WIND:
• Oil companies’ deep pockets and decades of offshore drilling experience could give them an advantage in the offshore wind industry, though environmentalists are skeptical they’ll ever fully abandon fossil fuels. (E&E News/WBUR)
• Federal energy officials announce $13.5 million in funding to research how offshore wind projects will impact East Coast fisheries and ecosystems on the West Coast. (news release, WHYY, Associated Press)

GRID:
• Clean energy industry groups call on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to fast-track the interconnection process, while grid operators contend that will disrupt their transmission planning. (S&P Global)
• FERC considers overhauling its policy that lets states block demand response resources from wholesale power markets, with supporters of eliminating the rule saying it would boost clean energy and zero-carbon resources. (E&E News)
• Rocky Mountain Power offers incentives to 50,000 Utah rooftop solar customers for battery systems to provide grid support during emergencies and high demand, with plans to extend the program to six states. (Utility Dive)  

POLITICS:
• Democratic lawmakers and the White House reportedly may make energy concessions to get Sen. Joe Manchin’s support of their reconciliation bill, including letting coal and natural gas power plants receive clean energy incentives. (Politico)
• U.S. climate envoy John Kerry says failure to pass the reconciliation bill won’t prevent the country from cutting emissions in other ways, but that world leaders likely won’t agree on needed emissions goals at the COP26 summit. (E&E News, Associated Press)

CLIMATE: The Biden administration issues a report laying out government-wide plans to address climate change’s risks to the financial, insurance, and housing markets. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES: Utilities are increasingly considering the “social” part of their ESG responsibilities as they transition to cleaner energy, including by instituting board diversity requirements and considering how changing energy resources will impact vulnerable communities. (S&P Global)

PIPELINES: A congressional subcommittee begins to make the case for stricter regulation of thousands of abandoned offshore wells, platforms and pipelines, including 18,000 miles of decommissioned pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. (Bloomberg)

OIL & GAS:
• While Western oil giants have slowed production amid pandemic-induced demand slumps and government mandates, state-owned companies in the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America are ramping up to fill the gap. (New York Times)
• Massachusetts advocates ask why gas utilities are literally writing the first draft of the state’s decarbonization strategy when that industry has the most to lose in the process. (Boston Globe)

CARBON CAPTURE:
• An industrial gas supplier announces plans for a $4.5 billion “blue hydrogen” and carbon capture facility in Louisiana that the governor says will be the largest carbon sequestration project in the world. (Associated Press, Lafayette Daily Advertiser)
• The utility behind a $1 billion carbon capture and storage project planned at a North Dakota coal plant says it is having trouble attracting private investors to the project, which also faces ongoing engineering delays. (S&P Global)

TRANSPORTATION: Dozens of elected officials in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut have signed a letter imploring their legislatures to join the Transportation and Climate Initiative. (ecoRI)

Kathryn brings her extensive editorial background to the Energy News Network team, where she oversees the early-morning production of ENN’s five email digest newsletters as well as distribution of ENN’s original journalism with other media outlets. From documenting chronic illness’ effect on college students to following the inner workings of Congress, Kathryn has built a broad experience in her more than five years working at major publications including The Week Magazine. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism and information management and technology from Syracuse University.