Unleashing Canadian hydropower in New England

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.

TRANSMISSION

• A controversial and long-awaited transmission line to carry hydropower from Quebec into New England is on the verge of launching commercial operations. (Boston Herald)

OFFSHORE WIND

• The attorneys general of Connecticut and Rhode Island join the developer of Revolution Wind in asking courts to lift the Trump administration’s stop-work order on the nearly completed project. (CT Mirror)

• All five offshore wind projects halted by the Trump administration for ​“national security” reasons worked with the Pentagon during their initial approval process to ensure the developments addressed any possible concerns. (E&E News)

• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) affirms permitting negotiations are on pause as long as the Trump administration halt on offshore wind construction continues. (E&E News)

TRANSPORTATION

• Massachusetts state lawmakers consider a bill that aims to reduce the number of miles residents drive and make public transit more accessible with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (NBC Boston)

• A Rhode Island startup is developing a fleet of seagliders, including a 100-passenger vessel that could be the largest electric vehicle ever to take flight. (Boston Globe)

• Connecticut installs 36 new EV chargers at Department of Motor Vehicles branches, and has plans to spend $52 million in federal funds to build fast charging stations along interstate highways. (NBC Connecticut)

POWER PLANTS

• Energy company Vistra agrees to pay Cogentrix $4.7 billion for its 5.5-gigawatt portfolio of natural gas-fired power plants, mostly located in New England and the mid-Atlantic. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE

• As Rhode Island rolls out a new climate action plan, federal opposition to clean energy action and rising costs present formidable challenges to meeting the state’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. (ecoRI)

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismisses appeals to a lower court ruling that found the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative illegal, noting that the issue is moot as Gov. Josh Shapiro has agreed to withdraw the state from the cap-and-trade program. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• A New Jersey appeals court upholds environmental justice regulations that make it harder for power plants and other industrial facilities to get built in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. (New Jersey Monitor)

GRID

• Grid operator ISO New England proposes an overhaul of its capacity auction process that would have it buy capacity a month in advance, rather than three years ahead of time. (Utility Dive)

DATA CENTERS

• PJM Interconnection can get data centers online more quickly and ease the burden on the grid by requiring the facilities to provide their own power during times of highest electricity demand, a new report concludes. (Canary Media)

• PJM says it’ll lower its power demand forecast as it awaits more information on how much electricity data centers will actually use. (E&E News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• ‘Win by time’: How Poland is preparing for the death of coal — Alexander C. Kaufman

• 7 numbers that explain why the future of buildings is all-electric — Alison F. Takemura

• PJM needs flexible data centers. Here’s a blueprint. — Jeff St. John