OFFSHORE WIND: The South Fork wind farm’s developers agree to Rhode Island coastal regulators’ request to reduce its number of turbines to mitigate fisheries and ecosystem harm, though more powerful turbines will allow the farm to maintain about the same capacity. (Providence Journal)

GRID:
• Rhode Island clean energy advocates want the state to require the potential buyer of Narragansett Electric’s power distribution system to detail how it will reach the state’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030. (Energy News Network)
• Connecticut’s senate advances a bill that would mandate the state deploys 1 GW of energy storage by the end of 2030. (Energy Storage News)
• ISO New England reports it has enough generation resources to meet power demand even if temperatures rise above average, but the North American Electric Reliability Corporation thinks the grid operator is at risk of an energy shortfall. (news release, Utility Dive)

SOLAR: Construction begins on a 100 MW solar array in a central Pennsylvania township, with operations expected in May 2022. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: Rhode Island legislators vote to hold a proposal that would establish a regulatory framework for implementing the Transportation & Climate Initiative for further study. (ecoRI)

UTILITIES:
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills nominates a retired energy lawyer to the state utility commission. (Bangor Daily News, subscription)
• In Vermont, Burlington Electric customers will see their rates rise for the first time in over a decade. (Seven Days)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A gas station chain believes a New York bill set to block sales of non-zero-emission vehicles beginning in 2035 doesn’t align with current customer demand for the technology. (Times Union)

NATURAL GAS:
• A Maine legislative committee endorses a bill that would make petroleum tank farms monitor emissions and undertake off-gassing mitigation steps in response to air pollution concerns in South Portland. (Portland Press Herald)
• A chemical manufacturer receives a roughly $256,000 grant from Pennsylvania to help cover the costs of modifying 28 trucks and vans to demonstrate adsorbed natural gas and renewable natural gas technologies. (news release)

EFFICIENCY: Pittsburgh is pulling ahead of some other North American cities when it comes to reducing energy use. (Next Pittsburgh)

COMMENTARY: A Versant Power board member thinks the current wave of support to form a consumer-owned utility with Versant and Central Maine Power assets distracts from important climate change mitigation conversations. (Bangor Daily News)

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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.