Offshore wind is crucial to national security, experts say

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

WIND

• Offshore wind is ​“a national security imperative,” contrary to the Trump administration’s ​“ludicrous” claims that turbines compromise safety, military experts say. (Canary Media)

• Energy company RWE agrees to take $1.22 billion in exchange for giving up three offshore wind leases off New York, California, and Louisiana, the fifth such deal the Trump administration has struck in its ongoing efforts to undermine offshore wind development. (Reuters)

• A federal judge orders the U.S. Department of Defense to end a de facto freeze on approving wind development and resume reviews of more than 150 projects, including several in the Northeast. (Canary Media)

FEDERAL ACTION

• Two House Democrats ask the Department of Justice to consider prosecuting Energy Secretary Chris Wright for lying when he told Congress the cancellation of $8 billion in climate-related grants was not done for partisan reasons, a claim undermined by recent court filings. (The Hill)

EMISSIONS

• The EPA proposes allowing New Hampshire to end its vehicle emissions inspection program and pull out of a regional compact that requires the state to limit smog-forming pollution. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Maine regulators ask utility Central Maine Power to release internal documents explaining its rationale for asking for higher profits in its latest request for a rate increase. (Maine Monitor)

DATA CENTERS

• The developer of a data center under construction in New Jersey seeks approval to use natural gas fuel cells to power the facility to avoid adding too much load to the grid. (WHYY)

NUCLEAR

• Leaders in the town of Vernon, Vermont, push for a meeting with PowerTransitions, an energy company that plans to develop battery storage, a small modular reactor, or a data center at the former site of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. (Brattleboro Reformer)

BUILDINGS

• Maryland lawmakers hold up a new building code over concerns that its energy efficiency requirements are less stringent than the national code that is supposed to be the baseline regulation. (Maryland Matters)

• A new company building modular, net-zero homes opens a production facility in Maine. (Lincoln County News)

• A Maine city launches a home energy efficiency program offering free energy assessments, and weatherization materials and installation. (WMTW)

TRANSMISSION

• A federal court rules that surveying can continue for a planned Maryland transmission line despite opposition from landowners who had denied access to their properties. (Maryland Matters)

• A stakeholder advisory group votes to support the creation of a role for someone to review transmission owners’ plans for infrastructure repairs and upgrades, amid concerns that such projects are contributing to high energy bills. (RTO Insider)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Trump’s DOE keeps forcing coal plants to stay open. Here’s the latest. — Ysabelle Kempe

• The Pentagon’s wind farm blockade is over — for now — Dan McCarthy

• Trump is blocking billions of dollars of grants that would fix the grid — Jeff St. John

• Nuclear startup Oklo splits its first atoms in test reactor — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Ohio steel giant aims to use Biden climate funds for polluting project — Kathiann M. Kowalski