Energy News Roundup: March 10-March 16

This week in regional energy news …

• Searsport, Maine, residents voted to reject a moratorium on liquefied propane tank terminal development in the town.  The rejection paves the way for DCP Midstream of Denver to proceed with its plan for an LPG terminal for the town.
• Constellation Energy, which recently settled a case of alleged market manipulation by paying the biggest fine in FERC history, has officially been sold to Chicago-based Exelon Corp. for over $7 billion, creating the largest non-utility energy company in the U.S.  Constellation will pay $245 million to the U.S. Treasury in the FERC settlement.
• Developers working on New Hampshire’s Northern Pass transmission project are facing obstacles to obtaining land necessary for the development, as many landowners are refusing to sell.
• Following a settlement with Connecticut regulators, Northeast Utilities and NStar have a clearer path to their nearly $5 billion merger. 
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently rejected three intervenors’ contentions in opposition to the renewal of the Seabrook nuclear facility’s license.
• 1st Light Energy, a solar energy provider stationed in California and New Jersey, is opening a Massachusetts operation.  Hiring for a Waltham facility, which will later expand into Springfield, will occur over the next few months.
• Maine’s Governor LePage has introduced four bills that would affect various areas of Maine’s energy industry and policy—including Efficiency Maine, the Office of the Public Advocate, and the definition of renewable hydro units, among other things.  Stakeholders are debating the proposals.