Trump again extends Pennsylvania fossil fuel plant’s life

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Trump administration orders a 760 MW oil- and gas-fired power plant outside Philadelphia to remain open another 90 days after previously issuing an emergency order to keep it operating after its scheduled May 31 retirement date. (Canary Media)

• A New York Republican speaks out against pending state legislation to prohibit the installation of fossil fuel equipment in new buildings. (WBNG, WETM)

• A fire breaks out at a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Connecticut as Bridgeport Station Development dismantles it to build housing. (Connecticut Post)

NUCLEAR

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems raises an additional $863 million in funding as it tries to commercialize nuclear fusion, with plans to build a Virginia plant to supply Google. (Canary Media)

SOLAR

• Maine regulators consider whether the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s federally funded proposal to install rooftop solar on more than 200 homes and administrative buildings violates the state’s net energy billing rules. (Portland Press Herald)

• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signs a law directing state regulators to open registration for an additional 3,000 MW of community solar. (PV Magazine)

WIND

• A new report finds the 3.5 GW of offshore wind projects currently contracted in New England would have saved ratepayers $400 million on their energy bills last winter due to fluctuating gas prices. (Utility Dive)

• U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer dodges questions about the Trump administration’s order to halt work on the nearly-complete Revolution Wind offshore project during a visit to Rhode Island. (WPRI)

• Internal emails reveal how Trump administration officials moved quickly to assemble findings to back their stop-work order for the 54-turbine Empire Wind project off the coast of New York, which was later reversed. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• An analysis by the Rhodium Group and Massachusetts Institute of Technology identifies $517 billion in pending clean energy investments that have been announced but not come online yet, that could be halted by Republicans’ rollback of tax credits and other federal incentives. (E&E News)

HYDROELECTRIC

• Western Maine Energy Storage asks federal regulators for a permit to build a pumped-storage ​“water battery” to power the grid when other renewables aren’t producing energy. (Maine Monitor)

CLIMATE

• The Northeast Regional Climate Adaptation Center in Massachusetts could close next month after the Trump administration freezes its funding and directs it to spend money only on federal employees’ salaries. (Vermont Public)

• A growing number of Massachusetts cranberry bogs are being restored into wetlands over other options such as building solar farms or new housing. (Associated Press)

POLITICS

• The conservative Americans for Prosperity launches an effort to overturn climate-related laws in Vermont as part of a 50-state strategy to establish a foothold and roll back environmental and climate policy even in progressive states. (Grist/​VTDigger)

• New Hampshire Democrats criticize a Republican state regulator in holdover status after his term expired at the start of July, and who supported a rate hike for utility Eversource. (InDepthNH)

COMMENTARY

• A news publisher discusses the process of finding EV fast chargers on a road trip from Vermont to Maine and back. (Seven Days)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Chart: The retiring coal power plants Trump could revive — Dan McCarthy

• As Trump delays steel pollution rules, study shows public health risks — Maria Gallucci

• Google’s new plan to keep its data centers from stressing the grid — Jeff St. John