Court lets Vermont utility buy landfill gas

GAS: Vermont’s top court dismisses a lawsuit against the state’s main gas utility that sought to prevent it from buying and distributing methane from a large New York landfill, a plan criticized by some as a greenwashing scheme. (Seven Days)

ALSO: Three oil tankers catch fire in Epping, New Hampshire, leading to a massive response from neighboring fire departments. (WMUR)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A 2022 law unintentionally outlawed pole-mounted electric vehicle chargers in Massachusetts, but a legislator behind the policy says an attempted correction is underway. (Boston Globe)
• Maryland officials say around 60 new electric vehicle chargers will be built across the state with the help of millions in federal funds. (Baltimore Sun)

SOLAR:

• Several Pennsylvania utilities require customers to pay for equipment upgrades before they install solar panels, limiting the ability of many to make the switch. (Lancaster Online)
• A 5 MW solar farm in Ithaca, New York, receives a roughly $460,000 tax break from the county. (Ithaca Voice)

CLEAN ENERGY: Rhode Island’s Block Island is now running on only renewable energy, roughly six years after it became home to the country’s first offshore wind farm. (news release)

CLIMATE: A new study shows how New England states have seen a precipitous drop in snowpack since the 1980’s, a problem evident at the region’s mountain resorts, which increasingly rely on making their own snow. (Boston Globe, Stowe Reporter)

POLICY:

• Massachusetts’ booming clean tech economy is expanding, and politicians, including the state’s governor, are looking at how to keep that growth in state. (Boston Globe)
• In Worcester, Massachusetts, a climate-focused committee formally requests more funds and staff for the city’s sustainability and resilience department. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette)

GRID: Relatively few power outages are being reported this morning across the region even though thousands lost power over the weekend amid a major winter storm. (PowerOutage.US, In-Depth NH, WGRZ, )

AFFORDABILITY: Connecticut politicians debate whether to direct surplus state funds to help shrink the unmet residential demand for heating bill financial assistance. (CT Mirror)

COMMENTARY: A New Hampshire farmer details how climate change has ​“upended” standard seasonal weather patterns over the past four decades and how that impacts his business. (Concord Monitor)