Massachusetts bill could ​“eviscerate” climate progress

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EFFICIENCY

• Massachusetts lawmakers advance a bill that would weaken the state’s emissions reduction targets and cut funding for energy efficiency; opponents say the measures would effectively ​“eviscerate” years of climate progress. (Canary Media)
• The city of Somerville, Massachusetts, launches a microgrant program offering landlords up to $2,000 to help pay for energy-efficiency upgrades to their units. (news release)

ELECTRIFICATION

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul agrees to delay the implementation of a law requiring new construction to be all-electric while an appeals court considers a ruling in a lawsuit challenging the rule. (CBS News)
• Implementing the law would not cause reliability issues for the grid, a report from climate policy think tank Switchbox finds. (E&E News)
• The New York City Housing Authority signs a deal to bring 10,000 electric induction stoves to tenants in its buildings. (SILive.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Massachusetts has yet to use any of the $64 million in federal funding it was awarded to install new EV chargers and is falling behind on its goals for charging station deployment. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• Portland, Maine, gets its first public electric boat charging station. (Maine Public)

NATURAL GAS

• A former coal-burning power plant being redeveloped as a natural gas plant is ​“courting” data center customers and could have its first tenant by the end of the year. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

CLIMATE

• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro agrees to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative as part of a deal to end a four-month-long budget impasse. (WHYY)

SOLAR

• Growing distributed solar could be a bipartisan strategy for advancing climate policy in Pennsylvania, though the state’s exit from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would make it more difficult to fund such efforts. (Inside Climate News)
• The amount of solar generated annually in Maine has increased nearly tenfold since 2015, according to the state energy office. (WMTW)

GRID

• Maryland-based Constellation Energy plans to add 1 gigawatt to its demand response programs, in which customers reduce load on the grid by using backup power or reducing consumption during times of peak demand. (Utility Dive)

COMMENTARY

• Massachusetts needs to build more solar, wind, and battery storage capacity and maintain its energy efficiency programs if it is to rein in its soaring electricity rates, which are among the highest in the country, says a pair of climate advocates. (WBUR)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Chart: Carbon emissions are on a better — but not good — trajectory — Dan McCarthy
• This industrial heat pump is cheaper to run than a boiler. Yes, really. — Julian Spector
• Rising electric bills helped spur a Democratic upset in rural Virginia — Elizabeth Ouzts
• Electricity is too expensive. Here are three ways to fix that. — John Farrell