EFFICIENCY: Business groups in Rhode Island and Connecticut urge temporary suspension of efficiency surcharges to provide companies financial relief; advocates say the move would cause further harm to the efficiency sector. (Energy News Network) 

OIL & GAS:
• Environmentalists fear a new federal rule in response to New York’s rejection of an undersea pipeline on Clean Water Act grounds could revive projects already delayed or dropped. (InsideClimateNews)
• A federal judge delays sentencing of NiSource for a fatal gas explosion in Massachusetts in 2018 over questions about the plea agreement. (Reuters)
• The Baker administration will decide “sometime soon” how it will proceed after a federal court rejected its approval of a Massachusetts compressor station. (State House News Service, subscription required)

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CLIMATE: A Boston pastor through her environmental justice activism seeks to bring attention to the inequities suffered by people of color. (Reuters)

SOLAR: Solar advocates say using Geographic Imaging Systems in Massachusetts to map potential sites would put 90% of the state’s lands off-limits for development. (PV Magazine)

REGULATION: Rhode Island Senate committees quickly advance three nominees for top energy positions over the objections of environmental and social justice groups. (ecoRI)

GRID: Stakeholders in New York’s grid discuss proposed changes presented by the market monitor that come from its review of 2019 operations. (Platts) 

SOLAR: A poultry company plants pollinator-friendly flowers as ground cover around a solar array at its Maryland headquarters as research indicates their presence increases yields on chicken feed crops like soybeans. (Perishable News)

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TECHNOLOGY: The New York Power Authority develops an innovation lab to advance its grid modernization program. (T&D World)

COMMENTARY: A utility executive and consumer advocate promote a program to help customers in financial stress manage their unpaid bills that is already in place in Connecticut and other states. (Utility Dive) 

Bill is a freelance journalist based outside Albany, New York. As a former New England correspondent for RTO Insider, he has written about energy for newspapers, magazines and other publications for more than 20 years. He has an extensive career in trade publications and newspapers, mostly focused on the utility sector, covering such issues as restructuring, renewable energy and consumer affairs. Bill covers Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and also compiles the Northeast Energy News daily email digest.