UTILITIES: Connecticut legislators unveil a bill to revamp utility regulation to a performance-based model to reward or punish utilities for the speed of service restorations after storms. (Hartford Courant)

ALSO: Connecticut regulators next week will hold another hearing on recent hikes in Eversource rates that the utility blames on a state contract to prop up the Millstone nuclear power plant. (WFSB)

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TRANSPORTATION:
• The pandemic ends a fledgling rural bus service in Maine that had shown promising ridership numbers before it had to close. (Energy News Network)
• Central Maine Power starts an incentive program to help developers, fleet managers and others defray the costs of fast-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. (Portland Press Herald)
• Maryland transit officials propose a 2021 budget that calls for massive cuts in bus and rail service in the Baltimore area due to a decline in ridership caused by the pandemic. (Maryland Matters)
• A New York state university opens four public electric vehicle charging stations for commuters to its campus. (SUNY Cortland)
• A bioenergy company will provide 25 million gallons of organic-derived fuel for 800 New York City transit buses. (Bioenergy Insight)

PIPELINES: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker lifts a state of emergency declared almost two years ago in several towns after a fatal natural gas explosion. (Boston 25 News)

OFFSHORE WIND: Atlantic Shores offshore wind developers open their community outreach center at a local university in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• A clean energy advocate says two years after federal regulators allowed energy storage to participate in regulated markets, the main driver for the technology is still state policies like many Northeast states encouraging its use. (Utility Dive)
• The Environmental Defense Fund says a federal refusal to regulate methane emissions means Pennsylvania should proceed creating its own rules. (Lancaster Online)
• A labor leader endorses the conversion of a Hudson Valley power plant to natural gas until new renewable energy projects are able to power the region at scale. (Times Herald-Record)

Bill is a freelance journalist based outside Albany, New York. As a former New England correspondent for RTO Insider, he has written about energy for newspapers, magazines and other publications for more than 20 years. He has an extensive career in trade publications and newspapers, mostly focused on the utility sector, covering such issues as restructuring, renewable energy and consumer affairs. Bill covers Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and also compiles the Northeast Energy News daily email digest.