With limited options, Maine announces offshore wind port site

CORRECTION: Yesterday’s subject line mischaracterized a survey on support for New Jersey’s clean-car policy. While a majority polled said they are unlikely to buy an EV due to cost or other uncertainty, only a small percentage said they didn’t want one or prefer gasoline cars. 

GRID:

• The New England grid operator’s latest report says the region needs to invest around $1 billion annually in power transmission upgrades through 2050 to accommodate new clean energy technologies. (Maine Public)
• NextEra Energy has fought for years to block a transmission line slated to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid, a strategy critics say undermines its climate credibility but boosts its own solar and wind developments in the area. (E&E News, subscription)
• New Jersey school districts can apply for funds to establish bidirectional electric school bus charging systems to make the vehicles double as energy storage assets through a new, $45 million pilot program. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A Long Island school district sues New York utility regulators and the developer of a proposed battery storage facility, saying the project was approved despite ​“significant dangers” to schools within a mile of the site. (Newsday)

FOSSIL FUELS: Activists want New Jersey’s first lady, a U.S. Senate candidate, to push her husband, the state’s governor, to stop supporting a new gas-fired power plant proposed in a Newark environmental justice community that she also opposes. (Gothamist)

CLIMATE:

• Some Maryland Democrats are apprehensive about proposed legislation to make fossil fuel companies pay for climate damage, questioning if the resulting revenue won’t just turn into a roundabout tax for residents. (Maryland Matters)
• A new analysis suggests New York lobbying firms representing fossil fuel companies as well as numerous cultural, business and educational institutions with climate mitigation commitments are ​“aiding and abetting” the crisis. (The Guardian)

SOLAR: Although some Pennsylvania townships are beginning to embrace solar arrays, some residents and officials in Buffalo Township look to new state legislature proposals to curb future development. (21 News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Dozens of electric school buses manufactured by Lion have been purchased by Maine school districts, but state officials want schools to stop using the buses until they can be inspected for reliability and operational problems. (WMTW)

COMMENTARY: A Massachusetts writer says cracking down on illegally idling cars is a ​“low-hanging fruit” for climate mitigation. (Boston Globe)