FOSSIL FUELS: In a rural Pennsylvania county, some residents fight for a new public water pipeline and criminal charges against the oil and gas driller that fouled their drinking water aquifers. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• A proposed Massachusetts code update would allow an option for continued use of fossil fuels in new construction, prompting municipalities to renew a push for legal authority to prohibit new natural gas hookups. (Energy News Network)
• A young Cape Cod military family’s recently inspected oil tank leaked for twenty minutes, spilling enough oil to trigger state environmental clean-up laws and leaving them with a nearly $200,000 remediation bill. (Boston Globe)
• Landscapers in Lexington, Massachusetts, collect enough signatures to put a local gas-powered leaf blower ban to a voter referendum in March. (WCVB)

UTILITY: Some Republican state lawmakers in Vermont want to find a legislative solution to allow the state’s largest employer to form a self-governed utility, fearing the company may leave the state if it doesn’t get its way. (WCAX)

CLIMATE:
• In Pennsylvania, sentiment around carbon capture projects breaks down along ideological lines, with conservatives in favor of and environmentalists staunchly against a proposal disallowing a carbon pricing scheme but funding carbon reduction technologies. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Maine snowmobilers find fewer and fewer sufficiently snowy days to enjoy their sport as the frequency of warmer, wetter winters increases. (Morning Sentinel)
• Research suggests Maine could see more severe browntail moth infestations and a significantly diminished population of a critical zooplankton as consequences of the climate crisis. (Bangor Daily News, Daily Climate)

OFFSHORE WIND: Massachusetts’ Brayton Point, the home of a former coal-fired power plant, will soon host a subsea transmission cable manufacturing plant to support the growing offshore wind industry. (State House News Service)

SOLAR:
• A Massachusetts program that helps affordable housing agencies conduct rooftop solar feasibility studies plans to expand to help an additional 15 organizations. (PV Magazine)
• A Maine project serves as an example of both the opportunity and conflict embedded in attempts to develop solar arrays on farmland. (Maine Public Radio)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Over a third of Maryland’s renewable energy credits came from waste-to-energy facilities, according to an environmental advocacy group. (Maryland Matters)

TRANSPORTATION: Rhode Island advocates are troubled by state transportation officials’ plan to use federal infrastructure funds on road construction that doesn’t align with the state’s climate policies. (Providence Journal)

EFFICIENCY: A Massachusetts resident already approved for efficiency rebates says National Grid might not give him the money because of ongoing program reforms. (WCVB)

AFFORDABILITY: Maine residents are seeing their highest combined energy bills in almost a decade, leaving state officials rushing to find new ways to help financially vulnerable communities. (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.