Tougher Vermont energy standard would cost much less than estimated

POLICY: As Vermont lawmakers consider requiring most utilities to procure only renewable electricity by 2030, a new analysis finds the clean energy switch will cost ratepayers between $150 million and $450 million, or less than half of what a state agency previously estimated. (VT Digger)

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EMISSIONS: The mayor of Burlington, Vermont, says the city has notched notable emissions reductions since 2018: 18% from the transportation and thermal sectors and 19% in buildings. (WCAX)

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BUILDINGS:

• Vermont saw mixed success encouraging residents to install heat pumps and other upgrades in damaged homes after devastating floods last summer, but advocates, utilities and state agencies are revisiting those residents to work on long-term, climate-minded rebuilds. (Energy News Network)
• State officials, real estate leaders and nonprofit policy wonks discuss the extreme challenge and reward of decarbonizing the building sector at an Independent Power Producers of New York conference. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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WIND: A Pennsylvania legislative committee advances a bill to form a framework for the state to build up a Lake Erie wind industry. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

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GRID: New England’s power grid may still see resource adequacy problems even if it makes annual transmission investments of $1 billion through 2050 to keep up with clean power adoption, ISO New England reports. (Utility Dive)

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UTILITIES:

• The chief executive officer of the Long Island Power Authority will leave his post at the end of May — a sensitive time for the agency given the ongoing push to end its operations agreement with PSEG Long Island. (Long Island Business News, Newsday)
• A new analysis finds 150,000 Westchester, New York, homes have paid $48 million more than the standard rate since the start of a community power aggregation two years ago — but the program’s leader claims the report is “cherry-picking” its results. (Rockland/Westchester Journal News)

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BIOENERGY: A New York firm buys a Maine biowaste-to-power plant that was built less than a decade ago, planning to refit the facility to produce methane gas. (Mainebiz, Reuters)

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SOLAR:

• Grid operators across the Northeast detail how the total solar eclipse in April will reduce solar resource generation, with New York’s grid operator expecting thousands of megawatts fewer than typically seen on a clear day. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Neither Tesla nor state officials will reveal who made the solar panels on the roof of the company’s Buffalo, New York, solar panel component manufacturing plant, calling it a “trade secret,” even though they don’t look like Tesla products. (Investigative Post)
• An energy developer considers a parcel of farmland for a 1.66 MW solar array in South Windsor, Connecticut, along the border with a town currently embroiled in anti-solar sentiment. (New Haven Register)

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NUCLEAR:

• Federal nuclear regulators express skepticism that NextEra Energy’s plan to reduce staff at the Seabrook Station won’t impact safety, asking for more evidence. (In-Depth NH)
• New York’s emissions have risen since the Indian Point nuclear plant closed in 2021, with fossil fuels, not clean energy resources, used to fill the power generation gap left behind. (The Guardian)

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CLIMATE:

• Sea Isle City, New Jersey, has shed its reputation for poor flood management over the past three decades, rising to become one of only two cities in the state to achieve a Class 3 status in a FEMA rating system. (Smart Cities Dive)
• In Maine, allergy season is now a week longer in Portland and Presque Isle than it was in 1970, intensifying the health risk for children, according to a new report. (Bangor Daily News)

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TRANSIT: Washington, D.C., prepares to roll out the first application round for its e-bike voucher program, reserved for in-need communities like those enrolled in food assistance like SNAP. (Axios DC)

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