Few low-income New Yorkers receive solar subsidies

SOLAR: A think tank’s new report finds that New York has given very few state subsidies to low-income families for solar panel installations. (Gothamist)

ALSO:

• Princeton University plans to install 2.2 MW of rooftop and canopy-mounted solar on its campus, while Northeastern University completes a small rooftop array on its library. (PV Magazine)
• Pennsylvania’s Penn Township looks to tweak its solar installation ordinance to look more like other local towns’ rules in response to a commercial solar proposal. (Penn-Trafford Star)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• Pennsylvania lawmakers will consider legislation that will remove disclosure exemptions for chemicals used in fracking. (Lehigh Valley Live)
• A Philadelphia-area petroleum refinery is among three polluters that must now comply with new U.S. EPA rules around hazardous air pollution. (WHYY)

BUILDINGS:

• Federal officials will spend $3.7 million to improve stormwater and heat island management at a federal building and its surrounding area in Newark, New Jersey. (NJ Advance Media)
• As a real estate redevelopment firm plans to remediate the site of what was once the East Coast’s largest oil refinery, community activists want the site to have a more sustainable future. (CNN)

• Maryland advocates say lawmakers failed to make much climate progress this legislative session and, in some cases, took steps backward, such as approving an amendment blocking a building emissions reduction tool. (Maryland Matters)
• A clean home tech showcase in Washington, D.C., is one of the latest examples of how demonstration fairs are helping people better understand their options. (Washington Post)
• About 700 people attended Vermont’s largest energy technology fair in Duxbury, which highlighted greener products and available subsidies. (NBC 5)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• This summer, Massachusetts plans to spend $4.5 million to issue grants of up to $1,200 to help low-to-moderate-income households purchase e-bikes. (Streetsblog)
• New York City fire officials arrest an e-bike shop owner for selling illegal, uncertified batteries, the city’s first criminal charges related to battery law violations. (The City)
• Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s school district kicks off an electric school bus pilot program with two all-electric models. (Lehigh Valley Live)
• Tesla celebrates the grand opening of a new showroom in South Burlington, Vermont, its first in the state. (WCAX)

RENEWABLE ENERGY:

• Greenwich, Connecticut officials pass a nonbinding resolution encouraging town offices to incorporate renewable energy when possible amid trouble getting support for geothermal projects. (New Haven Register)
• Federal agriculture officials grant over $7 million to rural farms and businesses in Maine for renewable energy and efficiency projects, including a solar array in Belfast. (Maine Wire)