CRYPTOMINING: Cryptocurrency miners increasingly turn their gaze to upstate and western New York as they seek cheap, reliable power from hydroelectric and natural gas facilities, frustrating environmentalists and politicians who say the operations hurt the state’s decarbonization progress. (Times Union)

OIL & GAS:
• Maine environmental officials join firefighters to clean up a 50-gallon diesel fuel spill at a gas station in a downeast town. (Sun Journal)
• A popular beach in South Portland, Maine, reopened over the weekend following a motor oil spill that closed it for multiple days. (News Center Maine)
• Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., joins the side of New York City activists who want to see several natural gas-fired peaker power plants completely shut down by 2030. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE: A task force in Bar Harbor, Maine, works to draft a climate action plan for town officials to soon consider, but the necessary solutions will likely require regional partnerships and buy-in from residents. (Energy News Network)

GRID:
• The battles over Central Maine Power’s transmission line project highlight the massive hurdles President Joe Biden will encounter while trying to dramatically increase the amount of renewable energy in the country. (E&E News)
• A small power outage was quickly resolved in New York City but nevertheless caused lengthy transit delays and forced transit officials to evacuate hundreds of people from stalled trains (amNY, CBS New York)
• Eversource plans to proactively survey and cut down threatening or dead trees as it continues its Tropical Storm Henri recovery and preps for future storms. (News Times)
• Baltimore Gas & Electric plans to use helicopters to install equipment on two transmission towers alongside a bridge. (CBS Baltimore)

POLITICS: Numerous local officials in Somerset, Massachusetts, have quit their jobs in recent months over attempted property damage and harassment by residents frustrated about delays in turning a former coal plant site into an offshore wind staging area. (Commonwealth Magazine)

PIPELINES: The Colonial pipeline shut down two lines of the conduit that transports millions of gallons of fuel to New York as it prepared for Hurricane Ida’s landfall in the Gulf, but analysts say it’s too soon to gauge pricing impacts. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:
• With solar developers snapping up land across Pennsylvania, academics say there is a real need to educate landowners on what solar leases entail before too many people sign lengthy contracts brimming with industry jargon. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• A Norwegian aluminum producer signs a power purchase agreement for the output of a 127 MW solar farm expected to be the largest such facility in Pennsylvania. (PV magazine)
• U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont visits a solar array at an elementary school to join school officials and energy developers to promote renewable power funding and job creation. (Waterbury Roundabout)
• A Pennsylvania legislative committee held a hearing to discuss a proposed bill that would allow hundreds of community solar projects to move forward. (news release)

HYDROELECTRIC: Hydroelectric dams seem to be one of several factors responsible for a decline in Atlantic salmon struggling to reproduce. (Bangor Daily News)

BIOFUEL: A company near Bangor, Maine, will receive over $50,000 to help expand biofuel development in the state. (Associated Press)

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Bridget Reed Morawski

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.