ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New Jersey temporarily halts its electric vehicle rebate program after distributing $35 million, saying the program will soon run out of funding because it’s so popular. (Associated Press)

ALSO: Jersey City debuts a new fleet of electric vehicles, including garbage trucks. (NJ.com)

CLIMATE:
• Pennsylvania and three regional planning agencies expect to get $6 million in U.S. EPA grants to develop statewide and local climate plans. (WHYY)
• The University of Vermont announces a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, including through electrifying its light-duty vehicles and exploring a geothermal energy system. (VTDigger)

BUILDINGS: Starting next year, New York City climate legislation passed in 2019 will force about 50,000 buildings that account for about 30% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to make energy renovations or face fines. (NY1)

TRANSMISSION: Closing arguments in the trial over New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line are scheduled for today, with a jury set to determine whether Central Maine Power was right to speed up construction before a referendum on the project was held. (Central Maine)

GRID: Facing increased flooding threats as the climate warms, the Latino- and immigrant-heavy city of Chelsea, Massachusetts, builds a small microgrid to keep essential services’ power on during emergencies. (Mother Jones)

STORAGE: New York utilities say they’ll need to build and own energy storage facilities to meet the state’s goal of installing 6 GW of storage by 2030. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR:
• Hundreds of Maine solar projects are stuck in limbo as they await studies on connecting to the electric grid, and as grid interconnection costs threaten to make developers’ efforts unprofitable. (Portland Press Herald)
• Easthampton, New York, becomes the first Long Island municipality to host a solar-plus-storage project. (Patch)

OFFSHORE WIND: Developers have agreed to pay for a $35 million offshore wind manufacturing hub in Rhode Island, but only if the state selects them to build a wind farm. (Rhode Island Current)

POLLUTION: More than a third of U.S. residents live with unhealthy air pollution, with Philadelphia and New Jersey’s Bergen County among Northeast areas receiving poor ratings, while much of Maine reported much healthier pollution levels. (WHYY, NorthJersey, Sun Journal)

OVERSIGHT:
• The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission rejects a request from another regulatory body to take over its investigation of National Grid, the state’s former gas and electric utility. (Rhode Island Current)
• Maryland’s consumer watchdog says the state’s Public Service Commission is taking too long to open investigations and take action against utilities, and not doing enough on climate change. (Maryland Matters)

FINANCE: After New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signs an executive order barring the state retirement fund from investing “solely” based on environmental, social, and governance criteria, state lawmakers propose a bill that would require administrators to report whenever they are considered even among other factors.. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

CLEAN ENERGY: Two northern New York towns will select energy providers for their community choice aggregation programs at town meetings next week. (NNY360)

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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.