In the broad debate over the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Conowingo Dam is in many ways the 800-pound gorilla in the conversation — or to put it more precisely, the 572-megawatt gorilla, the maximum level of electricity the dam can generate on an annual basis, which is enough to power about 165,000 homes.
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More DMV News
Fairfax County to Help More HOAs Install Electric Vehicle Chargers, Expanding Pilot
FFX Now
Fairfax County is ramping up its efforts to help homeowners’ associations and other resident groups bring electric vehicle chargers to their communities.
Community Composting Programs Gain Foothold in Bay Region
The Bay Journal
Food-scrap collection is becoming more common in communities across the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond. The Mid-Atlantic has been at the vanguard of the movement. New York leads the region with 1.7 million households with access. That is followed by Virginia with 672,000, Maryland with 221,000, DC with 108,000 and Pennsylvania with 6,500.
Fairfax County Considers Size, Noise, and Environmental Guidelines for Data Centers
FFX Now
With the industry continuing to grow in Northern Virginia, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) presented guidelines on issues like noise, water and air quality, energy demand and aesthetics to the Board of Supervisors’ land use policy committee on Tuesday (Oct. 17).
Millions of Dollars Potentially Lost on Decade-Old Plastic Bag Tax Causes County Officials to Reevaluate
MoCo 360
Montgomery County officials are working to learn from their mistakes after a June report from the Office of Inspector General revealed the county lost up to a potential of $8.2 million from not properly enforcing its plastic carryout bag tax that was passed in 2012. Part of the issue? The county doesn’t have a complete list of which businesses aren’t collecting the tax.
National and International News
Atlantic Hurricanes Intensifying Faster, More Frequently, Research Finds
Washington Post
The list of major hurricanes that rapidly intensified before hitting the United States in recent years is long and memorable: Harvey, Irma, Maria, Michael, Laura, Ida, Ian and Idalia.
The US Just Made its Biggest-Ever Investment in the Grid
Canary Media
The power grid is not ready to handle the energy transition — or extreme weather. The Biden administration hopes $3.5B in new investments will fix that.
National Grid Begins Modeling Northeast Electric Truck Charging Needs
Utility Dive
National Grid is leading a two-year study of electric trucking charging needs in the Northeast and will ultimately create 20-year demand forecasts for more than 100 potential charging sites in the region.
The Next Front in the Climate Fight: U.S. Exports of Natural Gas
Washington Post
Environmentalists are gearing up for their next giant climate fight: They want to force a showdown with the Biden administration over the massive expansion of U.S. natural gas exports.
Lead Pollution From Small Planes Threatens Human Health, EPA Finds
Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced it has determined that lead emitted from airplanes is a danger to public health, opening the door for the agency’s first limits on lead fuel in aviation.