FOSSIL FUELS: Massachusetts advocates say it’s time to start thinking about how to protect lower-income residents from rising gas costs as those in wealthier towns begin to abandon the fossil fuel system. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: In Philadelphia, two century-old energy institutions — a steam heat district and a citywide gas utility — fight for customers amid a decarbonization push. (WHYY)

WIND: Federal officials issue a draft report examining the potential environmental impacts of the first large-scale wind farms in Rhode Island. (Boston Globe)

AFFORDABILITY: Rhode Island Energy plans to forgive the roughly $43.5 million in accumulated utility debt of around 19,000 households, but warns of a heating bill hike this winter. (ecoRI, WPRI)

BUILDINGS:
• Philadelphia’s schools won’t all have air conditioning until 2027 because the city first needs to upgrade the buildings’ electrical capacity, leaving kids to learn in often sweltering classrooms in the meantime. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• A central Pennsylvania county expands its commercial property assessed clean energy program to include multi-family housing with five or more units, among other projects. (WTAJ)

STORAGE:
• A research team that included University of Maryland engineers has discovered a way to make biodegradable battery components out of crab and lobster shells and zinc. (Daily Beast, The Guardian)
• A Canadian company says it wants to site a manufacturing facility for large batteries in New York’s Ulster County in the future. (Daily Freeman)

HEAT:
• Severe drought in Maine’s populous coastal region is causing private wells to run dry, as well as blueberry and hay crop losses. (Bangor Daily News)
• A new University of Massachusetts Amherst study finds that several Northeast cities, including Providence, experienced their hottest August on record this year. (WHDH)
• Trees suffering from the ongoing drought in New Hampshire might topple and cause power outages, Eversource warns. (WMUR)

CLIMATE:
• After years of little momentum, Rhode Island legislators and advocates say the past two years have been the most productive for climate and environmental policymaking in a long time. (Providence Journal)
• New Jersey’s governor announces more aid for still-suffering victims of last year’s Hurricane Ida, but environmentalists say the state isn’t prepared for future extreme weather. (NJ Advance Media)

GRID:
• Plans to underground utility lines in Ocean City, Maryland, are now projected to cost twice as much and take twice as long as estimated when they were originally approved. (OC Today)
• A Maryland utility will shut off a town’s power for several hours one night this month to make repairs and undergo maintenance for the first time in a decade. (The Dispatch)

TRANSIT:
• Boston’s subway line shutdown has resulted in three of the highest-usage days for the city’s bike share program. (Government Technology)
• A new daily passenger bus service kicks off between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York, with stops in 18 towns along the way. (TribLive)

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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.