Red state coalition sues Vermont over climate law

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LITIGATION

• A coalition of 24 red states challenges Vermont’s climate change superfund law in federal court, contending that the effort to make fossil fuel companies pay for climate damages caused by their products is an unconstitutional ​“shakedown of the companies who built America.” (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

FOSSIL FUELS

• As plans get underway to build a massive new natural gas-fired power plant on the site of a recently demolished coal plant in Homer City, Pennsylvania, residents grieve the town’s past and look forward to the future with a mix of hope and apprehension. (PublicSource)

• Officials in Chautauqua County, New York, push to repower a shuttered coal plant using natural gas, with a vision of converting it to a nuclear facility in 2040. (Observer Today)

• Pennsylvania is among the regions where abandoned, aging oil and gas wells pose the most severe threat of contamination to the region’s aquifers, a new study finds. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Verdeck, a Connecticut company that sells EV charging stations to customers including the federal government, takes a financial hit from the Trump administration’s move to stop federal bodies from buying any more electric vehicles. (Hartford Business)

GRID

• Grid operator PJM selects 51 electricity projects — mostly natural gas plants and battery storage facilities — to jump to the head of the interconnection queue as part of an effort to get more power online faster. (E&E News)

• Maryland signs on to a now nine-state collaborative effort to improve transmission throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in order to strengthen reliability and lower costs, a move that angers at least one lawmaker who has been fighting against planned transmission line projects he feels do not benefit Maryland residents. (WJZ News, Fox 45)

• Tech companies argue before Pennsylvania utility regulators that they should be treated the same as any other business and not have to pay additional fees to hook up to the grid, while utilities raise concern that the surge in demand brought by data centers could increase prices for the average consumer. (WITF)

ELECTRIFICATION

• A growing movement on Long Island to require a switch from gas leaf blowers to battery-powered equipment meets resistance from landscapers who say the electric options are more expensive and less efficient. (Newsday)

STORAGE

• Staten Island residents stage a rally to protest a $300 million battery storage system planned for a mostly residential neighborhood, citing concerns about a potential fire releasing toxic pollutants into the air. (SILive)

LEGISLATION

• Massachusetts lawmakers work to assemble a climate bill that balances energy affordability and climate goals, with advocates pushing ideas including a ban on competitive suppliers, capping utilities’ return on equity, and restricting the expansion of the state’s natural gas network. (RTO Insider)