New Hampshire coal plant fails to retake emissions test again

COAL: The last operating coal plant in New England failed an emissions test almost a year ago, and has tried and failed four times to retake the test since October. (NHPR)

SOLAR:

• A split zoning board pushes off a long-awaited decision over whether a developer can build a 7.5 MW solar farm in Lenox, Massachusetts, that’s facing opposition from neighbors. (Berkshire Eagle)
• A Massachusetts dairy farm’s trouble connecting its solar array to the grid underscores major interconnection problem encumbering hundreds of megawatts worth of projects in the state. (Boston Globe)
• A Pennsylvania county mulls a new solar development and operation ordinance as it anticipates growing demand for solar projects within its borders. (Daily Review)

FLOODS:

• New climate research shows residents are increasingly abandoning neighborhoods with heightened flood risk, including in Maine’s Waldo County. (Bangor Daily News)
• Efficiency Vermont is paying bonuses to contractors prioritizing projects to restore heat in homes still struggling to recover from last summer’s floods. (NBC 5)

AFFORDABILITY:

• Maryland utility regulators allow Baltimore Gas & Electric to implement a roughly $408 million rate hike over three years. (CBS Baltimore)
• Liberty Utilities joins two other investor-owned utilities in New Hampshire by slashing its power supply rate, but frustration mounts over the utility’s $21 million distribution rate hike proposal. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

NUCLEAR: The Massachusetts Medical Society wants state officials to analyze the potential health consequences of the Pilgrim nuclear plant’s decommissioning process. (State House News Service)

TRANSIT: A group of 34 advocacy groups come out in support of New York’s Manhattan congestion tolling plan, asking a federal judge to dismiss New Jersey’s lawsuit challenging the plan. (NJ Advance Media)

UTILITIES: New York State Electric & Gas will begin installing smart meters next month for around 190,000 western New York power customers. (WGRZ)

BUILDINGS: Around $250,000 in federal rural energy development funds are being directed to New Hampshire and Vermont towns for energy efficiency projects. (WCAX)

COMMENTARY: Maryland’s comptroller explains why she needs to consider climate risk in the state’s investment portfolio as U.S. lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at preventing fiduciaries from factoring climate into decisions. (Baltimore Sun)