FOSSIL FUELS: A Bitcoin miner in upstate New York sues the state after being denied an air permit renewal for the gas plant powering its operations. (Gothamist)

SOLAR: 

• A new compensation proposal for net metering generators is the subject of several hearings this week by New Hampshire utility regulators. (NHPR)
• A Connecticut solar developer finishes two community solar projects in Maine that have 12.6 MW of collective capacity. (news release)
• New Hampshire utility Unitil breaks ground on the state’s largest solar project, an over 11,000-panel array set to power roughly 1,200 homes. (WMUR)

BATTERIES: A Hydro-Québec subsidiary says its first utility-scale battery energy and storage system in the U.S., a 3 MW facility in Troy, Vermont, is now operational. (news release)

BUILDINGS: New York’s governor is “facing pressure on all sides” amid final rulemaking that aims to set emissions standards for refrigerants in commercial refrigerators, residential heat pumps and chillers over the next decade. (E&E News, subscription)

BIOENERGY: In Pennsylvania, a renewable natural gas plant at a Bethlehem landfill officially opens, with enough capacity to heat 14,000 homes. (Lehigh Valley News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

• A convenience store in Pennsylvania’s Beaver County will host the area’s next electric vehicle charging station, with project developers receiving roughly $627,000 in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grants for the work. (The Times)
• A New York school district schedules a public meeting to hear concerns ahead of a public vote on its electric school bus transition plan. (WGRZ)
• A new AAA Northeast survey finds that only around 14% of respondents in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island “definitely” want their next vehicle to be electric, while 42% are “not interested at all.” (PBN)

AFFORDABILITY: Connecticut’s U.S. House delegation wants the state’s utility commission to help alleviate financial pressure on residential ratepayers facing high utility bills. (Hartford Courant)

POLITICS: A New Hampshire newspaper details how the state’s four gubernatorial candidates have described their future climate and energy policies. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

COMMENTARY: 

• A Baltimore columnist writes that companies looking to use electric ferries to increase tourism along the Eastern Shore should think bigger and make them a viable commuting option. (Baltimore Sun)
• A southwestern Pennsylvania transit nonprofit’s deputy director explains how switching from the state’s “ridiculous” mileage self-reporting tax process for electric vehicle drivers to a flat registration fee is a sign of good bipartisanship governance. (Trib Live)

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Eversource transmission line proposal worries New England advocates is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

ALSO: Federal officials grant $89 million to Eversource to develop its Huntsbrook Offshore Wind Hub on the southeastern Connecticut coast, building a new interconnection point for future projects. (news release)

GRID: 

• Two New Hampshire property owners — including a state lawmaker — file a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ISO New England and Eversource to stop a 49-mile transmission line rebuild they say will result in unfair and unreasonable rates. (InDepth NH)
• New York’s grid operator publishes its 2025 budget recommendation of roughly $42.1 million, which delays or deprioritizes several current or planned projects. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• New York utility regulators approve a new pilot project aimed at capping prices for some low-income households while testing a new planning framework with a focus on utility coordination. (Utility Dive)
• In Vermont, Green Mountain Power begins using remote-controlled drones for faster storm recovery and power restoration assessments. (Rutland Herald)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

• Pennsylvania’s transportation agency plans to use $7.1 million of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funds to install electric vehicle chargers across nine counties. (news release)
• Concord, New Hampshire, says it probably won’t receive its three electric school buses until 2026 due to global supply chain issues making it hard to procure electric transformers. (Concord Monitor)

SOLAR: 

• A developer subsidizes the install of a 20-panel solar array to help improve the climate resiliency of a Falmouth, Maine nonprofit farm operation that provides land access for refugee and asylum-seeking families to grow culturally significant crops. (Mainebiz)
• Some farmers and solar developers tell a Maine state agency during a public commenting hearing that “high value agricultural soil” compensation rules currently being drafted would hurt both industries. (Maine Public Radio)

FOSSIL FUELS: Pennsylvania’s energy production will collapse, making it a “Third World” state, if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president and enacts her fracking policies, former President Donald Trump claims. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

UTILITIES: 

• New York regulators say they now plan to investigate why Con Edison’s rates are so much higher than National Grid’s following a state lawmaker’s report that shows the former’s customers pay twice as much as the latter. (Crain’s New York, ABC 7)
• Maryland regulators are being sued by a third-party power supplier over their decision that the company used deceptive sales tactics and broke state telephone solicitation laws. (Baltimore Sun)
• A representative of Connecticut’s utility regulator blasts Avangrid’s assertion that the commissions’ chair ought to remove herself from a rate case involving two of its gas utilities. (Hartford Courant)

TRANSPORTATION: The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority seeks public comment on its plan to build a new Amtrak station for Portland that would reduce Downeaster trip times by an estimated 15 minutes. (Portland Press Herald)

FLOODS: A storm sweeps New England, dropping historic rainfall totals on parts of Connecticut and New York and causing widespread floods; Connecticut officials expect a lengthy recovery. (NBC News, CT Mirror)

COMMENTARY: PJM Interconnection pushes back on criticism that its planning processes aren’t helping accelerate the energy transition, saying its power grid reforms are working. (Baltimore Banner)

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Maine secures first U.S. floating offshore wind research lease is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

CLIMATE: Scientists delay a geoengineering project that would measure the impact of dumping sodium hydroxide into the ocean, two days after a federal agency warns of impacts on marine species. (Boston Herald)

GRID: 

• A cryptocurrency firm sues New York regulators over its order to close its  Finger Lakes peaker plant, which the company is using primarily to operate data centers. (Water Front) 
• Vermont utilities celebrate the completion of a 3 MW battery storage facility on the northern edge of the state. (VT Digger)
• Plans for a solar project on a New York landfill are scrapped after a state agency determines upgrades to a nearby substation would be cost-prohibitive. (Ithaca Voice)
• New York regulators order utilities to “develop a framework for proactively planning” for grid upgrades needed to support electrification. (news release)

UTILITIES: 

• A Maine paper products factory says a new fixed charge on its monthly bill related to a state solar program will force it to close. (Bangor Daily News)
• Connecticut’s Office of Consumer Counsel seeks to reopen rate cases for Eversource and United Illuminating amid customer outrage over charges related to nuclear power and electric vehicle chargers. (Hartford Courant, subscription)
• A New York congressman calls for an investigation after a report finds disparities in the delivery charges that customers pay for natural gas. (WABC)

EQUITY: A pilot program in New York will cap electricity costs at no more than 6% of household income for 1,000 participants. (Staten Island Advance, subscription)

WIND: During a visit to Cape Cod, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey meets with protesters opposing transmission connections for offshore wind farms; opponents of a similar project in New Jersey are hosting a public meeting tonight. (WCAI, Shore News Network)

SMART METERS: A small group of opponents pushes for legislation allowing Pennsylvanians to opt out of smart meter installations, citing health concerns that experts say have no basis in science. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

BUILDINGS: Developers last week broke ground on New Hampshire’s first net-zero housing project aimed at middle-class buyers. (NHPR)

COMMENTARY: An editorial board says a Maryland beach town’s opposition to offshore wind is motivated by politics, not facts. (Baltimore Sun, subscription)

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Pennsylvania driller declares itself safe; advocates have questions is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

WIND: 

• In Salem, Massachusetts, construction begins on what is planned to be the state’s second-largest offshore wind terminal, being developed on a former coal plant site. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Ørsted books a $575 million impairment loss due in part to numerous U.S. factors, ranging from halted Ocean Wind project development, a new delay in the start of Revolution Wind operations and higher interest rates. (Reuters, Providence Journal)
• Several mid-Atlantic environmental organizations cheer the results of the Delaware and Maryland offshore wind lease auction. (news release)
• A European power producer signs a virtual power purchase agreement with Avangrid for the output of the latter’s 35 MW Casselman wind facility on a former Pennsylvania surface mine. (news release)

BUILDINGS: 

• Boston’s zoning board rejects the mayor’s plan to make new buildings over 20,000 square feet in size be fossil fuel-free, a surprise move in the eyes of many observers. (Boston Globe)
• Maryland public schools are set to receive $24 million in state grants to decarbonize and electrify their buildings. (news release)

FOSSIL FUELS: 

• A Pennsylvania township issues a de-facto rejection to a fossil fuel site management company to rezone 59 acres of office and commercial land to allow for oil and gas development, denying a request for a public advertising of a hearing on the matter. (Fox Chapel Herald)
• A New Jersey lawmaker says she’s optimistic her bill to incentivize electric lawn equipment purchases will get support in the legislature’s environmental committee in September. (New Jersey Herald)

UTILITIES: Central Maine Power wants the state utility commission to waive review of a plan to buy the 18.4% of shares in parent company Avangrid that it doesn’t already own by Spanish-flagged Iberdrola, claiming the deal wouldn’t hurt ratepayers despite advocates’ warnings. (Portland Press Herald)

BATTERIES: 

• A New York town board considers a 12-month moratorium on battery storage systems co-located with utility-scale solar projects. (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)
• Without having completed any utility-scale projects yet, Form Energy’s cofounder says the firm’s plan to install iron-air batteries at a former paper mill in Lincoln, Maine, to deliver 85 MW of power to the grid for up to 100 hours is “a very natural next step in terms of scaling up and deployments.” (Canary Media)

SOLAR: 

• A developer plans a 7 MW solar project on the 23-acre site of a closed municipal landfill in Clay, New York. (news release)
• A luxury apartment building in Jersey City, New Jersey, installs a 154 kW rooftop solar system that will offset 30% of the building’s power needs. (news release)

AFFORDABILITY: 

• New York utility regulators authorize National Grid to incrementally raise the average bill by roughly $60 per month by the end of three years to help pay for clean energy projects.
• Baltimore Gas and Electric’s power customers are set to see average bill increases of around $250 per year, which Maryland’s utility ratepayer advocate says is due to problems with PJM Interconnection’s grid and market planning. (Baltimore Sun)

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Bucks County’s climate lawsuit should be tossed, oil majors argue is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

ALSO:

• Massachusetts wants to expand its wind turbine marshaling terminal in New Bedford, with the responsible agency saying that would make it more competitive by meeting the industry’s “evolving needs.” (New Bedford Light)
• Maine officials give a presentation in Searsport explaining why they plan to use Sears Island for an offshore wind hub instead of nearby Mack Point in what is being described as a “tense” meeting with disruptions from protestors. (Bangor Daily News)

SOLAR: 

• Connecticut’s attorney general sues three solar installers and two individual employees over numerous alleged crimes, including impersonating a customer and installing solar panels without their consent. (PV Magazine)
• A Maine state agency considers new permitting and tiered compensation rules for solar projects on farms as the state seeks a balance between solar development and valuable farmland availability. (Bangor Daily News)
• A Delaware school district installs three rooftop solar arrays as part of a slate of new energy efficiency measures. (WDEL)

PIPELINES: The Conservation Law Foundation says National Grid isn’t doing enough to handle the hundreds of leaking gas pipelines around the Greater Boston area, 15 of which are imminent explosion and fire hazards. (Boston Herald)

BUILDINGS: Philadelphia’s school district touts the new cooling systems in ten of its schools, but dozens of schools still lack A/C, a problem that hinders education when children have to be sent home during too-hot conditions. (WHYY)

BIOENERGY: In Burlington, Vermont, activists against a wood-fired power plant say the facility’s $8 million in expected losses this year — not to mention the emissions and its relative inefficiency — should be enough to shut it down. (Seven Days)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Connecticut utility commissioners decide electric utilities can apply for annual cost recovery related to the mandated electric vehicle charging incentive program, although some advocates say it will cause additional stress on ratepayers. (Hartford Courant, News Times)

BATTERIES: A Long Island, New York, town fails to pass a proposed one-year moratorium on new large battery storage systems after several neighboring municipalities passed similar moratoriums. (Newsday)

GRID: Workers begin installing roughly 100 miles of underwater power cables in Lake Champlain for the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission project. (NCPR)

POLITICS: Many New Hampshire gubernatorial candidates support renewable energy but have starkly different approaches for increasing the state’s capacity. (Concord Monitor)

RENEWABLE ENERGY: 

• New Jersey regulators grant $3.4 million to 18 clean energy projects, ranging from a municipality’s first electric police car to weatherization projects. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A Maryland school district is receiving roughly $1.6 million in state grants to undertake projects including a rooftop solar array and a geothermal HVAC system. (news release)

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Equinor wins Delaware 2 GW lease auction is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.