Sharing solar savings on Martha’s Vineyard

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.

SOLAR

• A new solar installation on Martha’s Vineyard will share the savings it generates with some 500 residents struggling with high energy bills. (Canary Media)

• Connecticut’s newly passed solar law authorizes balcony solar, expands renewable energy incentives, and extends a community solar program, but some worry the future of renewable energy in the state is still uncertain. (Canary Media)

• Trump administration officials accuse New York state of violating federal definitions of prime farmland in approving large-scale solar projects, even as a recent study finds that just 0.13% of the state’s prime farmland is occupied by solar panels. (WXXI, Democrat and Chronicle)

HEAT WAVE

• Ahead of high temperatures hitting the eastern U.S. this week, grid operator PJM gets federal approval to make data centers and other large loads use backup generators and require power plants to operate even if they exceed pollution limits. (Maryland Matters)

BUILDINGS

• A federal appeals court upholds a New York City law effectively banning natural gas appliances in most new buildings. (E&E News)

• A 16-story, fossil fuel-free commercial building in Manhattan uses geothermal and air-source heat pumps to meet all of its heating and cooling needs. (Canary Media)

• Climate advocates push New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani to limit how many renewable energy credits can be used to comply with a law requiring large buildings to decrease their carbon emissions. (New York Focus)

• Eighteen superefficient, all-electric manufactured homes are going up in an affordable housing development in Brattleboro, Vermont. (Canary Media)

AFFORDABILITY

• Delaware lawmakers pass three bills aimed at reining in soaring energy costs by limiting how much infrastructure spending can be passed on to consumers, requiring data centers to bring their own power generation, and cutting off power to data centers first during blackouts. (Spotlight Delaware)

• Massachusetts state senators propose more than 180 amendments to a wide-ranging energy affordability bill, including measures that would maintain a gas pipe replacement program, roll back emissions reduction targets, and manage the impact of data centers. (CommonWealth Beacon/ State House News Service)

STORAGE

• Massachusetts’ energy siting board approves a controversial storage project with several changes to improve safety, emergency planning, and oversight. (Boston 25 News)

UTILITIES

• Eversource plans to expand a Massachusetts pilot program that pays customers for managing their energy use to better balance supply and demand on the grid. (Daily Energy Insider)