600k outages hit the Northeast

GRID: Over 600,000 customers reported power outages this morning across the Northeast following a strong wind storm, the majority of which are in Maine. (PowerOutage.US, Kennebec Journal)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• A Pittsburgh shale driller begins posting real-time air quality and chemical usage data at two well sites following a deal with the state’s governor, but environmentalists remain concerned the company is self-reporting without enforcement. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Federal agriculture officials grant roughly $300,000 to Delaware State University to undertake a three-year study into using microalgae for biofuels. (news release)

CRYPTOMINING: A Bitcoin miner asks Pennsylvania environmental regulators to let it burn fuel made from old tires at its power plant in a tourist town. (Lehigh Valley Live)

SOLAR:

• A solar developer’s top executive says his firm is considering action that he says would push through a small solar array in Bennington, Vermont, ten years after first pitching the project. (Bennington Banner)
• Dozens of Johnston, Rhode Island, residents attend a public hearing to urge local officials to reject a planned 19 MW solar array in a residential neighborhood. (Boston Globe)
• A new 12 MW solar array has been developed on a former landfill just outside of Annapolis, Maryland. (news release)
• A developer wraps up construction of a 100 MWAC solar array on a former western Pennsylvania coal mine. (news release)

BUILDINGS: New York City building officials published a finalized set of municipal building emissions rules that soon go into effect, but some local environmental organizations say the regulations are too loose. (Gothamist)

FLOODS: Heavy rains last week washed away some of the initial progress some Hartford, Connecticut, homeowners were making toward future flood mitigation on their properties using city grants. (CT Mirror)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A New York community resiliency group installs what it calls the first solar-powered electric