Massachusetts to follow California on gasoline car ban

TRANSPORTATION: All new cars sold in Massachusetts must be powered by electricity or hydrogen by 2035, a state policy triggered by a California law enacting the same measure. (NBC Boston)

ALSO:
• In Newark, New Jersey, some residents track the number of trucks coming through certain intersections to show how much air pollution impacts their communities. (New Jersey Monitor)
• Federal officials grant $2 million to a small southern Maine transit system to buy two electric buses. (News Center Maine)

FOSSIL FUELS:
• An investigation concludes that poor ventilation caused a methane gas build-up that led to the CSX coal silo explosion in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay in 2021, company officials tell the city’s council. (Baltimore Sun)
• In Philadelphia, officials say a Delaware River oil spill happened when a city contractor was replacing and extending an old wooden pipe. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Pennsylvania regulators authorize Philadelphia Gas Works to more quickly upgrade its old, leaky gas distribution system and add a related utility bill surcharge. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• As offshore wind projects develop off the New York coast, a Staten Island newspaper explains how the power is generated and the supply chain needed to build such facilities. (SI Live)

GRID:
• A New York town considers a 60 MW battery energy storage facility next to a Long Island Power Authority substation in an industrial zone, the second such project proposed for the area in recent weeks. (Riverhead Local)
• Dozens of transmission proposals are being considered by New Jersey regulators to connect massive amounts of expected offshore wind power to the state’s population centers. (NJ Spotlight)
• Maine’s Isle au Haut Electric Power Co. receives over $300,000 in state funds to replace a decades-old underwater power cable with one that is both higher capacity and transmits fiber optic broadband. (Mainebiz)

EFFICIENCY: A western Maine town hosts state, municipal and nonprofit officials who want to see how the ​“model town” has implemented clean energy and efficiency projects that punch above its weight. (Advertiser Democrat)

AFFORDABILITY: Connecticut regulators say a utility shut-off moratorium initially instituted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will end in May. (CT Post)

UTILITIES: PSEG scores relatively low in a J.D. Power survey over its customers’ understanding and approval of green energy initiatives. (Newsday)