New Jersey approves two new offshore wind farms

OFFSHORE WIND: New Jersey regulators approve two new offshore wind farms as part of the state’s third solicitation: the 2.4 GW Leading Light and the 1.34 MW Attentive Energy 2 projects. (E&E News, Offshore Wind Biz)

ALSO:

• Ørsted says it will buy Eversource Energy’s stake in the Sunrise Wind project, assuming it receives a new power contract with New York state. (Reuters; Newsday; E&E News, subscription)
• Some Maine environmentalists are striking a new tone as they urge skeptical neighbors to see the larger climate benefits of a proposed port to build future offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. (Energy News Network)
• A former aide to New Jersey’s governor will lead a new organization, the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance. (Cape May County Herald)

POLICY: The question of how to pay for Maryland’s ​“comprehensive” climate plan is sure to be discussed during this upcoming legislative session, with no clear or easy answers in sight. (Maryland Matters)

CLIMATE:

• A bipartisan group of Maine lawmakers appear to support the creation of a $50 million fund to help small businesses recover from recent severe winter storms. (Bangor Daily News)
• Maine conservationists work to protect the state’s coastal marshes, which serve as natural storm barriers, as increasingly frequent and devastating storms wash them away. (WMTW)
• A new Dartmouth College study indicates many New England river basins have lost at least 10% of their snowpack every decade for the last 40 years. (NHPR)

MINING: A Pennsylvania nonprofit receives what is thought to be the largest grant the state has dispersed for abandoned coal mine cleanup, for a project near the Nanticoke Creek in the state’s northeast. (Bay Journal)

TRANSIT:

• Boston’s mayor supports a proposal to slash some commuter rail fares to be comparable with subway fares, though the city’s transit agency doesn’t support it. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• NJ Transit proposes raising fares by 15% starting this summer, indexed to rise an additional 3% per year — and the state’s governor says that still won’t be enough to close the agency’s $1 billion budget hole. (Politico)

SOLAR:

• Pharmacy and convenience store chain CVS Health will purchase 264,000 mWh of power from solar projects in states including Maryland. (news release)
• In New Jersey, a recently completed 1.7 MW solar array is expected to offset about a quarter of pharmaceutical multinational Bayer’s power needs at its Whippany office. (NJ Biz)