from its final power plant emissions rule, leaving carbon capture as the only option for gas plants looking to reduce emissions to meet the regulation. (E&E News)

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FOSSIL FUELS:

• The U.S. Interior Department finalizes a new rule that would let public lands be leased for conservation just as they’re leased for fossil fuel extraction. (Associated Press)
• The Biden administration blocks new oil and gas drilling on more than half of the federal petroleum reserve in the Alaskan Arctic; the ban will not affect the controversial Willow project. (Associated Press)

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PIPELINES: A major CO2 pipeline leak this month in Louisiana that took more than two hours to fix should raise “alarm bells” about the country’s readiness to expand the carbon capture industry, advocates say. (Guardian)  

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CLIMATE:

• Record numbers of people went to emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses last summer, which was the U.S.’s hottest on record. (CNN)
• Meteorologists forecast a “hyperactive” Atlantic hurricane season that could see as many as 24 named storms, up from the long-term annual average of 14. (Axios)

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GRID:

• Several U.S. utilities are particularly well positioned to financially benefit from building out generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure as data centers drive up power demand. (S&P Global)
• Democratic lawmakers propose requiring federal energy regulators to roll out regulations that would ease the way for new power generation and storage resources to join the grid. (Utility Dive)
• An investigation finds Hawaiian Electric did not immediately respond to an alert of downed power lines prior to last year’s deadly Maui wildfires. (Washington Post)

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WIND:

• A study names the U.S. Midwest as one of the best locations worldwide for generating wind power. (Guardian)
• An Ørsted executive says the wave of East Coast project cancellations shows how offshore wind developers need to derisk their projects as early as possible before making final investments. (Utility Dive)

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OIL & GAS:

• A settlement for cleanup workers in BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has fallen far short of expectations, leaving the vast majority of workers with no more than $1,300 each for complicated, lasting health conditions. (Associated Press)
• Congressional Republicans grill a Biden administration official over how the pause on permitting new liquified natural gas export terminals is affecting U.S. allies in Asia and Europe. (Houston Chronicle)

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OHIO: The death of Ohio’s former top utility regulator stokes a growing sense of urgency among plaintiffs and prosecutors to gather evidence and testimony in HB6 corruption cases before it’s lost to time. (Energy News Network)

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OIL & GAS: The Biden administration blocks new oil and gas drilling on 13 million acres of the 23-million-acre federal petroleum reserve in the Alaskan Arctic; the ban will not affect the controversial Willow project. (Associated Press)

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ALSO:

• The U.S. Forest Service rejects a decade-old proposal to drill eight oil and gas wells and build a pipeline on federal land in southern California. (KCBX)
• A Colorado petroleum refinery files a lawsuit accusing state regulators of unfairly requiring the facility to meet “unreasonable” standards in its water quality permit. (KDVR)

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PUBLIC LANDS:

• The Biden administration is poised to finalize a public lands rule aimed at putting conservation on a par with extractive uses by allowing entities to lease federal land for restoration or mitigation work. (Colorado Newsline)
• The Biden administration blocks new mining claims and oil and gas leases on 4,200 acres of federal land in central New Mexico for the next 50 years. (news release)

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COAL: California researchers find coal train dust significantly affects the health of people living near rail lines, with underserved communities bearing a disproportionate burden of the impacts. (news release)

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UTILITIES:

• An investigation finds Hawaiian Electric did not immediately respond to an alert of downed power lines prior to last year’s deadly Maui wildfires. (Washington Post)
• A Colorado utility proposes adding 400 MW of solar, wind and battery storage to its resource portfolio. (news release)
• PacifiCorp and NV Energy plan to add natural gas generation to their grids while also building out renewable power sources. (E&E News, subscription)

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GRID: California utilities and energy agencies seek $2 billion in federal funding to increase statewide transmission capacity and streamline clean energy interconnections. (Reuters)

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WIND: A Washington state energy siting council recommends approval of a scaled-back version of the proposed Horse Heaven Hills wind facility in endangered hawk habitat in the southern part of the state. (Crosscut)

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SOLAR:

• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed 600 MW solar-plus-battery storage installation in southwestern Arizona. (news release)
• Denver’s city council votes to spend $10.9 million to install solar carports and electric vehicle chargers at local high schools. (Center Square)
• A solar installation on University of Hawaii agricultural land begins commercial operations. (Hawaii Public Radio)

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STORAGE: A 300 MW battery energy storage system comes online on federal land in southern California. (Solar Industry)

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GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights a geothermal exploratory drilling project in northern Nevada. (news release)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Disneyland plans to replace gasoline-powered cars with fully electric vehicles at its Autopia attraction by fall 2026. (Los Angeles Times)

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SOLAR: Critics charge that Duke Energy’s revised green tariff program in North Carolina will do little to accelerate new renewable development because it requires large customers to choose from projects among losing bids in the utility’s solar procurement process. (Energy News Network)

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ALSO:

• Gainesville, Florida’s municipal utility board votes to reduce its net metering payments to the growing number of homeowners with rooftop solar arrays. (WUFT)
• Entergy Texas begins drawing power from a 150 MW solar farm, the first contracted through a renewables-focused request for proposals. (Bluebonnet News)
• A steel company and utility break ground on a solar farm in Kentucky. (WFIE)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Construction has stalled on Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast’s planned North Carolina factory after the company revised its plans for a smaller building footprint but hasn’t yet submitted new documents to the state. (Raleigh News & Observer, WRAL)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Republican attorneys general from Florida and 22 other states petition the U.S. EPA to stop taking race into account when regulating pollution. (Floodlight)

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GRID:

• Entergy’s Louisiana subsidiary presses state regulators to fast-track approval of its $1.9 billion plan to harden grid infrastructure, but one official complains the document obscures important details. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• The Texas power grid remained stable with no energy conservation requests this week after the grid operator requested power plant operators to defer maintenance due to an anticipated spike in demand. (Houston Chronicle)
• A Virginia county board unanimously passes a resolution calling on NextEra Energy to use existing transmission corridors to build 500 kV lines between two proposed substations. (Loudoun Times-Mirror)

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UTILITIES:

• Lobbying reports reveal Kentucky’s electric cooperative association spent big successfully pushing for passage of a bill to create more obstacles to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants, while two for-profit utilities also spent large amounts of money in a failed attempt to block the legislation. (WKYU)
• A Kentucky city council considers requiring a franchise agreement with electric providers who lease city land, enabling it to charge a 3% franchise fee. (Link NKY)
• Georgia regulators approve Georgia Power’s plan to build new gas plants and add battery storage to account for growing power demand, but critics question assertions the changes will result in lower bills. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

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COAL: Democratic U.S. senators in Virginia and West Virginia applaud a new federal rule to more tightly regulate silica dust, which factors into black lung disease. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

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EMISSIONS:

• Texas regulators fine a liquified natural gas export facility for violating air pollution rules between 2019 and 2021. (Reuters)
• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks state environmental regulators to delay approval of new permits for cement plants until 2025 due to community concerns about air and water pollution. (Texas Tribune)

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CLIMATE: Advocates and families of people incarcerated in Louisiana prisons say the state has failed to protect prisoners from extreme summer heat, while officials say they’ve asked for state funding to install air conditioning in two prisons. (Verite News)

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NUCLEAR: Virginia lawmakers approve Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s changes to a bill that allows utilities to seek regulatory approval to charge customers for the cost of developing small modular nuclear reactors. (Cardinal News)

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CLIMATE: Unmitigated climate change and continued burning of fossil fuels would cost the world an estimated $38 trillion in damages by 2050, six times the cost of transitioning to clean energy and curbing warming, according to a peer-reviewed study. (Axios)

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ALSO:

• The global plastics industry produces four times as many planet-warming emissions as the airline industry and could single handedly tip the world past a critical climate threshold if production remains consistent, scientists find. (The Hill)
• Sen. Joe Manchin and 32 Republicans push a resolution to overturn the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate disclosure rule. (The Hill)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• The U.S. now has a fast charging station for every 15 gas stations after adding 600 new stations so far this year, as Tesla continues to build out its network and federal funding helps patch charging deserts. (Bloomberg)
• Google Maps rolls out new features to help electric vehicle drivers more easily locate chargers, including those tucked away in parking lots and garages. (Verge)

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WIND: The offshore wind industry is recovering after a series of project cancellations and setbacks last year, but experts warn rising inflation, an insufficient supply chain, and other challenges remain. (CNN)

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MATERIALS: The United Nations estimates that 62 million tons of e-waste went to landfills in 2022, including hard-to-come-by metals essential to solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and other clean energy components. (Grist)

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SOLAR:

• The U.S. EPA prepares to announce $7 billion for its Solar for All program that funds solar installations in low-income areas. (E&E News)
• Critics charge that Duke Energy’s revised green tariff program in North Carolina will do little to accelerate new renewable development. (Energy News Network)

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GRID:

• Virtual power plants as well as advanced nuclear and upgraded transmission lines could help meet growing power demand, experts say. (Utility Dive)
• A Colorado think tank finds Western states are poised to generate billions of dollars by exporting clean energy to other regions, but only if they can significantly expand the power grid. (Inside Climate News)
• Six Northeast states file two joint applications with federal officials to receive up to $1 billion for transmission upgrades and battery storage projects. (Portland Press Herald)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:

• Indigenous advocates say the U.S. is ignoring the United Nations’ Rights of Indigenous Peoples declaration, including through its refusal to shut down the Line 5 pipeline. (Global Indigenous Affairs Desk)
• Republican attorneys general from 23 other states petition the U.S. EPA to stop taking race into account when regulating pollution. (Floodlight)

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INDUSTRY: The U.S. Department of Energy announces $28 million in grants for research aimed at decarbonizing steel production. (Canary Media)  

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COAL: Democratic U.S. senators in Virginia and West Virginia applaud a new federal rule to more tightly regulate silica dust, which factors into black lung disease. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

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COMMENTARY: Michigan regulators’ denial of a utility’s request to recoup expenses from uneconomic coal plants sets an example for other states, clean energy policy advocates write. (RMI)

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TRANSMISSION: A Colorado think tank finds Western states are poised to generate billions of dollars by exporting clean energy to other regions, but only if they can significantly expand the power grid. (Inside Climate News)

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MINING: Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren proposes requiring mining companies to notify the tribe and post a bond prior to transporting uranium across tribal land. (Fronteras)

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OIL & GAS: Colorado lawmakers advance legislation that would limit the length of trains passing through the state as a way to reduce the risk of spilling crude oil or other hazardous materials. (Colorado Sun)

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CLIMATE:

• California lawmakers advance legislation that would assess fees on large emitters to help pay for climate-related damages. (E&E News, subscription)
• An advocacy group predicts the Biden administration’s  conservation-oriented policies could lead to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel extraction on  federal land. (news release)

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TRANSITION:

• A Washington state community is held up as a model for successfully transitioning away from fossil fuels as it prepares to weather a coal plant closure next year with the help of a $55 million transition fund. (Inside Climate News)
• Colorado lawmakers consider allowing coal plant operators to retain water rights after the facilities close in hopes of encouraging them to develop alternative energy sources. (Aspen Journalism)

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SOLAR:

• Colorado lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at expanding low-income residents’ access to and modernizing the state’s community solar program. (news release)  
• A developer brings a pair of solar-plus-battery storage installations in southern California online with a combined capacity of 463 MW. (news release)
• California awards a company $3 million to ramp up production of its modular solar-powered microgrid. (PV Magazine)

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STORAGE: A California community choice aggregator agrees to purchase 180 MW of power from a battery energy storage system under development in the San Francisco area. (Energy Storage News)

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UTILITIES:

• California advocates and lawmakers push back on regulators’ proposal to add a fixed fee to utility bills while reducing electricity use rates, saying it would hurt low-income residents. (Press-Enterprise)
• Colorado residents criticize Xcel Energy over its execution of a preemptive power outage aimed at reducing wildfire risk during unusually severe winds this month. (KDVR)  

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CARBON CAPTURE: Alaska lawmakers remove minimum payment requirements from a carbon capture bill, saying the legislation is aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development, not raising revenue. (Alaska Beacon)

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BIOFUELS: The operator of a Colorado power plant fueled with beetle-killed trees closes the facility, saying it is not financially viable. (Vail Daily)

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SOLAR: New Hampshire’s Supreme Court decides a town can’t block solar projects over aesthetic or property value fears if the project otherwise satisfies local ordinances. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

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ALSO:

• Federal energy regulators approve tariff revisions proposed by New York’s grid operator to set a 10 kW minimum capacity for a single distributed energy resource to participate in the market. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A Maine town council decides to rezone a general industrial parcel to allow a property owner to develop a solar farm after one council member spoke with frustrated residents and alleviated concern. (Morning Sentinel)
• Connecticut lawmakers consider bills to speed up current solar developments, support community solar projects and optimize already approved projects. (Connecticut Public Radio)

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GAS:

• Construction begins on a $440 million anaerobic digester in Linden, New Jersey, that will convert food waste to methane, touted as the nation’s largest-such facility. (NJBiz)
• A gas main rupture at a New York City school leads to a large firefighter and rescue response but no evacuations or injuries. (SILive)

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RENEWABLE ENERGY:

• The Brooklyn Navy Yard issues a solicitation for clean energy projects or technologies to be sited at a 130,000-square-foot waterfront parcel. (New York Business Journal)
• Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives advances legislation to allow Lake Erie land leases for clean energy development. (Erie News Now)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Tesla’s plan to lay off about 10% of its workforce includes employees at the South Buffalo, New York, gigafactory. (WKBW)
• Boston and New York City are among the American cities with notable electric vehicle charging installation plans this year. (Utility Dive)
• A New York City preservation committee approves a plan to turn an old newsstand into a delivery worker e-bike charging hub, despite local opposition over the new design. (Streetsblog)

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OFFSHORE WIND: With some residents for siting an offshore wind hub on Sears Island and others against it, officials in Searsport, Maine, are publicly neutral on the matter, which the town manager says local officials hold no sway over regardless. (WABI, Bangor Daily News)

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FINANCE: A state board approves the formation of the New Jersey Green Bank to help make clean energy, zero-emission transportation and building decarbonization investments. (news release)

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POLICY:

• The Pennsylvania House Blue-Green Caucus showcases a legislative agenda that includes bills to increase solar on schools, allow community solar facility subscriptions and require a prevailing wage for government-funded clean energy projects. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Boston names its first-ever chief climate officer, the city’s former environment cabinet chief under multiple administrations. (Boston Globe)

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COAL: A former coal town in Washington state could serve as a model for Pennsylvania towns facing existential questions over a coal-free future. (WITF/StateImpact PA)

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