Delaware coal plant closure delayed four years

COAL: Plans to close Delaware’s last coal-fired power plant this past June have been delayed at least four years because of needed electrical grid upgrades. (Delaware News Journal)

ALSO: A western Pennsylvania creek has flowed orange from coal-mining pollution for decades, but local activists say the transition away from coal is making it harder to get reclamation money. (PublicSource)

EFFICIENCY: To encourage heat pump adoption, Connecticut’s efficiency program begins providing free virtual consultations with heat pump experts and developing a local network of trained installers. (Energy News Network)

CLIMATE:
• Climate advocates say a $11.3 billion transportation bond bill passed by Massachusetts legislators is a step in the right direction but not nearly enough to reduce transportation emissions. (Boston Globe)
• Roughly $39 million in federal funds will be divided among seven New Jersey municipalities for local flood mitigation and climate resilience projects. (NJ Advance Media)
• As Philadelphia’s summers get hotter, some neighborhoods suffer from both the heat island effect and the inability to upgrade or install air conditioning. (WHYY)

SOLAR:
• A New Jersey storage facility’s rooftop solar array is the first completed project of a planned ten-site, 6.5 MW community solar project. (Asbury Park Press)
• A developer plans to start construction on a 20 MW solar project in a field in a northwestern Pennsylvania county. (Explore Clarion)

CLEAN ENERGY: A marine science center on a small Maine island eliminated 90% of its need for diesel by slowly adding a wind turbine, solar panels and battery storage systems over two decades. (News Center Maine)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Connecticut transportation officials file their electric vehicle charging expansion plans with the federal government as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure plan. (news release)

AFFORDABILITY: With a potential fall rate increase of 47% looming for Rhode Island Energy customers, Rhode Island’s governor asks state regulators to spread the increase out over a longer time period to ease the financial burden. (Boston Globe)

UTILITIES:
• New performance standards established by Maine utility regulators don’t include any financial penalties or incentives, despite intervenor encouragement to incorporate either. (Mainebiz)
• Participants in a Hudson Valley town’s community choice aggregation program are pushed back onto the local utility’s service after the program’s initial energy supplier defaulted. (Hudson Valley 1)