Boston, NYC adding hundreds of EV chargers

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Boston will be able to install at least 300 electric vehicle chargers across the city, focusing on environmental justice communities, using a $15 million federal grant, while Massachusetts park officials will install as many as 40 chargers using a $1.2 million grant. (Boston.com, WHDH)

ALSO: New York City will use a $15 million federal grant to install 600 level-2 curbside chargers throughout the city, although some criticize the plan for permanently taking away street space for other non-private car uses. (amNY, Streetsblog)

POLITICS: Maryland’s election this fall for a U.S. Senate seat could make or break federal climate action. (Inside Climate News)

RENEWABLE POWER:

• In New York, Republican state senators introduce legislation to delay state climate law deadlines by a decade, prevent power plants from closing before replacements are online and study whether a nuclear plant should be reopened. (WSKG)
• Commissioners of Pennsylvania’s Cambria County update the local property assessed clean energy program to include air quality projects. (Tribune-Democrat)

GEOTHERMAL: A geothermal pilot project in Massachusetts is a rare example of gas companies and environmental activists partnering together for climate action. (Christian Science Monitor)

AFFORDABILITY:

• Maine utility regulators will expand on an earlier study of time-of-use rates, focusing on what the best time frames and specific rates could be. (Portland Press Herald)
• Some New Jersey lawmakers are calling for hearings examining the state’s utility regulation practices as customers report high bills, while other industry observers chalk the problem up to a fossil fuel-heavy grid and a hot summer. (NJ Spotlight)
• Starting in the new year, third-party energy companies in Maryland will no longer be able to charge customers more than what the incumbent utility charges. (WMAR)

GRID:

• The network of smart energy devices in New England helped shave hundreds of megawatts off peak demand on a single day this summer, highlighting the usefulness of virtual power plants. (WBUR)
• A Connecticut council allows Eversource Energy to continue work on a substation and nearby power lines on Sundays to help catch up after weather delays. (Patch)

BUILDINGS:

• New Jersey will form a new revolving loan fund to help with energy efficiency upgrades at government buildings, museums, parks, hospitals, schools, jails and transit centers, using $2.4 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. (news release)
• Some new architectural projects in Massachusetts showcase the creativity architects need to achieve major embodied carbon reductions in their designs. (Boston Globe)
• A New York school district has begun construction of $20 million in clean energy and energy efficiency projects at eight buildings, including solar carports, building envelope improvements and LED bulb installations. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION:

• To plug an estimated $3 million budget gap, Vermont’s largest public transit agency wants to slash its bus services by a quarter. (VT Digger)
• In Maryland, a Baltimore County decision to rezone a Lutherville property for single-family housing serves as the first real challenge to the state’s transit-oriented development laws. (Baltimore Sun)