New Jersey approves two new offshore wind farms

OFFSHORE WIND: New Jersey regulators approve two new offshore wind farms as part of the state’s third solicitation: the 2.4 GW Leading Light and the 1.34 MW Attentive Energy 2 projects. (E&E News, Offshore Wind Biz)

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ALSO:

• Ørsted says it will buy Eversource Energy’s stake in the Sunrise Wind project, assuming it receives a new power contract with New York state. (Reuters; Newsday; E&E News, subscription)
• Some Maine environmentalists are striking a new tone as they urge skeptical neighbors to see the larger climate benefits of a proposed port to build future offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. (Energy News Network)
• A former aide to New Jersey’s governor will lead a new organization, the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance. (Cape May County Herald)

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POLICY: The question of how to pay for Maryland’s “comprehensive” climate plan is sure to be discussed during this upcoming legislative session, with no clear or easy answers in sight. (Maryland Matters)

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CLIMATE:

• A bipartisan group of Maine lawmakers appear to support the creation of a $50 million fund to help small businesses recover from recent severe winter storms. (Bangor Daily News)
• Maine conservationists work to protect the state’s coastal marshes, which serve as natural storm barriers, as increasingly frequent and devastating storms wash them away. (WMTW)
• A new Dartmouth College study indicates many New England river basins have lost at least 10% of their snowpack every decade for the last 40 years. (NHPR)

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MINING: A Pennsylvania nonprofit receives what is thought to be the largest grant the state has dispersed for abandoned coal mine cleanup, for a project near the Nanticoke Creek in the state’s northeast. (Bay Journal)

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TRANSIT:

• Boston’s mayor supports a proposal to slash some commuter rail fares to be comparable with subway fares, though the city’s transit agency doesn’t support it. (CommonWealth Beacon)
• NJ Transit proposes raising fares by 15% starting this summer, indexed to rise an additional 3% per year — and the state’s governor says that still won’t be enough to close the agency’s $1 billion budget hole. (Politico)

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SOLAR:

• Pharmacy and convenience store chain CVS Health will purchase 264,000 mWh of power from solar projects in states including Maryland. (news release)
• In New Jersey, a recently completed 1.7 MW solar array is expected to offset about a quarter of pharmaceutical multinational Bayer’s power needs at its Whippany office. (NJ Biz)

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