NYC bans gas in new buildings, becoming largest U.S. city to do so

GAS: The New York City council bans gas hookups for cooking and heating in new buildings or gut renovations, becoming the largest American city to do so; the mayor is expected to let the policy become law. (The City)

ALSO:
• Republicans in the Pennsylvania House don’t have the votes to pass a resolution to temporarily stop the state from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. (Associated Press)
• National Grid will blend natural gas and hydrogen energy to heat 800 homes in a Long Island town, one of the first projects of its kind in the country. (Newsday)

GRID:
• A Maine judge says he’ll quickly make a decision on whether the law approved by voters that blocks Central Maine Power’s transmission expansion corridor is constitutional. (State House News Service)
• Opponents of Central Maine Power’s transmission corridor expansion are concerned a provision of the new federal infrastructure package may let the federal government circumvent state decisions on grid expansions and revive the suspended project. (Bangor Daily News)
• A PJM Interconnection report on the grid operator’s evolving energy mix underscores that its ​“reliability standards must evolve,” among other key reliability takeaways. (news release)

SOLAR:
• A central New York town still doesn’t have representation on a siting board considering a 200 MW solar farm in its municipal boundaries, despite nominating two board members over a year ago. (The Citizen)
• A Maine planning board approves a 7.5 MW solar farm at the Augusta State Airport after developers and state officials eliminated the need for overhead power lines at a recreation area. (Kennebec Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Maine is on track to meet its electric vehicle adoption goal, but residents nevertheless need more infrastructure and financial incentives, according to a report commissioned by the state. (Maine Public Radio)

PIPELINES: A Massachusetts news outlet highlights the arguments opposing and supporting Eversource’s proposed secondary pipeline in Springfield that were on display at a public meeting yesterday. (MassLive)

TRANSPORTATION: New York City’s transit agency will experiment with fare structure changes, like automatically upgrading customers to cost-saving weekly passes once a certain number of trips are made. (Brooklyn Eagle)

UTILITIES: Central Maine Power ranks last in J.D. Power’s 2021 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. (Portland Press Herald)

REGULATION: Maine Gov. Janet Mills nominates an attorney with extensive utility regulation experience to serve as the state’s public advocate. (Portland Press Herald)

EFFICIENCY: A trade group that represents over 400 New Hampshire employers joins opposition to the state utility regulator’s unpopular energy efficiency defunding decision. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

CLIMATE: Groton, New York, receives $50,000 in state funds to update the village’s climate, sustainability and energy efficiency plans. (Ithaca Voice)

COMMENTARY: A transportation blog takes recent comments made by the head of New York City’s transit agency — who wants the department funded by the state like ​“an essential service like police and fire and sanitation” — to mean a push for free transit. (Streetsblog NYC)