NATURAL GAS: Pennsylvania legislators send a bill to Gov. Tom Wolf that would relax environmental standards for conventional oil and gas drillers. (StateImpact Pennsylvania) 

UTILITIES:
• New Jersey regulators urge state legislators to give utilities more leeway in trimming trees on private property, which were blamed for many of the outages caused by downed power lines during a summer tropical storm. (NJ Spotlight)
• Advocates for public ownership of Maine’s utilities say customers would benefit from lower rates, but utility advocates say cost savings are not guaranteed due to acquisition costs. (WGME)

OFFSHORE WIND:
• A company completes its survey of the area of the 800 MW Mayflower offshore wind project in Massachusetts. (reNEWS)
• Rhode Island labor officials and an offshore wind advocacy group partner to create a virtual course for businesses interested in becoming involved in the industry. (reNEWS)

CLEAN ENERGY: A new report says green jobs in Connecticut are poised for a rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic. (WSHU)

CLIMATE: The Vermont Climate Assessment uses advanced data modeling and solicits public participation to show, among other things, that summers have become warmer and wetter. (VermontBiz)

BIOFUELS: Construction of the first dairy and food waste biogas facility in Connecticut is almost complete with operations expected to begin next month. (Bioenergy Insight)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Maryland city becomes the first in the state to purchase an electric garbage truck. (Intermodal News)

TRANSPORTATION: New York City’s transit agency says service will be cut by 40% without federal assistance. (New York Times)

COMMENTARY:
• An editorial board says projects like the floating offshore wind turbine in Maine are not only good for combating climate change but are drivers of economic growth. (CentralMaine.com)
• A backyard solar developer says Vermont does not deserve its “green” reputation as long as it relies on an outdated model of centralized power generation and distribution controlled by large corporations. (Bennington Banner)

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.