Keeping Maryland coal plants open could cost residents

COAL: A deal with grid operator PJM to keep two Maryland coal plants open past 2025, when they’re slated to be replaced with natural gas or oil, could cost ratepayers an extra $5 a month. (Baltimore Banner)

GRID:

• Replacing two of Maine’s gas-fired peaker plants with 200 MW of 4-hour battery storage would cost less over its lifetime than a new gas plant, a clean energy group finds. (Utility Dive)
• Utility provider Exelon sees room for high-density data center placement and opportunities for home electrification in Pennsylvania. (Utility Dive)
• In Connecticut, utility Eversource says it needs to quickly recover its costs for state-mandated grid upgrades to make up for falling profits. (CT Post)
• Eversource will resume utility service shutoffs across its New England territory after pausing them since 2020. (WTNH)

POLITICS:

• Vermont’s House sends a bill to the governor that would aim to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate disasters in the state, like last year’s extreme flooding. (NBC5)
• New York legislators will consider a bill to limit the cost of measures to fight climate change as their session comes to a close. (Newsday)

WIND:

• A New Jersey researcher examines how social media amplified false and misleading narratives, shaping negative opinions around Ørsted’s wind projects off the state’s coast, which were announced in 2019 and eventually canceled. (news release)
• East Coast wind turbines could diminish each others’ power output if they’re placed too close together, researchers find. (E&E News, subscription)
• A boating safety organization and Ørsted hold a workshop to help boaters prepare for the cable-laying process as the company prepares to build Revolution Wind and an underwater transmission line. (Providence Journal)

SOLAR:

• Pennsylvania will use its share of federal funding to install solar panels on 14,000 residential homes in low-income and polluted communities. (Bay Journal)
• A 10 MW solar project nears completion on a New Jersey landfill, where it will power about 1,600 homes at a reduced rate. (Patch)

EFFICIENCY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates the raising of a first wall for a net-zero home it’s building in Connecticut as part of a 10-home neighborhood. (New Haven Register)

TRANSIT:

• A newly passed Massachusetts bill allocates a portion of $200 million to regional transit authorities to buy electric vehicles and build charging infrastructure. (Telegram & Gazette)
• NJ Transit’s final sustainability plan lacks plans to pay for electric buses and charging hubs, environmental advocates say. (NJ Advance Media, subscription)

COMMENTARY:

• New England faces a complicated political and technical path as it pursues decarbonization strategies needed to fight climate change, a journalist writes. (InDepthNH)
• As grid operators reveal winter storms that brought bitter cold to the Northeast in January almost led to rolling blackouts, an energy analyst says similar information should be more easily accessible. (Utility Dive)