ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Officials in Westport, Connecticut, say a recent electric bus fire at a state transit facility doesn’t deter them from further fleet electrification. (CTPost)

ALSO:
• Three school districts near Augusta, Maine, plan to apply for federal electric school bus grants, but some education officials question whether the vehicles make sense for a cold, rural area. (Kennebec Journal)
• A lithium battery catches fire in a shipping container at an electric aircraft company’s Vermont facility overnight on Friday. (VT Digger)

FOSSIL FUELS:
• New York will use roughly $25 million in federal funds to cap thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells across the state. (Spectrum News)
• A public hearing is scheduled for tomorrow near Pittsburgh regarding a proposed fracking waste disposal well that some residents fear will harm their environment. (CBS Pittsburgh)

GRID:
• New England’s grid operator and multiple utilities encourage policymakers to create an “energy reserve” that can be used when supply chains are disrupted and to keep a liquefied natural gas facility operating beyond its closure date. (CommonWealth Magazine)
• Federal energy regulators allow New England’s grid operator to exclude some distributed energy resources from its interconnection process, instead letting the states handle it. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE:
• Few New Hampshire schools have air conditioning, and while new federal aid helps some pay for installation, maintenance will be an added expense. (NHPR)
• In New York, a bakery says it’s now net-zero after installing a small solar array and heat pumps, but it still uses gas ovens. (Daily Freeman)
• A New Jersey teacher discusses the benefits and burdens of teaching climate change in the classroom. (NPR)

CLEAN ENERGY: Several Vermont schools will start the new year with clean energy infrastructure, including a large rooftop solar array, efficiency measures and geothermal heating and cooling. (NBC Boston)

AFFORDABILITY:
• In November, Maryland regulators will consider removing pandemic-era measures that protect ratepayers from utility shutoffs, like low-income resident payment plans. (WYPR)
• Two Connecticut utilities collectively had around 420,000 customers more than 30 days behind on their power and gas bills last month, worrying consumer advocates ahead of the pricey winter heating season. (New Haven Register)
• Connecticut lawmakers approve less federal money for home heating assistance for this year than for last. (Hartford Courant)
• New Jersey’s gasoline tax is set to decline by a cent on October 1, a measure triggered by larger-than-expected consumption. (NJ Spotlight)

TRANSIT: New Jersey’s governor defends texts sent to E-ZPass drivers encouraging opposition to New York City’s congestion pricing plan. (Gothamist)

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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.