Massachusetts to launch new electric vehicle rebates this summer

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New electric vehicle rebates are expected to become available in Massachusetts in early summer, some nine months after lawmakers passed a bill calling for the incentives’ immediate implementation. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: In a $25.7 million deal, New Jersey will install 240 new electric vehicle chargers at rest stops along two state turnpike routes. (NJ Advance Media)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council decides to hold off for two more weeks before making a key decision on the Revolution Wind project. (Providence Journal, subscription)
• Federal ocean energy officials take a first step toward bringing offshore wind projects to the Gulf of Maine with a new call for information to understand commercial interest and public sentiment. (Offshore Wind BIZ)
• Park City Wind sues the conservation commission of Edgartown, Massachusetts, over its decision to block the company’s plan to install offshore wind cables in municipal waters. (Vineyard Gazette)

OIL & GAS:
• Federal regulators deny a permit extension to the company developing a 200-mile-long liquefied natural gas pipeline from northeast Pennsylvania to southern New Jersey. (WHYY)
• New York officials say the city’s air has gotten a lot cleaner in the past decade partly because of reduced heating oil usage, but the city still has room for progress. (Gothamist)
• Pennsylvania natural gas production declined by two percentage points in 2022 in part due to regional pipeline constraints. (Williamsport Sun-Gazette)

SOLAR:
• A Massachusetts lawmaker refiles a bill to require that new and renovated roofs on residential and commercial buildings are able to support solar panel installation. (Spectrum News 1)
• The water utility of Acton, Massachusetts, plans to install a 1.5 MW solar array and a 2 MWh battery storage system. (news release)

GRID:
• A developer wants to pay up to $450,000 to Rutland, Massachusetts, to secure an easement under the Black River, where it will lay a power line to support a 125 MW solar farm. (NNY360)
• Rhode Island Energy says intermittent power outages near East Bay are caused by nesting ospreys, which the state is now working to relocate. (WPRI)

CLIMATE: Federal officials grant $5.1 million to Maine for climate change, ecosystem protection, marine debris and aquaculture projects. (Mainebiz)

AFFORDABILITY:
• Two Connecticut lawmakers want state regulators to extend a utility shutoff moratorium through October 2023 to help residents in need keep receiving financial support until the annual winter shut-off program begins. (WSHU)
• State utility regulators say Connecticut Natural Gas overcharged customers by $8 million, but a planned bill credit will only cover half that amount while utility shareholders are slated to keep the other half. (CT Insider)

COMMENTARY: National Grid New England’s president writes about how he ​“sees promise” in the future of geothermal heating and cooling in the utility’s service territory. (CommonWealth Magazine)