Trump will push Hochul to approve a new gas pipeline

FEDERAL ACTION

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Trump plan to meet today to discuss the development of a natural gas pipeline the state blocked in 2020, but Trump is already threatening to override the state’s authority to push the project through. (The Hill, Newsweek)

• As the EPA attempts to claw back $20 billion in funding authorized by former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, Maine’s energy efficiency agency loses access to $15 million that would double the size of a state loan program that helps residents and businesses install heat pumps and implement efficiency measures. (Portland Press Herald)

AFFORDABILITY

• Renewable energy is not to blame for rising power costs in Delaware, adding only $2 to $8 per month to bills that have gone up by $50 to $100, according to a review conducted by a local news outlet. (Delaware Online)

• Connecticut legislators pull the plug on a proposal that would have removed a fee supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy programs from customers’ bills in the name of lowering consumer costs. (CT Insider)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Environmental advocates and offshore wind opponents join forces to fight plans to turn an undeveloped, forested island into an offshore wind port in Maine. (Portland Press Herald)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A proposed $150 registration fee for electric vehicles, intended to help replace lost gas tax revenue, would slow EV adoption in Rhode Island, advocates say. (ecoRI)

COAL

• A crypto mining operation with its own power plant in Pennsylvania agrees to accelerate plans to clean up a coal ash ​“mountain” that has overflowed its original storage area and is likely leaching heavy metals into the groundwater. (Allegheny Front)

SOLAR

• New York’s energy office selects a developer to build a 12 MW solar array at an iron mining site, the first project authorized under a new state program intended to encourage solar development on underutilized land. (PV Magazine)

STORAGE

• A western Massachusetts startup that produces materials for use in energy storage supercapacitors receives a grant to build out its facility. (Greenfield Recorder)

• Researchers at Penn State find that using depleted oil and gas wells can improve the efficiency of compressed air energy storage by nearly 10%, an improvement one professor calls a ​“game-changer.” (news release)