GAS: Pennsylvania environmental advisors consider mandating quarterly methane leak detection and repairs at larger well sites regardless of age, potentially joining the few states that have similar requirements for older wells. (Bloomberg Green)

ALSO: A gas leak at a southwestern Pennsylvania home kills one person and critically injures two others. (NBC Philadelphia)

UTILITIES:
• A western Pennsylvania utility contractor is handed three years’ probation and $200,000 in fines after failing to meet federal safety regulations, which resulted in the electrocution death of an employee. (news release)
• Maine legislators from both parties want state regulators to investigate the claims outlined in a lawsuit brought against Central Maine Power’s parent company by a Pennsylvania cybersecurity firm. (Portland Press Herald)

EFFICIENCY:
• Attorneys representing New Hampshire environmental and consumer groups say a utilities commission order Monday related to energy efficiency funding may be void because a quorum of commissioners didn’t sign off on it. (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• A New Jersey legislative committee unanimously supports a bill preventing state agencies from mandating electric heating or hot water boilers at the expense of fossil fuel-based heating methods. (RTO Insider, subscription)

TRANSPORTATION: NJ Transit wants to install back-up generators to keep the power running at six critical stations in case of emergency, but some question why the agency is primarily looking at fossil fuel generators. (NJ.com)

CLIMATE:
• A research team launches three sailing drones from Rhode Island’s coast into the Atlantic Ocean, hoping the machines will return with climate data for meteorologists to better understand the Gulf Stream’s extreme weather patterns. (Providence Journal)
• Urban designers envision how New York City might visually evolve to cope with sea level rise and more-frequent flooding associated with the climate crisis. (Fast Company)
• A public radio station analyzes the climate mitigation and disaster response legacy of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (WNYC)
• As winters continue warming across the region, New England’s Hemlock trees become more vulnerable to an invasive pest. (Yale Climate Connections)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• Some Connecticut lawmakers raise concerns about the impact of offshore wind on the local fishing industry, as well as of the fortitude of attached undersea transmission cables. (CT Post)
• Con Edison pitches an offshore wind power transmission network that would carry 2.4 GW to the grid via underwater cables onshore to New Jersey. (NBC New York)

LABOR: A Maine community college starts the state’s first electric and hybrid vehicle technician training program. (news release)

COMMENTARY: Philadelphia Gas Works releases a report examining its business diversification options, including a “decidedly novel” networked geothermal system, the maintenance for which current employees could reasonably be trained to do. (National Resources Defense Council blog)

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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.