Maine faces lawsuit for failing to adopt EV mandates

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A pending youth climate lawsuit in Maine represents the latest iteration of legal strategies aimed at holding states accountable for emissions-cutting targets, specifically electric vehicle policies. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

• The U.S. Department of Transportation awards the Oneida Indian Nation $12.8 million to install 52 electric vehicle fast chargers along Interstate 90 in New York. (State of Politics)
• While electric vehicles save drivers money, a new report finds those savings are the smallest in Massachusetts. (Boston Globe)

GRID:

• A National Grid plan to upgrade and build new transmission infrastructure across New York is set to cost more than $4 billion, but even more projects will be needed to address electrification and increased demand. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A Vermont state agency begins seeking applicants for its grant program offering municipalities up to $500,000 to implement their energy resilience plans. (news release)

SOLAR:

• In Maryland, a developer begins building a 2.9 MW community solar project in Fulton that is expected to be operational in the first half of 2025. (Daily Record)
• A solar developer partners with a family farm in New York to graze sheep at a 3.6 MW array in Constable. (news release)

NUCLEAR: The company decommissioning the Pilgrim nuclear power plant appeals the state decision that it cannot dump one million gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Cape Cod Bay. (Cape Cod Times)

UTILITIES: Cape Light Compact wants the state to allow it to expand its energy efficiency program amid high demand for electrification. (CapeCod.com)

AFFORDABILITY:

• Connecticut Republicans call for a special session of the state legislature to address utility bills; Democrats say they are pandering to voters with a plan that doesn’t make sense. (CT Mirror)
• Pennsylvania utility PECO wants to raise power delivery rates just before an expected capacity price hike, but businesses, consumer advocates and state agencies are trying to trim the sought-after increase. (Billy Penn)

TRANSPORTATION: Philadelphia’s transit agency shows off the components of its transportation emissions reduction plan at a zero-emission bus conference hosted in the city, its first time on the East Coast. (WHYY)

COMMENTARY:

• A senior policy director with Maine Conservation Voters writes how the Inflation Reduction Act has ​“made it more feasible than ever to develop large-scale renewable energy projects” needed to reach the state’s renewable energy goal. (Portland Press Herald)
• In New Jersey, the Garden State Institute’s president describes the financial and planning lessons that the state’s offshore wind projects can learn from the recent Nantucket turbine failure. (Daily Record)