Hot News and Updates:

Regional Northeast News:

• Gas bans gain steam despite industry wins (E&ENews)

• Voters balked on natural gas bans, but climate advocates are hoping to withstand court challenges (Just the News)

• Environmental agencies in nine Northeast and Western states pledge to have heat pumps make up 90% of residential heating, air conditioning and water heating sales in their states by 2040. (Energy News Network)

• EVs, heat pumps seen creating Northeast grid crunch (E&E News)

• How a Landmark Supreme Court Decision Will Reshape the U.S. Energy Sector (Scientific American) 

• Ten Republican governors, including New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu, band together to oppose renewable power mandates; an advocate says the group’s call for “energy choice” is “thinly veiled code” for natural gas. (The Hill)

• Commentary: Wood-stove industry seeks consistent regulations, in-home testing (Boston Business Journal)

Connecticut:

• In CT, Lamont pledges focus on climate resiliency (Hartford Business)

• Climate change all but ignored by the CT legislature in 2023 (CT Mirror) 

• New Haven, CT receives $3 million in federal funds to plant 5,000 trees for climate mitigation, a project the city’s climate czar calls “hackneyed” but effective. (New Haven Independent)

Maine:

• Maine still relies heavily on fossil fuels but calls zero-carbon goals 'achievable' (Yahoo!news)

• Mainers Pass $25 Million Bond for Science, Renewable Energy

• Maine launched its first Inflation Reduction Act rebates. What’s next? (The Maine Monitor) 

Massachusetts:

• Gov. Maura Healey deflects blame for surge in Massachusetts utility delivery rates, utility bills (WCVB)

• Massachusetts Energy Cost Crisis: Governor Demands Action as State’s Push To Phase Out Natural Gas Leads to Soaring Utility Bills (NY Sun)

• Massachusetts residents fuming over skyrocketing gas bills (WCVB)

• Massachusetts cities embrace voluntary green building codes (Canary Media) 

• Healey Adds Clean Energy Reforms To Closeout Budget - Massachusetts (NEHPBA Blog)

New Hampshire:

• Several climate bills stall out in the New Hampshire House (NPR)

• New Hampshire will finally fix its property assessed clean energy law (NH Business Review)

• NH is drafting a new climate plan. But it's on track to remain an outlier in New England (NHPR)

New York:

• Hochul approves more natural gas pumping to meet cold-weather demand despite NY’s green push – and Con Ed’s proposed hikes (NY Post)

• 22 states sue New York, alleging environmental fund is unconstitutional (AP News)

• New York earns worst-ever ranking on U-Haul's annual migration report (Spectrum News 1)

• State lawmakers join calls for New York state to pause climate goals (Spectrum News 1)

• Governor Hochul Signs Landmark Legislation Creating New Climate Superfund (NewYorkNews)

• Statement in Response to the $75 Billion 'Superfund' Bill (The Business Council)

• Push against New York's natural gas ban on new builds continues (Audacy)

• Business coalition urges Hochul to veto Climate Change Superfund Act (Times Union)

• NY Senate Republicans Outline Legislation To Delay Renewable Energy Transition (New York Now)

• What to know about NYS climate goals as state says it will miss the first one (archive.is) 

• ‘All-Electric Buildings’ law part of NY building code update  (Fingerlakes.com)

• New York likely to miss 70 percent renewable target, A new state report found a major statutory target three years off schedule. (Politico)

• NY power grid faces shortfalls as new energy supply lags, operator says (Reuters) 

• Environmentalists push to pass NY HEAT Act (Local SYR)

Rhode Island:

• A Rhode Island clean heat program plans to add $25 million in incentives for residents, small businesses, public buildings and other organizations to switch away from fossil fuels or help develop the HVAC industry workforce. (ecoRI) 

Vermont:

• Vermont Faces Potential Retrenchment in Climate Ambition (Inside Climate News)

• Controversial clean heat standard detailed in proposed rules by Vermont regulators (NHPR)

• With few paths for climate action, Vermont Democrats consider changes to state’s landmark climate law (VTDigger)

• House Republicans to introduce repeal of Clean Heat Standard (VermontBiz)

• With new draft rules, Vermont’s clean heat standard faces murky future (Canary Media)

• How you could save money on electric upgrades with Vermont home energy rebate program (Burlington Free Press)

• Vermont set to become first state in the nation to ‘make big oil pay’  (VT Digger) 

• While misinformation and early numbers abound, Vermonters still don’t know how much a clean heat standard would cost (VT Digger) 

• In Vermont, a draft report by the utility commission finds that the state might have to spend up to $17.3 billion to achieve the goals laid out in the Affordable Heat Act but achieve net benefits of $3.6 billion. (WCAX)

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Grills. Who is buying them? Why are they buying them and are they going to continue buying them? We have some answers. To access this report, please login to the HPBA website and download your copy from under the Resources tab or by clicking HERE. 

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