OIL & GAS: Massachusetts needs to electrify 100,000 home heating systems every year this decade to reach its conversion goals, but only 461 made the switch in 2020. (Boston Globe)

ALSO:
• A fire broke out in an unused fuel storage tank at an old south Philadelphia refining site yesterday afternoon as contractors dismantled the facility responsible for a 2019 leak and explosion. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Virtual public hearings on a controversial natural gas-fired power plant upgrade project in Queens, New York, kick off today. (QNS)
• Connecticut heating oil prices have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. (New Haven Register)

POLITICS: Although former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration had some environmental wins, activists say he was a “reluctant” ally and hope the new administration will be more helpful — even if newly sworn in Gov. Kathy Hochul has previously supported fracking and the Keystone XL pipeline. (Inside Climate News)

PIPELINES: Two southeastern Pennsylvania lawmakers want pipeline operators to pay for the development of an early warning detection system for leaks or other incidents. (Patch)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: For three decades, Zulene Mayfield has fought the industrialization of her west Philadelphia town, including the waste-to-energy facility she says the community knew little about until it was too late to stop it. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

SOLAR:
• Researchers in downstate New York look into how to enhance the compatibility of solar panels and local wildlife, an inquiry that could have repercussions for future energy development. (Times Union)
• Dual agri-voltaic projects are already deemed a complementary pairing for developers seeking to stoke solar growth and minimize farmland availability concerns in upstate New York. (Buffalo News)

GRID:
• Energy officials and local politicians, including Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, showed up to evaluate the scene in a town “hard-hit” by Henri, but found only a few hundred residents still lacking power. (CT Mirror)
• Analysts predict power demand has been escalating in New York and New England amid high temperatures and quick recovery from Henri, resulting in growing wholesale power prices. (S&P Global)
• A political action committee formed to oppose the New England Clean Energy Connect project is slapped with a relatively small fine for failing to file a necessary report. (Portland Press Herald)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Vermont lawmaker’s Chevy Bolt caught on fire in July, helping spur the current wave of recalls for the vehicle’s battery. (Burlington Free Press)

WIND: New York officials promote two Albany-area ports as ideal wind turbine assembly stations at a Virginia trade show. (Times Union)

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Loyola University Maryland signs a 25-year power purchase agreement for the output of a nearby 12-acre solar array. (news release)

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.