New Jersey breaks solar installations record in 2019

SOLAR: New Jersey installed a record 447 MW of new solar capacity in 2019 as developers rushed to finish projects before expiring incentives wound down. (NJ Spotlight)

GRID: Massachusetts finalizes rules for the Clean Peak Standard intended to promote clean energy adoption during the most expensive hours of electricity production. (Greentech Media)

OIL AND GAS: A Massachusetts court orders Columbia Gas to expedite lump sum payments to victims of a 2018 pipeline explosion with the first round of checks to be sent by mid-May. (WHDH)

OFFSHORE WIND: Federal and academic researchers study the movements of spawning cod off Massachusetts in waters designated as potential offshore wind development areas. (Cape Cod Times)

NUCLEAR: The Seabrook nuclear plant in New Hampshire is operating with limited staff during the coronavirus outbreak, with federal regulators doing some of their inspections remotely. (Eagle-Tribune)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• An Audubon chapter involved in reviews of several New York wind projects opposes a state move to expedite environmental reviews of clean energy development. (WIVT)
• Thirteen communities in New York’s Capital Region now participate in community choice aggregation programs. (WNYT)

COAL: A Pennsylvania order to shut down ​“non-life sustaining” businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic includes the state’s coal mines. (Bloomberg)

CLIMATE: Climate legislation stalls in Maryland, including a bill to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as the legislature wraps up an abbreviated session caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Southern Maryland Chronicle)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New York dedicates $24 million of its more than $127 million share of the Volkwagen emissions settlement funds for electric buses. (Electrive.com)

COMMENTARY:
• The Sierra Club says a proposed law in New York is needed to break a logjam in clean energy projects and implement the state’s emissions reductions targets. (Buffalo News)
• Vermont Audubon says the state is fortunate to have vast forests available to reduce greenhouse gases and must manage the resource wisely. (Rutland Herald)