Which Northeast state will be next to phase down natural gas?

ELECTRIFICATION: A new Massachusetts policy aims to push the state away from natural gas heating, and at least 11 other states — including four in the Northeast — could take similar action. (Inside Climate News)

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OIL & GAS: Exxon settles a 2016 lawsuit over the climate preparedness of a Boston-area petroleum storage terminal, agreeing to confidential terms that intervening environmentalists say protect the community. (E&E News)

GRID:

• New York City’s new zoning law amendments include regulations to ease the process to install energy storage infrastructure in residential areas. (SI Live)
• As the state looks for ways to hit its climate goals, New York’s governor considers streamlining the permitting process for transmission and energy storage projects to minimize community pushback. (E&E News)
• A developer announces a new transmission initiative intended to link around 3.6 GW of offshore wind power to the grid. (news release)

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OFFSHORE WIND:

• The Revolution offshore wind farm receives its final federal permit through a collaborative authorization process from the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. (news release)
• Ørsted’s Ocean Wind I and II projects off the New Jersey coast could still be built if the developer sells off its rights, but the state can’t force that to happen. (Gothamist)

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TRANSPORTATION: New York City’s council passes a new measure to accelerate protected bike lane development by changing the public comment process required. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

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AFFORDABILITY: A Connecticut nonprofit’s new report shows the state’s energy affordability gap has grown 37% since last year, finding almost 250,000 households paid more than 6% of their income on energy bills. (CT Examiner)

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CLIMATE:

• New Hampshire kicks off a series of community conversations focused on updating the state’s climate change plan, a necessary step if the state wants its share of Inflation Reduction Act funds. (NHPR)
• An interstate fisheries commission places a moratorium on New England shrimping as warming waters decimate the creature’s population, effectively shuttering the region’s shrimping industry. (Associated Press)
• Backed by $25 million in federal funds, a Johns Hopkins University scientist works with local community members to develop a “living climate lab” to address neighborhood climate concerns. (Inside Climate News)
• Maryland health experts say problems associated with climate change could lead to a new pandemic, urging local officials to take steps now to mitigate potential harm. (Maryland Matters)

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BUILDINGS: The developers of a community of solar-powered homes in Ellicott City, Maryland, say the new houses will be certified by the U.S. Department of Energy to be up to 50% more energy efficient than a typical new home. (Washington Post)

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SOLAR: After over a decade of discussion, a Pennsylvania farming family finally adds a solar roof to one of their barns with the help of a roughly $229,000 federal rural energy grant. (Lancaster Farming)

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