ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Boston will be able to install at least 300 electric vehicle chargers across the city, focusing on environmental justice communities, using a $15 million federal grant, while Massachusetts park officials will install as many as 40 chargers using a $1.2 million grant. (Boston.com, WHDH)

ALSO: New York City will use a $15 million federal grant to install 600 level-2 curbside chargers throughout the city, although some criticize the plan for permanently taking away street space for other non-private car uses. (amNY, Streetsblog)

POLITICS: Maryland’s election this fall for a U.S. Senate seat could make or break federal climate action. (Inside Climate News)

RENEWABLE POWER: 

  • In New York, Republican state senators introduce legislation to delay state climate law deadlines by a decade, prevent power plants from closing before replacements are online and study whether a nuclear plant should be reopened. (WSKG)
  • Commissioners of Pennsylvania’s Cambria County update the local property assessed clean energy program to include air quality projects. (Tribune-Democrat)

GEOTHERMAL: A geothermal pilot project in Massachusetts is a rare example of gas companies and environmental activists partnering together for climate action. (Christian Science Monitor)

AFFORDABILITY: 

  • Maine utility regulators will expand on an earlier study of time-of-use rates, focusing on what the best time frames and specific rates could be. (Portland Press Herald)
  • Some New Jersey lawmakers are calling for hearings examining the state’s utility regulation practices as customers report high bills, while other industry observers chalk the problem up to a fossil fuel-heavy grid and a hot summer. (NJ Spotlight)
  • Starting in the new year, third-party energy companies in Maryland will no longer be able to charge customers more than what the incumbent utility charges. (WMAR)

GRID: 

  • The network of smart energy devices in New England helped shave hundreds of megawatts off peak demand on a single day this summer, highlighting the usefulness of virtual power plants. (WBUR)
  • A Connecticut council allows Eversource Energy to continue work on a substation and nearby power lines on Sundays to help catch up after weather delays. (Patch)

BUILDINGS: 

  • New Jersey will form a new revolving loan fund to help with energy efficiency upgrades at government buildings, museums, parks, hospitals, schools, jails and transit centers, using $2.4 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. (news release)
  • Some new architectural projects in Massachusetts showcase the creativity architects need to achieve major embodied carbon reductions in their designs. (Boston Globe)
  • A New York school district has begun construction of $20 million in clean energy and energy efficiency projects at eight buildings, including solar carports, building envelope improvements and LED bulb installations. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: 

  • To plug an estimated $3 million budget gap, Vermont’s largest public transit agency wants to slash its bus services by a quarter. (VT Digger)
  • In Maryland, a Baltimore County decision to rezone a Lutherville property for single-family housing serves as the first real challenge to the state’s  transit-oriented development laws. (Baltimore Sun)

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Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.