Massachusetts’ climate bill is finally here

CLIMATE: After months of delay, Massachusetts lawmakers finalize a climate bill that, if passed, will direct the state to update transmission permitting and mandate regulators and utilities consider alternatives when replacing gas infrastructure. (Boston Globe, CommonWealth Beacon)

ALSO: A Massachusetts bill that would provide bonds and tax incentives for climate tech development meanwhile remains in limbo. (MassLive)

HYDROGEN: The future of a hydrogen hub planned for Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia has become uncertain after five of its 15 proposed projects are canceled and development partners step away. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR:

• New York celebrates the deployment of 6 GW of distributed solar power, putting it ahead of schedule to install 10 GW by 2030. (Daily Gazette)
• An energy siting software company says optimal sites for solar and wind projects are dwindling in New York. (PV Magazine)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• New Jersey will soon end its sales tax break for electric vehicle purchases, a move advocates and automakers say will make it hard for the state to meet its goal of having 330,000 EVs registered by next year. (Asbury Park Press)
• Vermont electric vehicle owners say they’re not happy with an annual $89 fee they’ll have to pay starting next year, saying it eats into their savings on gas. (NBC5)
• Philadelphia City Council advances a bill to the mayor’s desk that would let the city fine parking lot owners who don’t keep their electric vehicle chargers working. (WHYY)

WIND: Offshore wind saw advancements in federal permitting and construction on ports and projects in the third quarter this year, but private investment has slowed in advance of the election, an industry group finds. (Utility Dive)

TRANSMISSION:

• Maine will get $65 million in federal funding for smart grid technology that will help Central Maine Power and Versant more quickly connect solar panels and wind turbines to the grid. (Portland Press Herald)
• The fight over the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project continues at a county meeting, where a commissioner says the state is overruling local property rights to secure land for the transmission line. (Baltimore Sun)

BUILDINGS: The University of Maryland, Baltimore breaks ground on what will be the first net-zero building in the Maryland university system and in downtown Baltimore. (Daily Record)

UTILITIES: Massachusetts announces a partnership with state utilities to automatically enroll public benefits recipients for gas and electric bill discounts. (State House News Service)