Editor’s note: New York’s city council voted to ban gas hookups for cooking and heating in new buildings or major renovations. Yesterday’s digest misstated the policy’s impact.

EFFICIENCY: Connecticut’s governor signs an executive order requiring an energy efficiency review of all public buildings and the development of energy cost-reducing building and home appliance standards, and pushes the state to electrify its bus fleet by 2035. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• New England trade groups for regional oil and gas suppliers tell the region’s governors to stop incentivizing heat pumps. (WGME)
• A city in New York’s Capital Region plans to spend nearly $3 million to electrify its city hall’s heating and ventilation system and repair hundreds of drafty, inefficient windows. (Times Union)

GRID: A Maine judge denies an injunction sought by Central Maine Power parent company Avangrid to stop a law that bans its transmission line project. (Portland Press Herald)

WIND: Federal officials determine that selling up to 10 commercial or research wind development leases in the New York Bight would have “no significant” environmental impacts during pre-construction tests and surveys. (E&E News)

UTILITIES: Two New York lawmakers introduce legislation to convert Long Island Power Authority into a fully public utility and end the third-party management model; currently, LIPA is operated by PSEG Long Island. (East Hampton Star)

GAS:
• An environmental nonprofit reports developers will no longer pursue repowering the Gowanus floating gas power plant in New York City’s Brooklyn borough. (news release)
• In New Hampshire, a gas leak at a Unitil pump station led to the temporary evacuation of residents in several nearby homes until the leak was contained. (WHDH)
• A New Jersey legislator introduces a bill to ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers, while another lawmaker files legislation to provide rebates for electric or battery-powered versions. (NJ.com)
• In Maine, Portland’s fire marshall says it will take time to get people to comply with a new gas detector installation law that takes effect in January, even with increased interest in the devices. (WGME)

GEOTHERMAL: Massachusetts regulators allow National Grid to begin a five-year geothermal heating and cooling project, aiming to demonstrate an alternative use for the utility’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure. (Boston Globe)

HYDROELECTRIC: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted $217,000 to the operators of a northwestern Massachusetts hydroelectric dam to modernize the facility. (Greenfield Recorder)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New York’s Albany International Airport adds 16 electric vehicle charging stations, free for airport travelers to use, that partially draw power from on-site solar panels. (Times Union)

RATES: Pennsylvania regulators allow Duquesne Light and Columbia Gas to raise rates next year, although not by as much as the utilities wanted. (TribLive)

TRANSPORTATION: New York City’s mayor wants more boats involved in last-mile delivery services to reduce the number of 18-wheeler trucks on city streets. (Gothamist)

COMMENTARY: A Maine editorial board argues that the state needs safer roads and more public transportation options to address “pedestrian fatalities, air pollution, climate change, even the loss of social connection.” (Portland Press Herald)

Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.