UTILITY BILLS: Federal officials double the funding for Vermont’s low-to-moderate-income home heating assistance program. (Bennington Banner)

ALSO: Last week’s winter storm drove Northeast electricity and natural gas prices to their highest point in four years. (Reuters)

CLIMATE: As the Berkshires region of Massachusetts experiences warmer, wetter weather associated with the climate crisis, its local ski industry may fade away. (Berkshire Eagle)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Numerous New England transportation officials say the biggest hurdle to overcome when electrifying their public bus fleets is upgrading bus garages and their electrical systems. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A new rule mandates some types of new cargo-handling equipment operating at the Port of New York and New Jersey be zero-emission; meanwhile, New Jersey environmental officials propose a rule to cut emissions from other types of cargo machinery at the same port. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CYBERSECURITY: Connecticut’s utility regulator finds many phishing attempts against utility vendors and partners, which are a “significant risk” to utilities, were successful because of a lack of multi-factor authentication. (CT Insider)

CLEAN ENERGY: Yonkers, New York, kicks off a community choice aggregation program to provide 50,000 households with locally generated hydroelectricity. (news release)

SOLAR: A northern New Jersey town council votes to draw electricity from a proposed solar farm to be erected on local farmland, with savings estimated at  over $6 million over the 20-year contract. (Lehigh Valley Live)

WIND:
• New Jersey earmarks $350 million for corporate offshore wind sector tax credits and $265 million to fund the New Jersey Wind Port. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Construction on a nearly 106 MW wind farm in northern New York pauses for the winter but is still expected to wrap up later this year. (NNY360)

EFFICIENCY:
• New Hampshire’s utility regulator says it won’t reconsider its unpopular decision to gut funding for the state’s energy efficiency programs. (WMUR)
• National Grid provides over $100,000 in energy efficiency incentives to a major pasta manufacturer to improve its facility in New York’s Finger Lakes region. (Livingston County News)

GRID: The top Connecticut energy official and ISO New England continue to disagree on what can be done to address winter grid reliability concerns. (RTO Insider, subscription)

COAL: Firefighters respond to a blaze at a retired coal plant in New York’s Niagara County as it’s demolished to make way for cryptocurrency mining. (Buffalo News)

FUEL: Federal officials authorize Vermont transporters delivering heating fuel to work longer hours amid a truck driver shortage. (WCAX)

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.