Delaware offshore wind takes a step forward

WIND: Delaware lawmakers advance a bill to the governor’s desk that, if signed, would lead to offshore wind energy procurement. (WBOC)

ALSO:

• Federal officials say they’ll hold an offshore wind lease auction on August 14 for a site roughly 26 nautical miles from the Delaware Bay that is estimated to have 6.3 GW of generation potential. (news release)
• Elected officials in the 22 towns across Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard want federal officials to give them a few more weeks to file comments over the proposed offshore wind lease auction in their waters. (Cape Cod Times)
• BP says it’s still considering what to do with its Beacon Wind offshore project after taking the project out of development consideration in New York. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• New York City is looking for someone to operate a program intended to help local small or medium businesses take advantage of opportunities in the offshore wind industry. (news release)

GRID:

• New England’s grid operator says in a report that electrification will increase power demand by roughly 23% in the next ten years, with some offset from distributed residential solar and efficiency projects. (VT Digger)
• ISO New England tells attendees of the NEPOOL Participants Committee summer meeting that they expect a 13.5% increase in their annual revenue requirement for the 2025 budget, citing the renewable energy transition. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• In New Jersey, utility Jersey Central Power & Light pitches a $935 million plan to reduce the number and impact of power outages in its service territory, including the upgrade of 18 substations. (Asbury Park Press)

SOLAR:

• Some residents of a Pennsylvania town feel they should’ve known much sooner about plans to develop a solar project in their town, which local officials recently permitted but apparently have known about for two years. (WTAJ, WJAC)
• The developer of a new community solar project in Gouverneur, New York, brings the site online, which has the capacity to power an estimated 878 homes every year. (news release)
• Canton, Maine, will vote this month on a proposed solar ordinance that would set a cap on the number of large-scale solar projects allowed within town limits. (Rumford Falls Times)

POLICY: In New York, decades-old state laws are still on the books that encourage ongoing residential fossil fuel use, despite much more recent climate action policies and mandates. (Newsday)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A charging e-bike battery sparks a fire in New York City that sends several people to the hospital and destroys two businesses and two apartments. (NYDN)

TRANSIT: Federal infrastructure funds could help revive passenger rail between Scranton, Pennsylvania, and New York City, if state and local politics don’t get in the way first. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

COMMENTARY:

• A columnist writes that the ongoing ​“meltdown” of NJ Transit’s commuter train service, and the lessons learned from private commuter coaches in that state, should be learning opportunities for Connecticut officials. (CT Mirror)
• The CEO of an energy developer writes about the benefits Connecticut could see from increasing its number of community solar projects and how recently passed laws can help regulators do so. (CT Mirror)