After referendum, Maine looks to bolster utility performance

UTILITIES: Following the defeat of a ballot measure to replace Maine’s investor-owned utilities with a consumer-owned power company, policymakers and advocates explore new ways to improve service. (Maine Morning Star)

POLICY:

• New York’s governor will reportedly call for cutting back gas system expansions, reconfiguring the transmission project siting process and other clean energy and utility-related reforms in her State of the State address tonight. (Politico)
• Environmental advocates in New York want to use this upcoming legislative session to shift the cost of the climate crisis from ratepayers and taxpayers to polluters. (City Limits)

WIND:

• Federal ocean energy officials release a draft analysis of the environmental impact of installing over 1,000 offshore wind turbines across six potential projects in the New York Bight; public comment opens Friday. (E&E News, subscription; RTO Insider, subscription)
• The mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, wants the town’s role in the offshore wind industry to expand from construction and development to operations and maintenance. (CAI)

GRID: Utility crews mobilize and New Jersey’s governor declares a state of emergency ahead of a ​“powerhouse” rain and wind storm expected to sweep the Northeast tonight. (WHAM, NBC 5, NorthJersey.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Massachusetts and Connecticut are set to receive enough federal funds to respectively purchase 85 and 50 electric school buses apiece. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, CT Mirror)

SOLAR: In Northfield, Massachusetts, an almost 11 MW solar project makes installation progress as it resumes development following the end of an appeal of the local planning board’s decision. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

NUCLEAR: New Hampshire and Massachusetts legislators request a public forum as they question a proposed consolidation of NextEra’s emergency management plan at the Seabrook plant and other nuclear stations it operates. (In-Depth NH, New Hampshire Bulletin)

BUILDINGS: A new social media campaign launched by New York City teenagers encourages the mayor’s office to accelerate school building retrofits. (Gothamist)

CLIMATE:

• Massachusetts’ top emergency management official says increasingly frequent and intense weather-related disasters are becoming more common and more difficult for cities and towns to handle. (Berkshire Eagle)
• A University of Maine study suggests that humankind’s evolutionary cultural adaptations have poorly set us up to solve the climate crisis. (Bangor Daily News)