EFFICIENCY: Utilities’ efforts to help customers make energy efficient improvements that reduce their power consumption and bills have “stagnated,” an energy efficiency group says. (Utility Dive)

ALSO: New materials and equipment can lower a home’s cooling costs and emissions, but Florida homebuilders concerned about profit margins don’t usually use them. (Miami Herald)

CLIMATE:
• A “dystopian” summer of extreme heat, deadly wildfires and record-breaking flooding could become the new normal as climate change escalates, experts warn. (Guardian)
• Hawaii’s wildfires are leading home insurers to reconsider the state’s vulnerability to climate change, which has already prompted some insurers to pull out of California and Florida. (New York Times)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• Falling oil and natural gas prices likely won’t slow the long-term deployment of renewable energy, analysts say. (Utility Dive)
• The world is on pace to add 107 GW of new renewable energy capacity this year, bringing total global generation capacity to 440 GW. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS:
• U.S. gasoline prices are rising despite record domestic oil production, highlighting the nature of global energy markets despite Republican criticisms of the Biden administration’s energy policies. (Politico)
• Louisiana’s attorney general teams up with Chevron and an oil-and-gas lobbying firm to sue the Biden administration, saying its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale should be larger. (NOLA.com)

GEOTHERMAL: Geothermal companies look to unlock the Earth’s heat as a clean energy source, and are repurposing drilling rigs and other fossil fuel equipment to access it. (New York Times)

JOBS: “People aren’t entering the trades the way they used to”: Clean energy installers warn a shortage of electricians and other skilled workers in New England could severely hamper efforts to decarbonize. (Valley News)

UTILITIES:
• Hawaiian Electric acknowledges its equipment sparked a wildfire in Maui, but claims the blaze that leveled Lahaina ignited hours after the utility had de-energized its lines. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• An analysis of videos and images finds Hawaiian Electric lines near the deadly Maui wildfire’s ignition point were uninsulated, enabling them to spark on contact with dry grasses. (Associated Press)

PIPELINES:
• Mountain Valley Pipeline opponents gather in West Virginia to organize for another push against the long-delayed project. (WDBJ)
• Federal regulators are developing new pipeline safety rules, five years after a series of gas explosions in Massachusetts killed one person and damaged or destroyed more than 130 properties. (CBS Boston) 

LITHIUM: Frontline communities in southern California’s “Lithium Valley” welcome the burgeoning industry’s economic benefits, but worry about potential environmental impacts to the Salton Sea. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR: A Minnesota pilot project explores how farmers and developers can partner to grow vegetable crops alongside solar projects. (KARE)

EQUITY: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and other Republicans oppose the creation of an environmental justice position at grid operator ISO-New England, warning it could “compel progressive societal change.” (NHPR)

COMMENTARY: A pipeline safety advocate says hydrogen fuel’s negligible climate benefits are not worth the risks of piping the leak-prone, flammable gas through populated areas. (CalMatters)

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Kathryn brings her extensive editorial background to the Energy News Network team, where she oversees the early-morning production of ENN’s five email digest newsletters as well as distribution of ENN’s original journalism with other media outlets. From documenting chronic illness’ effect on college students to following the inner workings of Congress, Kathryn has built a broad experience in her more than five years working at major publications including The Week Magazine. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism and information management and technology from Syracuse University.