Massachusetts expands pathbreaking vehicle electrification program

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Massachusetts is in the process of tripling the size of its first-in-the-nation vehicle fleet electrification program following a recent influx of federal money. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

• A proposed climate law in Massachusetts includes several measures to support electric vehicle drivers, including the legalization of utility pole-mounted chargers. (Boston Globe)
• Burlington, Vermont, adds five electric buses to its public transportation fleet. (NBC 5)

GRID:

• New England’s grid operator issued a low-level emergency Wednesday after some power plants failed to deliver electricity amid a heat wave. (Portland Press Herald)
• An energy developer wants to build a 700 MW battery energy storage system at a former oil depot in Everett, Massachusetts, which it says could come online in 2027. (Energy Storage News)
• Federal energy officials add a 60-mile stretch between eastern New York and Massachusetts’ Berkshires area that connects New York and New England’s grids to a list of weak transmission corridors in need of a boost. (Berkshire Eagle)
• As Massachusetts’ utility agency approves Eversource’s Cape Cod grid upgrade plan, several solar projects on the island left waiting for interconnection see a path to connect. (Vineyard Gazette)

SOLAR:

• New Jersey’s community solar program is tapping into unused warehouse rooftop space to provide local capacity; the program currently has around 20,000 subscribers but expects to add 60,000 more by mid-2025. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Rhode Island’s governor signs into law new policies intended to protect residential consumers from deceptive solar sales tactics, instating new regulations on solar retailers. (WPRI)
• A developer plans to build a 4.58 MW solar array on scrubland owned by a landscaping company along the Merrimack River in Concord, New Hampshire. (Concord Monitor)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• Federal regulators reject Talen Energy’s request to pass on over $774 million in costs related to keeping two fossil fuel-fired power plants in Maryland online to meet grid needs. (Baltimore Sun)
• Pennsylvania’s utility commission says it collected roughly $100 million less in gas well impact fees in 2023 than it did in 2022, leaving beneficiary communities with fewer funds for municipal services. (Trib Live)

PIPELINES: Two conservation groups push back on plans to lay a gas pipeline on state game land in Pennsylvania’s Lycoming County, crossing trails, streams and a wetland. (Penn Live Patriot-News)

POLICY:

• Massachusetts’ senate will vote today on a bill that would streamline the energy infrastructure permitting process while requiring new community-focused standards and consideration of new-build alternatives. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• New York passed a major climate law five years ago — but only a handful of the deadlines and mandates have been completely achieved. (New York Focus)

UTILITIES:

• A major credit ratings agency downgrades the outlook to negative for Eversource’s Connecticut utility because of the ​“inconsistent and unpredictable regulatory environment” it faces in the state. (Hartford Courant)
• Data center developers are talking with utilities and energy companies — including New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group and Baltimore-based Constellation Energy — to purchase existing or new nuclear power to energize their facilities. (Utility Dive)
• National Grid wants to raise New York ratepayers’ monthly power bills by 15%, partially citing the need for more staff and resources to comply with the state’s climate laws. (Times Union)

AFFORDABILITY: Maryland’s consumer advocate files an emergency petition with the state’s utility commission requesting a pause in power shut-offs until mid-September, citing extreme heat. (Baltimore Sun)

BUILDINGS: In New York, a state-backed project works to retrofit a 17-story lower Manhattan office building to heat and cool with heat pumps and capture typically wasted thermal energy. (Canary Media)