New York picks 1.4 GW wind farm in latest solicitation

WIND: New York regulators choose a 1.4 GW wind farm pitched by Attentive Energy One as part of the state’s third offshore wind solicitation that will help close the Ravenswood Generating Station. (news release)

ALSO:

• A developer decides not to pursue an onshore wind farm in New York over the number of unplugged oil and gas wells in the area and proximity of a federal defense flyover zone. (Olean Times Herald)
• Rhode Island says the Revolution Wind project has already created 100 new local union construction jobs. (Providence Business News)

UTILITIES: New York regulators accept a plan to make the Long Island Power Authority a completely public utility; the proposal must also be approved by the state legislature and governor. (News 12)

BUILDINGS:

• Boston’s mayor says the city still intends to become a fossil fuel-free city even if it won’t continue to try enrolling in the state’s small pilot to ban fossil fuels new buildings. (Boston Globe)
• Because it can’t enroll in the state’s efficiency program, a small Massachusetts utility experiments with paying most of the upfront cost of upgrading customers to electric heat pumps and using the savings to pay itself back. (Boston Globe)
• Yale University experiments with regenerative building design on an island off the coast of Connecticut. (New Haven Independent)

GRID:

• Unity, Maine, voters adopt a temporary moratorium on new high-voltage transmission lines in response to mounting opposition against the Aroostook Renewable Gateway wind farm and power line. (Morning Sentinel)
• The developers behind a proposed 1.2 GW transmission line running from Canada through Vermont and New Hampshire say they will give $20 million to support economic development along the project route. (VT Digger)

TRANSIT: Amtrak begins work on a $550 million renovation of Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, including an upgraded steam heat system and building efficiency measures. (Billy Penn)

SOLAR: A Pennsylvania township debates how to balance solar development and environmental remediation efforts at a former coal mine. (WPSU)

POLICY:

• Pennsylvania Democrats try to support the priorities of both of the parties’ traditionally staunchest allies: labor unions and environmentalists. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Vermont takes a small step toward potentially creating a clean heat standard as state utility regulators choose the members of two related advisory groups. (VT Digger)
• The Maryland Energy Administration looks to boost equity within the state’s energy plans by tapping into a new federal program. (Delmarva Now)

NUCLEAR: A Maine town may sue the state’s environmental protection agency over tax breaks for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility that would threaten about a fifth of the town budget. (Maine Monitor)