SOLAR:

• A PJM Interconnection executive says under 2 GW of almost entirely solar power was added to its territory this year, down from almost 5 GW in 2023, a capacity addition he says “is nowhere near where we need to be.” (Utility Dive)
• University of Pittsburgh researchers interview four dozen rural people, including many farmers, about their views on rural solar development and find that smaller projects that work with the landscape would be more readily embraced. (Inside Climate News)
• Maryland utility officials host a public meeting that sees much turnout from residents opposed to a solar project on Sykesville farmland. (Baltimore Sun)
• Maine is one of the states whose solar growth rates are helping to boost the overall national increase in new solar installations. (PV Magazine)
• A new pilot program aims to help finance solar and battery system leases for 100 low-to-moderate-income families across southwestern Pennsylvania. (news release)

AGRIVOLTAICS: At an orchard at its Hudson Valley research campus, Cornell University plans to experiment with raised solar panels that can be adjusted to shade apple trees during hot weather. (Cornell Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION: Oral arguments begin today on two lawsuits aiming to restart momentum on the Manhattan traffic congestion tolling program, with one of the involved attorneys saying it’ll be difficult to reduce transportation emissions in New York City without it. (The City)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Revel opens its first 24/7 public electric vehicle charging station in Manhattan, with 10 fast chargers offering charge rates up to 320 kW. (electrek)

WORKFORCE: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey discusses growing the climate workforce in her state, quipping that “whoever figures out this workforce component first, wins.” (Boston.com)

PIPELINES: In Connecticut, environmental activists call on the state’s governor to block a proposed upgrade to a 1,100-mile natural gas pipeline while the expansion plan is still in its early stages. (Fox 61)

FOSSIL FUELS: Stakeholders at a Northeast fuels conference offered differing views of the future role of natural gas, with some claiming it will be “here for the long-term” and others predicting “a future where we are less reliant” on it. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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ALSO: The mayor of Ocean City, Maryland, and several town residents say the structure of a public meeting held this week by federal ocean energy officials about the potential wind development off their shores didn’t allow them to provide input. (WBAL)

GRID: 

• A new analysis from PJM Interconnection’s market monitor says faulty market design added unnecessary billions to the latest capacity auction, although the grid operator took issue with several points made in the report. (Utility Dive)
• A Consolidated Edison-commissioned report weighs the problems and opportunities with allowing utilities to own generation in New York, finding it could speed up new development. (RTO Insider, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Philadelphia agency seeks proposals from companies to install electric vehicle chargers on curbsides and in parking lots for the 11,000 EVs registered in the city, specifying that the work should be done without taxpayer cost and that the city will expect a cut of the revenue. (Billy Penn)

TRANSIT: 

• The board of New York City’s transit agency authorizes a massive new five-year capital spending plan, despite a huge funding gap left after the governor paused the traffic congestion tolling plan that was intended to cover it. (The City)
• The state transportation agency releases a new study showing it would cost at least $1.3 billion to expand a highway in the Catskills to save drivers between one to six minutes, a plan that transportation planners and local environmentalists say makes no sense with the state’s decarbonization goals. (NY Focus)

FOSSIL FUELS: Little work has been conducted on long-ignored and extensive pollution in a New Jersey river, but observers worry about the future of 20,000 cubic yards of polluted material generated by a former gas plant. (NJ Spotlight)

BUILDINGS: The founder of a New York City building retrofit startup talks about applying insulated panels embedded with HVAC systems to the outside of older multifamily buildings and the challenge of mass building decarbonization. (Volts)

RESILIENCY: 

• A group of Vermont arts and culture organizations gather to learn about how to protect cultural assets and visitors in the face of climate change and natural disasters, including increased flooding. (Seven Days)
• Maine hires its first green schools director, who will handle the sustainability responsibilities typically conducted by a smattering of offices and agencies to implement climate action and resiliency measures. (Portland Press Herald)

EQUITY: In Maine, a new climate plan equity study highlights the difficulty of offering financial incentives for climate action to poorer residents and a need to engage early and often with other vulnerable populations. (Portland Press Herald)

COMMENTARY: Two climate activists write that the collapse of Massachusetts’ climate bill this year will let gas companies keep building soon-to-be-obsolete infrastructure. (Energy News Network)

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New Jersey allows offshore wind project pause is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

RENEWABLE POWER: A New York energy siting office issues final permits for a 240 MW solar project in St. Lawrence County and a 147 MW onshore wind facility in Steuben County. (news release)

SOLAR:

• A 12 MW microgrid at a John F. Kennedy International Airport terminal will use solar panels, fuel cells and a battery system — including the city’s largest solar canopy — to meet around half the terminal’s daily power needs. (Renewable Energy World)
• A developer says it has received interconnection approval for a 7 MW ground-mounted solar array in Middletown, New York. (news release)
• A developer completes a 4.8 MW community solar project on a former brownfield site in Frankfort, New York. (news release)
• Two developers finish construction of a pair of 5 MW community solar projects on recently capped landfills in Berkeley, New Jersey. (news release)

EMISSIONS: A new report finds that industrial and transportation activities create roughly two-thirds of all the greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. (Morning Call)

NUCLEAR: 

• Massachusetts’ governor says buying power from the Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut presents “a nice synergy” as she and other Northeast U.S. and eastern Canadian leaders consider more regional energy cooperation. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• A Pennsylvania energy policy expert discusses newfound enthusiasm for nuclear power in the state, as well as the pros and cons of future projects. (Power Magazine)

GRID: 

• In New Hampshire, Eversource utility line workers are undertaking emergency repairs of roughly 70-year-old power lines that serve around 30,000 people. (WMUR)
• Three large barges on Lake Champlain are helping install a mostly underwater cable for the Champlain Hudson Power Express power line to bring 1.25 GW of hydroelectricity to New York City. (VT Digger)
• Maryland U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin writes to the state’s governor and utility commission to highlight his concerns about the data center industry’s impacts on ratepayers and the grid, as well the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. (Maryland Matters)

WORKFORCE: 

• The governors of 22 states — including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont — want a collective 1 million residents to complete climate-related apprenticeships by 2035. (The Hill)
• Some construction workers in Maine say renewable energy projects in their state have helped them keep working locally. (News Center Maine)
• A Lewiston, Maine, public school’s technical training center can’t buy a rebuildable electric vehicle for students using state grant funds without a voter referendum. (Sun Journal)

GEOTHERMAL: A geothermal company raises $40 million in a Series C round led by Google Ventures and plans to relocate from Mount Kisco, New York, to Arlington, Virginia. (DC Inno)

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ALSO: Pennsylvania’s governor encourages PJM Interconnection to fast-track interconnection reviews for ready-to-build generation projects as a Constellation Energy executive says doing so would restart a 835-MW unit at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant faster. (Utility Dive)

GRID: 

• Rhode Island’s energy siting board votes to continue considering an application by SouthCoast Wind to install power lines between its 1.2 GW offshore wind project and Somerset, Massachusetts, via a Rhode Island town and two waterways. (Rhode Island Current)
• PJM Interconnection says it won’t include reliability must-run power plants in its capacity auctions as six state ratepayer advocates wanted, but it will propose a way to fast-track some projects. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR: 

• A developer plans a 5.4 MW ground-mounted community solar project that will include sheep grazing for New York’s Broome County. (news release)
• A Maryland county board will discuss their opposition to a Sykesville farmland solar project at a public hearing tomorrow. (Baltimore Sun)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• In New Jersey, business and environmental entities alike oppose legislation advanced by a legislative committee to accelerate investment in commercial direct current fast chargers, with some noting it doesn’t address all problems yet is “short-circuiting a process” by state utility regulators. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• The neighboring towns of Lebanon, New Hampshire and White River Junction, Vermont, work to install multiple new electric vehicle chargers near their downtowns, aiming to increase economic activity. (Valley News)

FOSSIL FUELS: 

• In Pennsylvania, some public health researchers say that a company’s claim that joint air monitoring with the state shows no public health risks from its fracking is hard to believe. (WITF)
• Although fracking has returned to the national political stage, residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania, struggling with health problems related to pollution say they haven’t been allowed to forget. (WITF)

TRANSPORTATION: Maryland energy officials issue a request for information to help design an electric vehicle supply equipment equity program in 2025 to help disadvantaged communities reduce their transportation emissions. (Daily Record)

POLITICS: 

• In the lead-up to a key election in the Pennsylvania senate, both the Democratic and Republican candidates appear to be avoiding mention of their energy and climate policies to try to secure broader appeal. (Public Source)
• Environmental advocates implore New York’s governor to sign legislation this year that would force polluters to pay for climate damage; federal legislation to do so was recently introduced. (City Limits)

BUILDINGS: A Pennsylvania utility works to convert its formerly industrial land for other uses, most recently turning part of a former power station into a wetland. (WTAE)

AFFORDABILITY: As the Northeast faces some of the highest power prices in the country, some regional utility regulators say there needs to be more emphasis on shaving peak loads and helping low- to moderate-income ratepayers. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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New York nuclear plants trip offline is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

SOLAR: In Connecticut, a developer appeals a state council’s rejection of a 2,700-panel solar project that would require clearcutting of almost eight acres of woods, noting among other arguments that the state doesn’t define how much tree removal constitutes an environmental concern. (New Haven Register)

NUCLEAR:

• Industry observers say Microsoft’s 20-year deal to buy power from Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania is “a massive victory” for supporters of the resource. (Heatmap)
• Maryland officials and advocates are taking another look at nuclear energy to help meet the state’s renewable power demand and climate goals. (Maryland Matters)

FOSSIL FUELS: In Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says fracking won’t be as pivotal of an election issue in his state some observers believe. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

BUILDINGS: Maine uses Inflation Reduction Act funds to launch a $36 million home energy rebate program focused on heat pumps and electrification projects, first targeting low-income families but expanding to moderate-income ones next year. (Maine Monitor)

TRANSIT: Philadelphia’s transit system plans to pilot hydrogen fuel technology on ten buses for longer or hillier routes, but some advocates say there hasn’t been enough transparency in the process despite their safety concerns. (WHYY)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Pennsylvania’s transportation agency opens its third electric vehicle charging station using National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program funds in Aston, a suburban Philadelphia town. (Daily Times)

AFFORDABILITY: Rhode Island Energy customers will soon see almost $27 million return to their accounts to reflect 2023 accounting errors, but a seasonal rate hike will partially offset that refund. (Rhode Island Current)

WORKFORCE: As part of Climate Week NYC, the Brooklyn Navy Yard hosts the Green Skills Summit to discuss pressing “green collar” workforce development needs and challenges. (Brooklyn Eagle)

FINANCE: A Maine island town opens a new fund to solicit private donations for its climate resiliency projects, with a local official noting that federal and state grants just won’t cover everything. (Island Ad-Vantages)

UTILITIES: National Grid says it has installed over 334,000 smart meters across New York state. (Times Union)

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Offshore wind opposition traces back to RFK Jr.’s Cape Cod turbine fight is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.