Energy News Roundup: September 18-September 24

This week in regional energy news …

• Eliot Cutler, Paul LePage, Shawn Moody, and Libby Mitchell gathered at the University of Southern Maine on Thursday morning to discuss their proposals for state energy policy and to answer audience questions.  
• Massachusetts regulators’ concerns over whether biomass fuels should qualify under renewable portfolio standards are widely disputed but regulatory changes are under way, and the biomass industry is fighting back.
• A regional committee in Maine is taking a proactive approach in creating model wind ordinances for towns.
• First Wind is in discussions with Bingham, Maine, town officials regarding a possible wind project.
• Experts in Massachusetts hope to develop an offshore energy testing site, or “wetlab,” in the state.  The project’s official name is the National Renewable Energy Innovation Zone.
• Researchers are Tufts and Harvard Universities have published the results of a study detailing ways to increase the production of hydrogen, which can be used as a clean fuel.  The article is in the journal Science.