Feds greenlight merger of energy giants

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

GENERATION

• Maryland-based energy giant Constellation agrees to sell off four of its generation assets in the Mid-Atlantic states in order to receive federal approval for its planned acquisition of power company Calpine. (Reuters)

GEOTHERMAL

• New Haven, Connecticut, breaks ground on the state’s first publicly owned geothermal network, which will use the earth’s thermal energy to heat and cool its busy train station and 1,000 apartments under development nearby. (Canary Media)

AFFORDABILITY

• Rising gas and electricity bills in Massachusetts can be traced to increasing costs for maintaining, upgrading, repairing, and expanding the infrastructure that delivers fuel and power to customers. (Boston Globe)

• As plans for a 1.2-gigawatt data center in Delaware progress, lawmakers, regulators, and consumer advocates look for ways to soften the possible impact on residents’ power bills. (Delaware Public Media)

CLIMATE

• Though Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race by focusing on cost-of-living concerns, there are signs that climate change and clean energy could play a significant role in his administration. (E&E News)

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent decisions on a gas pipeline project and a polluting power plant suggest she is abandoning the state’s climate goals in the face of fossil fuel-industry lobbying, say state lawmakers, rival politicians, and environmental advocates. (Ithaca.com)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Outgoing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s ambitious energy master plan calls for 100% clean power use by 2035, but faces headwinds from growing data center demand and federal barriers to offshore wind development. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• Philadelphia signs an agreement to buy power from an under-development solar installation, which will bring the city’s municipal renewable energy use up to 36% of its total consumption. (WHYY)

• Residents of a Maryland town object to a proposed 37-acre community solar installation, even as the state enacts policies to promote more solar development with the aim of lowering energy prices. (Baltimore Sun)

• The Board of Health in a small Massachusetts town joins the Select Board in voting against a plan for a commercial solar development in a residential district. (Berkshire Edge)

UTILITIES

• Gas and electric Eversource customers in Massachusetts will receive a total of $45 million in bill credits following a settlement with the state attorney general’s office resolving several outstanding dockets. (news release)

COMMENTARY

• Massachusetts’ energy affordability problems will be solved not by increasing dependence on natural gas, but by reining in utilities’ corporate profits and helping low-income households and landlords switch to efficient electric systems, an environmental advocate says. (CommonWealth Beacon)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Duke Energy wants to spend on battery incentives to save on power plants — Elizabeth Ouzts

• Trump admin invests $800M in latest move to bolster US nuclear industry — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Delayed heating assistance kicks off a winter of energy challenges — Kathryn Krawczyk