UTILITIES: As Mainers consider forming a public power company by taking over the state’s two investor-owned utilities, the state’s governor says state residents shouldn’t vote for it, citing upfront costs and uncertain long-term benefits. (Rhode Island Current, WMTW, Portland Press Herald)

GRID: Maryland’s utility commission and consumer advocates tell federal energy regulators that PJM Interconnection didn’t consider non-transmission alternatives before telling Exelon utilities to undertake $785 million in transmission upgrades ahead of a coal plant closure. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Amazon sells and ships illegal e-bike batteries to New York City despite an ongoing ban and crackdown on brick-and-mortar stores conducting the same sales. (Streetsblog NYC)
• Rental car agency Hertz announces it will add up to 1,700 electric vehicles to its New York City fleet and provide industry education and training for students at four public high schools. (news release)

WORKFORCE: Activists wanting to see a more equitable clean energy transition hope Maine becomes a trendsetter with its recently passed law tying offshore wind procurement to improved worker provisions. (New York Times)

CLIMATE:
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey releases a blueprint to reach net-zero operations through measures like electrifying its vehicle fleet and maximizing on-site solar generation. (NJ Advance Media)
• New Jersey issues new guidance for climate education aimed at helping teachers who aren’t accustomed to incorporating science in the classroom. (NJ Spotlight)

BUILDINGS: New York announces that 30,000 new window heat pumps will be installed in New York City public housing units to reduce emissions from building heating and cooling. (news release)

TRANSIT:
• A lack of rapid transit in Boston’s northern suburbs makes it hard to support new residents and contributes to higher housing prices in the few areas that do have it. (Mass Live)
• Rhode Island activists urge the state’s transportation department to publicize drafts of its carbon reduction plan so the public can comment on it before a November deadline. (ecoRI)
• New York City’s transit agency kicks off its fare-free bus rides pilot program on five routes starting this Sunday. (NBC New York)

OIL & GAS: In Connecticut, repeated “mystery” fuel spills in the New Bedford Harbor bolster activists’ case for a permanent pump-out facility. (Standard-Times)

FLOODS: In New Hampshire, many man-made structures built to redirect waterways aren’t big enough to handle rising sea levels and prevent floods. (NHPR)

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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.