Boston grocery store shows new equitable community solar approach

SOLAR: A group of Boston energy equity advocates plans to launch a community rooftop solar cooperative on a grocery store in a low-income neighborhood, selling power to the grocer and distributing revenue to co-owners. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

• In central Pennsylvania, the state’s largest solar array comes online with a capacity of 220 MW, all of which will be purchased by the University of Pennsylvania. (news release)
• Massachusetts is seeing much slower solar growth than in years past due to lower incentives and grid capacity, but one developer says smaller projects aren’t experiencing the same hurdles. (Greenfield Recorder)
• As a local solar project moratorium nears its end, a central New York town will hold a public hearing this week to discuss new solar energy production regulations, including farmland impacts. (Auburn Citizen)
• A Massachusetts zoo installs a solar canopy in a parking lot that’s large enough to generate 95% of its power demand. (news release)

PIPELINES: A federal appeals court hears oral arguments before deciding whether federal energy regulators had the public interest in mind when approving a $1 billion gas expansion project in New Jersey. (E&E News, subscription)

INEQUITY: Recent research from Columbia University suggests the Clean Air Act’s benefits don’t consistently reach areas with many low-income residents or people of color — like Clairton, Pennsylvania, home of one of the world’s largest coke producers. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE: Harvard University researchers end a solar geoengineering experiment that aimed to scatter sunlight to combat global warming after years of development and pushback. (MIT Technology Review)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A $61 million federal grant will help New York City replace 180 diesel school buses with electric models, but the city still needs to procure another 4,700 to meet its all-electric goal by 2035 — a target with a $5 billion price tag before charging infrastructure costs. (Gothamist)
• New Jersey lawmakers advance a bill to the governor’s desk that will instate a $250 annual fee on zero-emissions vehicles to make up for lost gas taxes, despite concern it could lower EV sales. (RTO Insider, subscription)

GRID: Maryland’s governor supports a bill to exempt data centers and other energy-hungry facilities from the state utility commission’s review, agitating his environmental supporters. (Inside Climate News)

WIND:

• After the collapse of the Park City wind project, observers consider what it will take for Connecticut’s offshore wind prospects to recover. (WSHU)
• Maine lawmakers begin considering Sears Island for the state’s floating offshore wind industry hub as critics condemn plans to build on a coastal dune system on the undeveloped island. (Portland Press Herald, News Center Maine)
• Massachusetts fishing permit and vessel owners can now sign up for an offshore wind compensation program to cover related economic losses. (New Bedford Light)
• Exus North America acquires a 306 MW portfolio of Pennsylvania wind farms, 244 MW of which will need to be repowered over the coming years. (news release)

NUCLEAR: Federal nuclear power regulators will hold a public meeting with the owners of New Hampshire’s Seabrook Station over proposed cuts to the facility’s emergency response staff. (news release)

HYDROPOWER: Connecticut lawmakers may let power distribution utilities sign 30-year agreements with hydropower facilities and other Class I renewable energy projects as part of a bill aimed at lowering clean energy costs. (Hartford Business Journal)

CLEAN POWER:

• The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority wants to hire a public relations firm to develop a ​“positive narrative” around the clean energy transition in the face of cost concerns, offering $500,000 for a one-year contract. (Times Union)
• Massachusetts will launch a new state office focused on implementing clean energy transition plans, led by a former National Grid executive. (Boston Globe)

HYDROGEN: New York allocates $16 million to two funding programs for clean hydrogen development for transportation, energy storage, industrial services or grid needs. (news release)