Maryland tackles energy affordability

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AFFORDABILITY

• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signs a law aimed at lowering customers’ energy bills by curbing utility rate forecasting and limiting the use of customer dollars for utility executive salaries. (Maryland Matters)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Pennsylvania incentivizes mid-sized solar arrays that could help the state meet rising power demand, but developers say an ongoing debate with utilities and regulators over unclear rules is holding the industry back. (Canary Media)

• A bill to establish rules for balcony solar systems passes both New Hampshire legislative houses, making the state the seventh to send the measure to its governor’s desk. (PV Magazine)

• Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) proposes including nuclear and large hydropower in the state’s Renewable Energy Standard and capping virtual net metering to 125 MW — moves that advocates say would have dubious impact on lowering prices while moving the state further from its climate goals. (EcoRI)

BUILDINGS

• A New York City real estate giant is reducing its gas and electricity use with help from startup Parity, which uses temperature sensors installed in three buildings to adjust their heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning controls. (Canary Media)

• Amazon signs a multiyear contract with Massachusetts-based rooftop heat pump startup Transaera, but declines to say how many of the emissions-free units it bought or where it’ll install them. (Canary Media)

• Pittsburgh says its buildings have reduced their emissions by 56% since 2012, putting the city ahead of schedule on its goal of cutting emissions between 50% and 65% by 2030. (WESA)

GRID

• PJM Interconnection officials once again face criticism from state leaders at their latest meeting over affordability and reliability concerns, with Maryland’s Moore saying the grid operator ​“failed to get ahead of” the data center boom. (E&E News)

• Constellation Energy says it has 5 GW of projects in PJM’s generation queue, including nuclear uprates, gas generation, and battery storage. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR

• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announces plans to add 5 MW of solar panels at Newark Liberty International Airport. (news release)

• Clean energy advocates find Massachusetts is highly suited for solar and battery storage deployment, but these facilities remain inaccessible to environmental justice neighborhoods without financial support. (S&P Global)

UTILITIES

• Con Edison says it’s planning more than $29 billion in New York City-area grid upgrades to accommodate increasing electrification. (Utility Dive)

• Connecticut’s Supreme Court sends a challenge from Eversource back to a lower court, which will determine whether the utility can immediately move to recover charges from repairing storm damage incurred in 2017 and 2018. (CT Insider)

WIND

• After months spent interviewing residents in three offshore wind hubs in Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts, researchers find communities are excited by the project’s economic promise but are unsure the boom will last once construction is finished. (NBC Connecticut)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Philadelphia Gas Commission approves $213 million for Philadelphia Gas Works’ 2027 budget, but for the second time tables a decision on whether to let the utility spend $182 million to replace a gas liquifier. (WHYY)

DATA CENTERS

• Pennsylvania utility PPL Electric says it has 28.3 GW of data centers in its pipeline that are anticipated to come online by 2034, up from 25.3 GW just three months ago, and says those projects will pay the utility for work done even if they don’t come to fruition. (Utility Dive)

HYDROPOWER

• President Donald Trump signs a bill that will let FERC give recently relicensed hydropower projects more time to start construction, a move that could aid facilities across the Northeast. (E&E News)