GRID: Rhode Island’s first utility-scale battery storage facility, a 3 MW system, will power up this spring to help the Pascoag Utility District during peak power demand. (ecoRI)

ALSO:
• ISO-New England asks a federal appeals court to undo an order delaying the results of the grid operator’s capacity auction over the inclusion of the Killingly Energy Center, which hasn’t started construction and has no financial assurance. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A private equity firm tries to overcome the odds of bringing its $4.5 billion Canada-New York City transmission project online despite a lengthy permit process, conservation concerns and environmental activism. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)

SOLAR: Four towns in Vermont and New Hampshire’s Upper Valley and six solar installers join forces to educate residents about the federal solar installation tax credits that will begin winding down next year. (Valley News)

EFFICIENCY:
• Five years after Maryland’s first net-zero school was built, the building serves as a model for more efficient construction around the state. (Maryland Matters)
• A Boston suburb receives over $300,000 in state efficiency grants to ensure environmental justice communities can access efficiency programs, among other projects. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Ed Markey backs Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s fare-free public transportation pilot, calling the model “absolutely pioneering.” (Boston Globe)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A Philadelphia-area town committee discusses how transitioning to electric school buses would be environmentally positive, but would strain the school district’s budget. (Delaware County Daily Times)
• Vermont transportation officials begin sketching out where they will install new vehicle fast chargers next year with federal funds. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Two Connecticut utilities will host webinars from this week through April to educate homeowners about new state electric vehicle charger installation incentives. (News Times)

UTILITIES:
• National Fuel Gas and Erie, Pennsylvania, come to an agreement on the collection of nonrefundable street degradation fees imposed on utilities during road work. (Erie Times-News)
• The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority plans to grant about $3 million to help electric municipal utilities and rural co-ops with decarbonization and resiliency. (news release)

OFFSHORE WIND: Maryland utility regulators select Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind 2 offshore farm for a 20-year renewable energy credit contract. (news release)

COMMENTARY:
• The executive director of a nonpartisan political nonprofit says New York Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to bring a citizens utility board “out of hibernation” in the face of mounting utility costs. (WAMC)
• A newspaper columnist discusses how heat pumps have become more effective in the past few decades and are now a reasonable home heating option for New Hampshire residents. (Concord Monitor)

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.