Trump withdraws key NJ offshore wind permit

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

• Federal officials withdraw a key permit from the Atlantic Shores wind farm near New Jersey, delivering another blow to the project, which lost a major financial backer in January. (Daily Record)

CLIMATE

• Utility Eversource and offshore wind developer Avangrid are both members of a business group that fights state climate policies, sometimes claiming these measures hurt people of color despite much evidence to the contrary. (Boston Globe)

• Rhode Island utility regulators say the state will not meet its goal of using 100% renewable energy by 2033 because an unusually high number of electricity supplier contracts were signed in June 2022, just in time to avoid being subject to more stringent renewable requirements. (ecoRI)

• New Jersey needs to accelerate adoption of heat pumps and electric vehicles if it’s going to meet its goal of going carbon-neutral by 2035, consultants tell regulators as the state prepares to update its master energy plan. (NJ Spotlight News)

NATURAL GAS

• As President Trump pushes New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve a pipeline project that would help connect New England to natural gas supply from Pennsylvania, the company behind the project indicates they won’t move forward without the governor’s go-ahead. (Gothamist)

SOLAR

• A Massachusetts company launches a program to sell renewable energy credits to corporate buyers – Microsoft is the first – at higher-than-market prices, then use the excess money to support community solar projects in underserved areas. (CommonWealth Beacon)

GRID

• Hydro-Quebec’s pause in exporting power to Massachusetts and Vermont is unlikely to have a major impact on the region’s power supply as more mild weather approaches, says a spokesperson for New England’s grid operator. (Boston Globe)

• Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey tell regulators that grid operator PJM has worked against the state’s clean energy agenda, instead prioritizing ​“dirty out-of-state energy producers” that have driven up prices and emissions. (New Jersey Monitor)

UTILITIES

• A Superior Court judge in Connecticut upholds state regulators’ decision to approve a much smaller 2023 rate increase for the state’s second-largest utility than what was originally requested. (Hartford Courant)

COMMENTARY

• New Jersey utilities regulators need more resources, more expertise, and more authority to develop more battery storage and lower surging power prices, says an environmental advocate. (NJ.com)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• Ohio’s Supreme Court considers whether a rejection for a rural solar project has​“essentially rewritten” state law to give local governments veto power over clean energy projects, Kathiann Kowalski reports.

• California introduces the first statewide plan to boost heat pump sales as it aims to deploy 6 million of the electric appliances by 2030, Alison Takemura reports.