Maine eyes time-of-use rates to encourage cheaper home electrification

UTILITIES: Maine is considering new kinds of electric rates to encourage more widespread home adoption of electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps while easing the strain these technologies add to the power grid. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: The future of Maine utilities reform is murky after voters rejected a plan to form a publicly owned power company, but one state lawmaker wants to implement performance-based ratemaking to increase standards. (Portland Press Herald)

POLITICS: Backers of Maine’s new voter-approved ban on foreign electioneering hope it will be a model for other states, despite resistance from business groups. (Maine Public)

FOSSIL FUELS: A voluntary agreement between Pennsylvania’s governor and a fracking company to follow safety reforms discomfits some environmentalists who say the action is just good PR for the company. (Capital & Main)

SOLAR:

• A Maryland county rejects a proposal to develop a roughly 7.5 MW solar farm on agricultural land despite a planning board concluding it would have no adverse impacts on neighboring properties. (The Dispatch)
• After five years of effort, a woman living at a Connecticut retirement center convinces the facility to adopt rooftop solar and solar carports. (New York Times)
• A Massachusetts historic district disallows a homeowner from installing solar panels visible from the roadside on his house, raising questions around who can block such infrastructure. (CAI)
• A New Jersey solar company announces plans to hire over 100 new employees in 2024. (NJ Biz)

GRID: ISO New England wants an extra year to host its next forward capacity auction to give it more time to assess and update its accreditation policies. (Utility Dive)

TRANSIT: Although New Jersey is suing New York City over its traffic congestion tolling plan, a recent assessment shows the Jersey Turnpike expansion plan would push hundreds more cars into the city per hour. (Streetsblog)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• New York City’s public housing authority proposes new e-bike storage regulations for its facilities, offering a less stringent alternative to its previous plan of banning the bikes entirely. (The City)
• Ben & Jerry’s swaps two of its diesel-fueled, tractor trailer-moving trucks at their St. Alban’s, Vermont, factory for electric models. (WCAX)

OFFSHORE WIND: In New York, workers finish installing the power transmission cable for Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork wind farm. (news release)

CLIMATE: A newly established, New York-focused climate solutions research and workforce development organization hires its first chief executive, who describes the urgency of the climate crisis but says the group hasn’t yet chosen a central issue to focus on. (New York Times)

COMMENTARY: A Maryland editorial board writes that by restricting the number of back-up diesel generators a proposed data center could have, state utility regulators dimmed Maryland’s tech future without taking meaningful climate action. (Baltimore Sun)