UTILITY: Rhode Island utility regulators decide PPL Corporation can purchase National Grid’s local utility Narragansett Electric despite concerns over Pennsylvania-based PPL’s ability to decarbonize. (Boston Globe)

EQUITY: After years of outreach by environmental justice advocates, Vermont state senators advance proposed rules to ensure environmental benefits and burdens are equitably distributed. (Energy News Network)

OFFSHORE WIND: As the federal offshore wind leasing auction continues for parcels in New York and New Jersey waters, experts suggest keeping an eye on the bidding companies and continued legal action from fishers. (E&E News)

CLIMATE:
• Maine’s House votes to provide $3 million for climate-related teacher education, although some Republicans argued there are plenty of free, reputable educational materials teachers can use. (Portland Press Herald)
• Winter temperatures have risen roughly 5 degrees over the last three decades in Vermont’s Champlain Valley, meaning Lake Champlain isn’t freezing over as often as it should to protect water and ecosystem quality. (NBC 5)

GRID: A Massachusetts start-up is developing a grid-scale battery technology that uses the iron oxidation process (i.e., rusting) to power batteries. (WBUR)

SOLAR:
• Some Washington, D.C., residents say their utility wants them to pay thousands of dollars to upgrade neighborhood distribution equipment before installing rooftop solar panels. (Washington Post)
• National Grid wants Rhode Island regulators to let the utility end financial subsidies for developers building solar canopies over parking lots, although environmental advocates want the incentives to continue. (Providence Business News)

AFFORDABILITY:
• A northern Maine town loses the only convenience store in the area because the shop’s electricity bill nearly doubled, making it unaffordable to operate. (St. John Valley Times)
• Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents together owe almost $675 million on their gas or electric bills, leaving them at risk of having those services shut off as the state’s winter moratorium approaches its annual end. (GBH)

GAS:
• A new regulatory report details the opportunities in and barriers to forming a renewable power-to-fuel pilot project in Maine. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Preservation and stabilization work has begun on a historic gasholder building in Concord, New Hampshire, that threatens to topple. (Concord Monitor)

FINANCE: Financial and climate experts highlight the hurdles Harvard University must overcome to meet its net-zero pledge, such as obtaining data to measure its partners’ emissions. (Harvard Crimson)

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.