Solar-plus-storage systems at any of the nation’s 14,000 community health centers can keep them running through power outages, and preserve medications requiring refrigeration. A Florida study evaluated the systems’ health care value and the financial return.

The grants will result in more energy-efficient buildings, a key element of a least-cost strategy for 100% renewables.

A Maine referendum would create a new publicly owned utility that could purchase and operate the assets of the state’s two investor-owned utilities. Advocates say that would speed Maine’s path to 80% renewables by 2030.

Up to 60 grants will be awarded to states and other eligible entities, ranging from $25 million to as much as $400 million.

Trade group ACORE recommended long-distance, high-voltage transmission within the PJM grid region along with other, faster measures to help the grid operator approve 167 GW of pending solar, storage and wind projects.

IREC and Vote Solar have recommended individualized state-by-state fixes to remove barriers to interconnection of distributed solar and storage, in a set of 50 state report cards.

While approving the utility’s plan that would add 300 MW of utility-scale solar and 50 MW of storage by 2025, state regulators ordered the utility to increase the transparency of its resource planning and to advance equity for its customers.

Florida and utility FPL lead the Southeast in solar deployment, while other states and utilities bypass low-cost solar and storage, favoring gas peaker units and small modular reactors and risking higher customer bills, said experts from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The “Solar for All” grant program is expected to begin accepting applications from states and other entities as early as this month, aiming to enable millions of families in low-income and disadvantaged communities to access solar energy.

States can remedy inadequate hosting capacity for distributed solar and storage, unfairly high interconnection costs for some projects, and other interconnection barriers, a consulting firm concluded.