New Hampshire town questions future after coal plant

FOSSIL FUELS: Bow, New Hampshire, questions what will eventually replace the town’s aging coal plant failing to meet environmental standards — and whether whatever comes next will fill the expected gap in tax revenue. (Christian Science Monitor)

ALSO: A New York appellate court decides a lawsuit may proceed that was brought by environmentalists against the state’s utility commission over its decision allowing a cryptominer to buy a North Tonawanda gas-fired power plan. (Buffalo News)

GRID: Connecticut regulators approve the first round of pilot projects in a new program aimed at testing innovative hardware and software to decarbonize the electric grid. (Energy News Network)

BUILDINGS:

• Rome, New York, celebrates the completion of the state’s first carbon-neutral public housing complex following a $40 million renovation of an existing facility. (Utica Observer Dispatch)
• A New York City public housing pilot project currently underway shows promise in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making apartments more comfortable through window-mounted heat pumps. (Associated Press)
• A Rhode Island program to subsidize the replacement of residences’ propane- and heating oil-based systems with electric heat pumps has so far provided little funding to low-income households. (ecoRI)

NUCLEAR: Amazon Web Services buys a Pennsylvania nuclear-powered data center campus for $650 million from Talen Energy, with plans to boost the campus’s capacity to 960 MW. (news release)

FUEL CELLS: The developer of a 20 MW fuel cell project in New Britain, Connecticut, says the $80 million project could be online and pushing power to the grid by early May. (CT Insider)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Blink Charging will site both its new global corporate headquarters and a planned 30,000-square-foot, energy-efficient production plant in Bowie, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., to ​“support the company’s global vision.” (news release)
• Beta Technologies installs electric plane and car chargers at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport as it reportedly gets closer to rolling out small electric planes. (Concord Monitor)

INCINERATION: Maryland environmentalists want the state to end significant subsidies to its trash incineration plants but worry there isn’t enough political will or interest to make the change. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE: Maine and New Hampshire saw significant flooding over the weekend as a strong storm swept through the region, marking the states’ fourth flooding event since December. (Washington Post)

SOLAR:

• In New York, a Hudson River town considers allowing a power developer to clear-cut 13 acres of trees to build a 5 MW solar array. (Rockland County Business Journal)
• A Maryland developer buys an 18.5 MW portfolio of Vermont solar projects contracted to deliver power to several utilities in the state. (news release)