Polluting driller offers clean water for NDA

FOSSIL FUELS: Fracking work in the Pittsburgh area is turning local residents’ water from drinkable to nonpotable and laden with chemicals, but a nearby driller is offering to provide water in exchange for signing an agreement with non-disclosure terms. (Public Source)

ALSO: Federal energy regulators authorize operations on the Mountain Valley pipeline, which will carry gas from fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio to points in the mid-Atlantic and further south. (Associated Press)

WIND:

• The developer of a 30-turbine wind project in northern Maine says it will begin shipping large components soon, trucking them from the Mack Point cargo terminal in Searsport to Washington County. (Bangor Daily News)
• Delaware lawmakers advance a bill that will set a process in place for the state to procure offshore wind. (Bay to Bay)

SOLAR:

• A developer works to secure permits for a 9.35 MW solar project with battery storage on a mostly forested plot in Amherst, Massachusetts. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
• Residents say a 125 MW proposed solar project in western New York should be developed on a former coal plant, not on what they say is prime farmland. (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)

AFFORDABILITY:

• Maine’s public advocate secures a settlement with Central Maine Power to reduce ​“excessive” 2022 cost recovery by $850,000, but acknowledges it’s a fraction of the $20 million they sought. (WMTW)
• Maine utility regulators approve a rate increase for Central Maine Power customers that will result in at least $10 extra per bill starting in July to cover cost recovery of the utility’s storm restoration work in late 2022 and 2023. (Portland Press Herald)

POLICY: Maine environmental officials say the state is already 91% of the way to achieving its carbon neutrality by 2045 goal by slashing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration, but many buildings still rely on petroleum. (Portland Press Herald)

NUCLEAR:

• Two top Massachusetts legislators say they’re working to have nuclear power defined as a clean electricity source in the state, which would help pave the way for nuclear plants to be eligible for clean energy bidding. (Boston Globe)
• Federal disaster officials hold a radiological emergency preparedness test for Pennsylvania’s Beaver Valley Power Station to evaluate that state and nearby West Virginia’s ability to respond to catastrophe. (The Times)

TRANSIT:

• Delaying the Manhattan traffic congestion tolling plan could jeopardize long-sought-after projects to increase accessibility at New York City transit stations. (The City)
• Boston’s transit agency begins road work needed to extend bus lanes in nearby Revere to make service faster and more efficient. (WCVB)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Five Rhode Island school districts will split $12.4 million in federal funds to purchase a combined 45 electric school buses. (news release)
• A Connecticut town planning commission approves a site plan for an undeveloped lot that would include 38 electric vehicle charging stations. (New Haven Register)