Feds approve 1.1 GW wind farm off New Jersey

WIND: Federal officials approve what is slated to be the largest offshore wind farm in the country, a 1.1 GW project near Atlantic City, New Jersey, dubbed Ocean Wind 1. (Quartz, New York Times)

ALSO:
• An engineer with a Rhode Island state agency claims SouthCoast Wind officials made false statements over the status of its application in written testimony to a different state agency last month. (Providence Journal)
• Maine’s biggest and costliest land sale this year was the site of a once-proposed wind farm that failed to win over regulators; a timber harvester purchased the land. (Bangor Daily News)

FINANCE: A little-noticed change in a recently signed Connecticut law allows the state’s green bank to fund waste-to-energy technologies, throwing into question whether the institution’s entire mission has been upset. (CT Mirror)

CLEAN ENERGY: Washington, D.C., says it’s making progress toward its 100% renewable energy by 2032 goal, which now accounts for 16% of the city’s electricity sales. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Delaware officials consider tough questions while developing the state’s charging network, including whether they’ll have sufficient federal funds to set up enough charging stations. (Delaware News Journal)
• Massachusetts launches a new digital dashboard tracking passenger vehicle emissions, mileage and EV adoption. (State House News Service)

GRID:
• Massachusetts regulators approve two battery energy storage systems that would have a combined capacity of 400 MW. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• New Hampshire utilities file new three-year energy efficiency plans following years of intense disagreement and political maneuvering around the structure and funding of the programs. (NHPR)
• Siting and building energy infrastructure in the U.S. is difficult and pricey, driving New England and mid-Atlantic states to seek collaborations to address regional transmission needs. (WBUR)

REGULATION: Maryland’s new top utility regulator promises to ​“leave no Marylander behind” during his tenure, which will follow years of concern that the authority hasn’t sufficiently acted to address climate change and emissions. (Maryland Matters)

CLIMATE:
• Even though Maryland’s Smith Island faces an existential crisis amid rising sea levels, home sales are booming. (Washington Post)
• With higher temperatures driving more frequent cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Champlain, Burlington, Vermont, residents are struggling to enjoy the beach this summer. (WCAX)

TRANSIT: A private bus company begins offering service between New York City and Montréal after Amtrak suspends rail service to the Canadian city. (NBC 5)

SOLAR: A Vermont library installs rooftop solar and a battery energy storage system to help keep the internet available in the community and reduce its energy bills. (WCAX)

OIL & GAS: A northern New York dairy farm begins using manure to create ​‘renewable natural gas’ via anaerobic digestion to help make ends meet. (Press-Republican)

COMMENTARY: The head of a New Jersey business and labor nonprofit writes that the state ​“would be foolish” to let the economic opportunities tied to the wind energy build-out slip away. (Asbury Park Press)