NH energy official says community power solar bill needs more vetting

SOLAR: New Hampshire’s legislature fails to pass a bill to allow community power programs to use up to 5 MW of local solar projects after a state energy official writes that the measure ​“needs more thorough vetting.” (NHPR)

ALSO:

• A huge solar project planned for Canton, New York, appears to be on track for state approval. (NNY360)
• A Pennsylvania township’s cheap farmland and grid interconnection potential are attracting many project applications despite some residents’ displeasure and shifting zoning rules. (Sharon Herald)
• New York’s energy development agency signs memoranda of understanding with two counties to develop dozens of acres of solar on airfield and landfill properties. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• With both United Illuminating and Eversource now pausing their involvement in Connecticut’s electric vehicle charging plan over the state regulatory environment, the state’s governor tries cooling tensions between the utilities and regulators. (Hartford Courant)
• Connecticut issues conditional awards for developers to install electric vehicle chargers at nine spots along its interstate highways, although three intended charging zones received no eligible bids. (Hartford Courant)

PIPELINES: A federal circuit court denies the argument of an environmental group that federal energy regulators didn’t appropriately account for emissions or New York law when they approved a pipeline expansion project in that state and Pennsylvania. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)

GAS: A top Massachusetts lawmaker prepares a bill that would require consideration of less costly or polluting alternatives before authorization of new gas service extensions. (Boston Herald)

GRID:

• A federal appeals court upholds an earlier federal approval of the New York grid operator’s updated power plant amortization rule, which advocates and state regulators say would annually cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Duquesne Light Company finishes another phase of a transmission reliability project between Pittsburgh and several nearby townships, work that is expected to continue into 2027. (news release)

POLICY:

• Maryland’s senate president is now a top executive at a commercial- and industrial-scale solar company, leaving observers to question whether solar will become more of a policy priority. (Maryland Matters)
• New Hampshire’s governor signs 51 bills into law, including ones related to the state’s energy fund and studying various impacts of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. (news release)

TRANSIT:

• Federal highway officials approve New York City’s traffic congestion tolling program as expected despite the governor’s pause of the plan, which the city transit agency’s outgoing chief says could lead to subway failures. (NBC New York, Gothamist)
• Maryland’s Montgomery County kicks off construction of a new bus depot that will accommodate 200 either electric or hydrogen fuel cell buses, with another slated to power over 100 more. (DC News Now)

CARBON CAPTURE: A Portland ocean carbon removal startup shuts down and lays off its employees, with its chief executive saying the voluntary carbon credits market had shrunk too much in recent months for the firm to stay afloat. (Portland Press Herald)

BATTERIES: New Hampshire legislators send a bill to the governor’s desk that would ban lithium-ion batteries from being disposed in regular trash to cut down on landfill fires. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

WIND: The first American-built offshore wind service operations vessel is unveiled in Providence, Rhode Island, to work on the nearby Revolution wind project. (WPRI)