‘Project Maple’ gas expansion faces broad opposition

NATURAL GAS: More than 90 environmental organizations call on the governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island to oppose the expansion of a major natural gas pipeline through the states. (WBUR)

ALSO:

• Pennsylvania’s governor moves to require fracking companies to publicly report the chemicals they use when drilling. (StateImpact)
• Environmental groups ask state regulators to release details about the economic and environmental impacts of converting a western New York coal plant to natural gas. (Buffalo News)

SOLAR:

• A new Rhode Island program lets qualifying residents pay to lease rooftop solar panels, helping lower their cost to access solar power. (Providence Journal)
• Researchers tour Massachusetts to share their recommendations for how solar farms, agriculture and forest lands can best coexist in the state. (Athol Daily News)
• A northern New Hampshire group partners with a solar installer to offer free home solar evaluations for residents in hopes of getting more people to install panels. (NHPR)
• Maine environmental regulators look to fine a solar company nearly $150,000 for failing to control erosion at a project. (Maine Monitor)
• Colchester, Vermont, officials approve a funding boost for the town’s third municipal solar project. (Colchester Sun)

GRID:

• Maine’s two biggest utilities ask state regulators to let them own battery storage facilities, something that isn’t allowed under the state’s deregulated utility structure. (Lewiston Sun Journal)
• NJ Transit cancels a microgrid project that would’ve used natural gas as a backup power source for its trains, saying it was not ​“financially feasible” and that other grid improvements made it unnecessary.

UTILITIES:

• Maine’s senate president introduces legislation that would bar utilities from shutting off customers’ power during extreme weather or if their bills are lower than a certain amount. (Maine Morning Star)
• Connecticut’s largest utility won’t start installing smart meters for customers until 2026, delaying its initial plans for a $766 million meter overhaul by at least a year. (Hartford Courant)

EMISSIONS: Residents in a Pittsburgh-area town voice concerns about emissions from a longstanding coke plant as regulators consider whether to renew its operating permit. (Inside Climate News)

WIND:

• New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation has so far gotten six bids from developers. (Renewable Energy World)
• Offshore wind opponents hold a conference on Cape Cod to raise concerns about environmental harms and a lack of transparency in the construction of wind farms in the region. (Cape Cod Times)
• Wind power opponents, including some Congress members, also gather in Ocean City, Maryland, to raise similar issues. (Salisbury Daily Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Connecticut lawmakers decide against holding a special session to revamp electric vehicle regulations, as the next regular session begins next week. (Connecticut Public Radio)
• Four new fast electric vehicle chargers come online at Massachusetts Turnpike rest stops. (Telegram & Gazette)
• Federal funding will help install 41 electric vehicle chargers in New York’s Oneida County. (Utica Observer Dispatch)

COMMENTARY:

• New Hampshire’s utilities need a new business model that rewards them for achieving state reliability, climate, and rate goals, writes a clean energy advocate. (Concord Monitor)
• A Connecticut energy consumer advocate calls for a buildout of the state’s electric grid to support more clean energy, which could lower power costs and boost reliability. (CT Mirror)
• Maryland advocates protest planned transit funding cuts, saying their effects will fall hardest on low-income residents and threaten climate goals. (Maryland Matters)