Vermont sued over climate law compliance

COURTS: An environmental group sues Vermont’s natural resources secretary over allegedly breaking a state climate solutions law by using a data model that is ​“technically and mathematically insufficient” to claim the state was on track to meet a 2025 emissions deadline with no further legislative action needed. (VT Digger, Seven Days)

RENEWABLE POWER: A New York energy siting office issues final permits for a 240 MW solar project in St. Lawrence County and a 147 MW onshore wind facility in Steuben County. (news release)

SOLAR:

• A 12 MW microgrid at a John F. Kennedy International Airport terminal will use solar panels, fuel cells and a battery system — including the city’s largest solar canopy — to meet around half the terminal’s daily power needs. (Renewable Energy World)
• A developer says it has received interconnection approval for a 7 MW ground-mounted solar array in Middletown, New York. (news release)
• A developer completes a 4.8 MW community solar project on a former brownfield site in Frankfort, New York. (news release)
• Two developers finish construction of a pair of 5 MW community solar projects on recently capped landfills in Berkeley, New Jersey. (news release)

EMISSIONS: A new report finds that industrial and transportation activities create roughly two-thirds of all the greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. (Morning Call)

NUCLEAR:

• Massachusetts’ governor says buying power from the Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut presents ​“a nice synergy” as she and other Northeast U.S. and eastern Canadian leaders consider more regional energy cooperation. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• A Pennsylvania energy policy expert discusses newfound enthusiasm for nuclear power in the state, as well as the pros and cons of future projects. (Power Magazine)

GRID:

• In New Hampshire, Eversource utility line workers are undertaking emergency repairs of roughly 70-year-old power lines that serve around 30,000 people. (WMUR)
• Three large barges on Lake Champlain are helping install a mostly underwater cable for the Champlain Hudson Power Express power line to bring 1.25 GW of hydroelectricity to New York City. (VT Digger)
• Maryland U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin writes to the state’s governor and utility commission to highlight his concerns about the data center industry’s impacts on ratepayers and the grid, as well the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. (Maryland Matters)

WORKFORCE:

• The governors of 22 states — including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont — want a collective 1 million residents to complete climate-related apprenticeships by 2035. (The Hill)
• Some construction workers in Maine say renewable energy projects in their state have helped them keep working locally. (News Center Maine)
• A Lewiston, Maine, public school’s technical training center can’t buy a rebuildable electric vehicle for students using state grant funds without a voter referendum. (Sun Journal)

GEOTHERMAL: A geothermal company raises $40 million in a Series C round led by Google Ventures and plans to relocate from Mount Kisco, New York, to Arlington, Virginia. (DC Inno)