New England grid operator prepares for demand growth

GRID: ISO New England’s recent energy demand forecasts show the pace of the energy transition is faster than expected, and is weighing several changes to address potential future shortfalls. (Concord Monitor, Utility Dive)

WIND:

• Maine environmentalists disagree as to whether Sears Island, which has avoided industrialization for years, should be the future site of an offshore wind hub or if the nearby, already developed Macks Point should be used instead. (Portland Press Herald)
• Maine applies for a $456 million federal transportation grant to build an offshore wind hub at Sears Island. (Portland Press Herald)
• The Martha’s Vineyard Commission decides to allow for the laying of three power export cables in the Muskeget Channel, although further approvals are needed and some commissioners question seafloor impacts. (MV Times)
• Eight additional New Jersey towns have filed lawsuits in the past week to stop offshore wind development along the state’s coast. (Asbury Park Press)

HYDROELECTRIC:

• A former hydroelectric dam is one of two in Yarmouth, Maine, that is closer to being removed to aid in rewilding the Royal River, with federal officials presenting their plan to the town council. (Maine Monitor)
• Environmentalists prepare to argue before federal energy regulators in favor of additional fish protections at four hydroelectric dams undergoing relicensing on Maine’s Kennebec River. (Spectrum News 1)

POLICY:

• With Vermont poised to make major fossil fuel companies pay for climate disasters, officials and scientists will need to decide who pays and how much is owed. (Grist)
• Some New York environmental groups say they will campaign against lawmakers who don’t vote for the NY Heat Act. (City & State)

NUCLEAR: New York’s governor is reportedly wondering about the feasibility of bringing small modular nuclear reactors to the state. (E&E News, subscription)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• Pennsylvania’s Stonycreek River was once heavily polluted by coal mining acid drainage but is now a regional jewel for whitewater rafting and tourism revenue. (Trib Live)
• Officials in Brookfield, Connecticut, ask top state officials for help in blocking a planned natural gas compressor station expansion near homes and a middle school. (New Haven Register)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Four grant-funded electric school buses in Winthrop, Maine, have been deemed inoperable despite months of being serviced by the supplier. (Kennebec Journal)
• A Vermont lumberyard purchases the state’s first two outdoor electric forklifts with state rebates, projecting $8,000 annual fuel savings on each compared to the previously used diesel models. (WCAX)

TRANSPORTATION: A federal judge presiding over one of the lawsuits against the Manhattan traffic congestion pricing plan questions the argument that the tolls are just a cash grab. (Gothamist)