UTILITIES: Vermont utility regulators reject a petition by the state’s largest private employer to form and manage its own electric utility — a move advocates warned would exempt the company from state climate laws. (VTDigger)

ALSO: Maine regulators open an investigation into how earnings considerations at both Central Maine Power and its parent company dictate management decisions — and vote to lift a huge financial penalty from CMP’s earnings levied over poor customer service at the same meeting. (WMTW, Associated Press, Bangor Daily News) 

NUCLEAR: As nuclear facilities across the Northeast shut down, natural gas increasingly fills power demand, causing emissions to rise. (E&E News)

FINANCE: The board managing Massachusetts’ more than $100 billion pension fund will pressure companies it’s invested in to take climate action. (Boston Globe)

PIPELINES: Construction wraps on Pennsylvania’s Mariner East gas pipeline — an environmentally destructive project that led the state attorney general to file 48 criminal charges against the builder. (WHYY)

OFFSHORE WIND: Eversource Energy tells investors it expects to spend up to $1 billion this year on its three offshore wind projects in the Northeast. (S&P Global)

CLIMATE:
• New York City’s new mayor dumps the compost expansion plan he promised during his campaign, even as environmental advocates say it’s crucial to mitigate food waste emissions. (Gothamist)
• Environmental advocates want New Jersey’s proposed cargo-handling equipment emissions rules to be stricter, while port and railroad terminal operators say the proposal as written would stymie ongoing reduction efforts. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY: New Hampshire’s public advocate requests a hearing over the utility regulator’s decision to only enact half of a plan for using a $5 million clean energy fund. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

GRID:
• Strong winds lead to significant power outages across the Northeast; with over 75,000 Pennsylvanians without power this morning and tens of thousands more customers facing outages from New Jersey to Maine. (NBC Connecticut, PowerOutage.US)
• A major environmental group that initially supported a proposed transmission line to bring Québec hydropower to New York City has rescinded its support. (Bloomberg CityLab)

SOLAR: A Maine zoning appeals board confirms an earlier planning board’s approval of two solar arrays, respectively totaling 4.1 MW and 6.5 MW, despite concern from adjacent landowners. (Morning Sentinel)

AFFORDABILITY:
• Maine’s utility commission approves Gov. Janet Mills’ proposal to provide a single $90 utility bill credit for around 90,000 low-income ratepayers. (Kennebec Journal)
• A New York animal sanctuary says its ability to care for its creatures is threatened by a nearly $6,000 year-over-year increase in its January utility bill. (Daily Freeman)

GAS: New York City’s public house agency says cooking gas restoration was on track to wrap up yesterday at a complex that has been without gas for 11 months. (SI Live)