Talking offshore wind with Republicans

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

OFFSHORE WIND

• Republicans resistant to offshore wind are more likely to be convinced by reasoning about business growth and economic development than by arguments involving climate change and carbon emissions, according to experts at a recent offshore wind conference. (Canary Media)

• The Trump administration’s attempts to stop offshore wind developments would be bad for the New York economy, taking away an expected 6,800 jobs and $195 million in income for local residents, advocates say. (City Limits)

CLIMATE

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether a former governor had the right to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an 11-state program that requires power plants to pay for their emissions. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

• A Massachusetts suburb makes progress toward its goal of reaching net-zero emissions in 2050 by electrifying its fleet, adopting a more stringent building energy code, and moving municipal buildings away from fossil fuel use. (Metrowest Daily News)

RENEWABLES

• As federal support for renewable energy development plummets, the New York Power Authority says it is unclear whether gas-fired peaker plants in New York City can be shut down by 2030 as required by state law. (RTO Insider)

• Rhode Island regulators reject competitive electricity suppliers’ arguments that 86 electricity contracts that do not meet the state’s renewable energy requirements should be exempt from the guidelines. (ecoRI)

GRID

• A power shortage in the 13-state region served by the PJM Interconnection is in ​“the realm of possibility” in the unlikely event that peak demand hits 166 GW this summer, the grid operator reports. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A Democratic state lawmaker in New York prepares to introduce a two-year delay to the implementation of rules requiring car dealers to sell an increasing proportion of new electric vehicles each year. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• The Connecticut Siting Council has approved 88% of the applications for solar projects it has considered over the past three years, despite local opposition. (WFSB)

• A 1.4-MW community solar project on the roof of an entertainment complex in the city of New Rochelle, New York, will provide power to the common areas of its host building and another 150 subscribers. (Patch)

BUILDINGS

• A Massachusetts town eliminates a stretch building code that calls for more stringent energy efficiency measures in new builds and major renovations over concerns about the cost of meeting the requirements. (Sippican Week)

• A new, $200 million Connecticut high school will use geothermal heating and cooling and solar power to become the state’s first net-zero technical high school. (WSHU)

COMMENTARY

• Establishing a ​“climate superfund” law in Maine would be a bold but sensible move to make fossil fuel companies pay for the damage caused by climate change, a local activist says. (Portland Press Herald)