Pennsylvania budget proposal forecasts $600 million from RGGI

OIL & GAS: A proposed budget from Pennsylvania’s governor suggests the state will participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative next year and will raise over $600 million from charging power plants for carbon dioxide emissions. (Allegheny Front)

ALSO: The company that wants to build a power plant in an environmentally overburdened New Jersey town has been fined almost $70K for air quality violations at a nearby facility. (NJ Advance Media)

SOLAR:
• A Maine town votes to impose a six-month moratorium on new solar facilities, but the pause won’t affect a large project approved last summer. (Courier Gazette)
• New Jersey regulators increased incentives for non-residential solar because of insufficient participation while reducing incentives for residential solar projects, which could exceed the program’s capacity limit. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A southeastern Pennsylvania municipality issues a request for proposals to develop a solar farm on an 80-acre property. (Lancaster Online)
• A Pennsylvania legislator introduces a bill to create a grant program to help schools install and maintain solar generation projects. (news release)

CLIMATE:
• The Maine Farmland Trust plans to fund clean energy and climate resiliency projects for current farmers whose work is disproportionately disadvantaged by climate change. (Bangor Daily News)
• The southern half of the Northeast may see almost no snow or freezing temperatures by the end of the century. (WBUR)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• A joint venture says its proposed offshore wind development off of New York would bring the state roughly $25.6 billion in economic benefits. (news release)
• An offshore wind farm developer secures over $90 million in tax breaks from the New York town where it will host an operations center. (Newsday)
• A New Jersey township committee votes to relocate a substation to accommodate the Ocean Wind farm. (Ocean City Sentinel)

GEOTHERMAL: A coalition of labor and environmental interests are pushing New York to set aside enough money to prepare 15 construction-ready geothermal energy networks by 2025. (Spectrum News 1)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The transit agency of Washington, D.C., breaks ground on a modernization project at a major bus garage that includes adding infrastructure to house electric buses. (DCist)
• New York utility commission staff recommend that regulators provide a 58% increase in electric vehicle make-ready program funding. (RTO Insider, subscription)

COMMENTARY: A New York editorial board argues the state needs to be proactive and ready to open its wallet to help school districts meet stringent electric bus conversion goals. (Auburn Citizen)