Feds designate official Gulf of Maine wind energy area

OFFSHORE WIND: Federal ocean energy officials officially designate a 32 GW wind energy area in the Gulf of Maine that is 80% smaller than what was first marked as a potential leasing area and excludes fishing and lobstering areas. (Maine Public)

ALSO:

• Maine Governor Janet Mills’ administration proposes a bill to let construction occur in coastal sand dunes, a measure that would ease development of Sears Island into a floating offshore wind hub despite conservationists’ concerns. (Portland Press Herald)
• Maine’s offshore wind industry has transitioned from enjoying widespread bipartisan backing a decade ago to becoming a contentious political issue with mixed support. (Bangor Daily News)
• Federal ocean energy regulators kick off the environmental impact statement process for the 157-turbine Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind farm off the New Jersey and New York coasts. (news release)
• New Jersey officials express optimism and excitement over the state’s offshore wind future at a recent energy conference at Rowan University, touting a recent solicitation round for revitalizing efforts. (NJ Biz)

SOLAR:

• Federal energy regulators essentially punt the Bear Ridge Solar project, a proposed 100 MW solar farm in New York’s Niagara County, from the state’s interconnection queue by rejecting an exemption waiver for two grid interconnection tariff requirements. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Developers begin tree clearing for a 15 MW solar field at a Deptford, New Jersey, site that seems undeveloped but actually requires environmental remediation from decades of use as a pig farm and unauthorized landfill. (42 Freeway)
• Voters in Bow, New Hampshire, vote to authorize development of the state’s largest solar development, an array distributed across multiple municipal buildings. (Concord Monitor)
• Researchers studying blueberry production under a 4 MW solar farm in Rockport, Maine, find that the array’s configuration ​“makes farming difficult and constricts blueberry production” but hope results will guide further investigations. (Maine Monitor)
• Developers of a 2.47 MW community solar project in Maryland say installation should only take nine weeks and use less acreage because of its uncommon mounting system. (PV Magazine)
• Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna University uses grazing sheep for vegetation management at the college’s solar array. (Yale Climate Connections)

GRID:

• PJM Interconnection warns it could lose over 33 GW of power before 2030 because of capacity market price drops and another 19.6 GW over regulatory retirement deadlines, a concern it says could raise consumer prices. (E&E News, subscription)
• New York’s grid operator explains at an operating committee meeting that this past winter was one of its mildest ever, in terms of temperatures, gas prices and power demand. (RTO Insider, subscription)

FOSSIL FUELS: A fatal Pittsburgh-area home explosion reopens emotional wounds for a nearby town where six people died in a separate gas-related explosion last year. (Trib Live)

TRANSIT: As Philadelphia’s transit agency considers significant regional rail cuts that threaten the independence of disadvantaged seniors along the city’s northwest Chestnut Hill line. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

WORKFORCE: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island labor leaders hold a joint conference to push for better wages and working standards within offshore wind projects. (CT Examiner)

COMMENTARY: A New Jersey editorial board questions whether the state’s governor is getting in his own way of driving electric vehicle adoption. (Star Ledger)