Cape Cod clean energy program finally comes to fruition

CLEAN ENERGY: After five years of bureaucratic limbo, a first-of-its-kind Massachusetts pilot gains state approval to provide solar panels, heat pumps, and battery storage to low-income households in the Cape Cod area. (Energy News Network)

OIL & GAS:
• Seven people are dead following an explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, where several employees had complained of a gas smell at the facility for months; the local utility is investigating. (Associated Press, WGAL)
• Lincoln, Maine, and a biofuels refinery developer sign a 20-plus-year lease to produce heating fuel from waste wood at a former paper mill site. (Bangor Daily News)

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GRID:
• The developers of the controversial New England Clean Energy Connect power line will argue they have vested rights to continue building it, despite Mainers voting to kill the project, in a trial scheduled to begin in mid-April. (Portland Press Herald)
• Around 20,000 western Pennsylvanians are without power this morning following strong winds. (PowerOutage.US, WGME)
• Construction industry leaders poke holes in a recently touted alternate microgrid project to support NJ Transit that would rely on renewable energy and battery storage, noting that it doesn’t account for transmission costs. (Asbury Park Press)

CLIMATE:
• Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree introduces legislation as part of the 2023 Farm Bill to help farms reach net-zero emissions by 2040. (Portland Press Herald)
• Gardeners and horticultural staff at botanical gardens and parks around New York City describe how climate change alters the regional flora’s phenology. (The City)

BUILDINGS: Places like Cape Cod are cultivating ​“activity centers” full of businesses, retail, social gathering spots and civic institutions to reduce car dependency. (Smart Cities Dive)

SOLAR:
• After nearly a decade of planning, a Massachusetts community farm’s solar array will soon provide nearly all of the power it needs for agricultural activities. (The Heights)
• The city council of Saratoga Springs, New York, gives a $150,000 grant to a community farm to begin generating solar power on site. (Times Union)

TIDAL: A tidal power company looks to restart testing its tidal turbines near Eastport, Maine, this year after a decade-long pause on Cobscook Bay operations. (Maine Monitor)

AFFORDABILITY:
• Maine legislators consider a bill to seek standard offer bids for longer term lengths in order to reduce rate volatility. (WGME)
• Amid billing and customer service problems, activists and officials in Rochester, New York, consider replacing Rochester Gas & Electric with a public utility. (WXXI)