Maine utilities fight foreign electioneering ban

UTILITIES: Maine’s two largest utilities join the state’s two primary press groups to sue the state over the foreign electioneering ban passed via referendum, citing First Amendment concerns. (Bangor Daily News)

POLICY:

• As he nears one full year in office, observers review the governor of Pennsylvania’s progress and policies on energy issues like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and hydrogen hub development. (Spotlight PA)
• The head of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association tells state lawmakers that his organization opposes updating the state renewable energy portfolio standard, passed in 1994. (Pennsylvania Business Report)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• Dozens of New York lawmakers tell the state governor to block a pipeline company from increasing the capacity of a gas line running from Canada to New York City. (City Limits)
• Environmental organizations suing New Hampshire’s only coal plant for violating its discharge permit lose their case as a state judge finds the groups lacked evidence. (NHPR)

GRID:

• PJM Interconnection authorizes around $5 billion in transmission projects to support data center developments and power plant closures. (Utility Dive)
• Two mid-Atlantic subsidiaries of FirstLight had over $800 million in transmission projects approved by PJM Interconnection, including in Maryland and Pennsylvania. (news release)

SOLAR: Pennsylvania officials announce that the state’s alternative energy portfolio standard program now has notched over 1 GW of solar generation, enough electricity to power Pittsburgh. (news release, WTAJ)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New Jersey state senators advance a bill to use $15 million for the first year of an electric school bus pilot program. (RTO Insider, subscription)

TRANSIT:

• New York City’s transit agency looks to overhaul bus service in the Queens borough, where reliability is currently around 73%, by reducing turns on some routes while expanding others. (NBC New York)
• As New York City prepares to roll out its traffic congestion tolling plan, police are writing a lot more tickets for vehicles with illegal plates, anticipating a surge in such ​“ghost cars” to evade the new fees. (Gothamist)
• Massachusetts’ governor warns cities and towns in suburban Boston not to disregard an urban planning law focused on building more multi-family housing near public transit stops if they want continued state funding. (WBUR)

WORKFORCE: New York kicks off a new, $45 million clean energy training and apprenticeship program to ​“develop a diverse and inclusive pipeline of skilled talent” for the worker-hungry sector. (news release)