SOLAR: New Jersey installed a record 447 MW of new solar capacity in 2019 as developers rushed to finish projects before expiring incentives wound down. (NJ Spotlight)

GRID: Massachusetts finalizes rules for the Clean Peak Standard intended to promote clean energy adoption during the most expensive hours of electricity production. (Greentech Media)

OIL AND GAS: A Massachusetts court orders Columbia Gas to expedite lump sum payments to victims of a 2018 pipeline explosion with the first round of checks to be sent by mid-May. (WHDH) 

OFFSHORE WIND: Federal and academic researchers study the movements of spawning cod off Massachusetts in waters designated as potential offshore wind development areas. (Cape Cod Times)

NUCLEAR: The Seabrook nuclear plant in New Hampshire is operating with limited staff during the coronavirus outbreak, with federal regulators doing some of their inspections remotely. (Eagle-Tribune)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• An Audubon chapter involved in reviews of several New York wind projects opposes a state move to expedite environmental reviews of clean energy development. (WIVT)
• Thirteen communities in New York’s Capital Region now participate in community choice aggregation programs. (WNYT)

COAL: A Pennsylvania order to shut down “non-life sustaining” businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic includes the state’s coal mines. (Bloomberg)

CLIMATE: Climate legislation stalls in Maryland, including a bill to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as the legislature wraps up an abbreviated session caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Southern Maryland Chronicle)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New York dedicates $24 million of its more than $127 million share of the Volkwagen emissions settlement funds for electric buses. (Electrive.com)

COMMENTARY:
• The Sierra Club says a proposed law in New York is needed to break a logjam in clean energy projects and implement the state’s emissions reductions targets. (Buffalo News)
• Vermont Audubon says the state is fortunate to have vast forests available to reduce greenhouse gases and must manage the resource wisely. (Rutland Herald)

Bill is a freelance journalist based outside Albany, New York. As a former New England correspondent for RTO Insider, he has written about energy for newspapers, magazines and other publications for more than 20 years. He has an extensive career in trade publications and newspapers, mostly focused on the utility sector, covering such issues as restructuring, renewable energy and consumer affairs. Bill covers Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and also compiles the Northeast Energy News daily email digest.