Maryland coal plant gets federal boost

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Trump administration announces plans to invest $700 million in facilities to bolster the struggling coal industry, including money to recommission an out-of-use power plant in Maryland. (New York Times, Maryland Matters)

• The New Jersey state legislature advances a bill that would require fossil fuel companies to pay the state $50 billion in compensation for damages caused by climate change. (New Jersey Monitor)

ELECTRIFICATION

• Massachusetts is yet to install a single EV charger using $64 million in federal funds it was awarded for that purpose four years ago: ​“The slowness of adoption here is mystifying.” (CommonWealth Beacon)

GRID

• Google announces plans to fund a 100-MW virtual power plant in the PJM Interconnection region, with the goal of creating a ​“scalable blueprint” for dealing with data center demand. (Utility Dive)

• Massachusetts is among the states working on policies to create virtual power plants that would reduce strain on the grid. (Inside Climate News)

NUCLEAR

• If the proposed merger between energy giants NextEra and Dominion is approved, the resulting company will own all of the nuclear generation capacity in New England. (CT Mirror)

DATA CENTERS

• The New York state legislature passes a one-year moratorium on data center development to give the state time to determine what regulations are needed on energy and water use. (News 10)

• Maine’s newly created data center advisory council meets for the first time to start the work of evaluating the possible benefits and drawbacks of data center development. (Maine Morning Star)

UTILITIES

• Utilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other states are failing to share data that would allow customers to participate in demand response programs that would pay them for adjusting their power use at moments of high demand. (Canary Media)

• The Ithaca, New York, city council asks the state attorney general to investigate two utilities, arguing that their financial status does not justify the sizable rate hikes they have proposed. (Ithaca Voice)

• A New York state lawmaker introduces a bill she says would save consumers money by creating a new regional power authority to replace the current utility, Central Hudson. (News 10)

SOLAR

• The Philadelphia City Council considers a proposal to build a 1.5-MW solar array at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, an installation that could allow the facility to run entirely on renewable energy. (Philadelphia Inquirer)