Climate superfunds take off

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

CLIMATE

• In spite of federal climate hostility, states in the Northeast and beyond are pushing to enact climate superfund laws that hold fossil fuel companies financially responsible for climate change-induced damages. (Canary Media)

• New York climate advocates say a report underpinning an effort to suspend the state’s decarbonization mandate is flawed, and doesn’t take the addition of new clean energy projects into account when warning of potential power shortfalls. (Gothamist)

BATTERIES

• In Maine, Plus Power celebrates the opening of New England’s largest grid battery, the 175-MW Cross Town Energy Storage project. (Canary Media)

• The Rhode Island Superior Court reverses Smithfield’s denial of a permit for a battery storage facility. (Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly)

OFFSHORE WIND

• New York cites federal pushback as it closes its offshore wind solicitation without issuing any awards, and says it instead will survey industry leaders to learn how the state can support future development. (OffshoreWind.Biz)

UTILITIES

• Advocates say New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s move to tap RGGI funding for immediate utility bill relief can help stop the ​“bleeding,” but say upgrading gas plants isn’t a viable long-term solution. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• Ameresco completes construction of its 5.7-MW solar project on a landfill in Coventry, Rhode Island. (Worcester Business Journal)

• Paris, Maine, approves construction of a solar farm atop a capped landfill. (Maine Monitor)

FOSSIL FUELS

• In Delaware, two Republican state senators are pushing to bring the shuttered Indian River Power Plant back online and replace its coal generation with gas. (WDEL)

UTILITIES

• A Maryland state senator says his bill would encourage utilities to build more clean power generation, but advocates say it also allows for gas construction — and they aren’t sure if the discrepancy is an oversight or an industry handout. (Baltimore Banner)

• Eversource Energy reports its profits doubled across its Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire footprint last year amid record-high rates, and says it’ll spend $26.5 billion through 2030 to upgrade the grid. (Hartford Courant)

GRID

• Virtual power plants have shown promise in shoring up New York’s grid and lowering power prices, but the state has struggled to expand the idea. (New York Focus)

• ISO-New England’s CEO says advancements in grid modelling, as well as collaboration between the RTO, generators, and state and federal agencies, helped the grid hold up through recent weeks of extreme cold. (RTO Insider)

DATA CENTERS

• Maine lawmakers consider a broad data center regulatory package that includes a two-year moratorium on construction. (Maine Public)