GRID: New York utility regulators authorize contracts for two major transmission lines to deliver cleaner energy downstate and help the state leap toward its climate goals. (NY1, The City)

ALSO: In Massachusetts, Holyoke Gas & Electric plans to install a 5 MW battery storage system in 2023. (news release)

CLIMATE:
• Massachusetts state senators send a climate bill that provides $250 million for clean energy and electric vehicle expansion projects to the House. (Commonwealth Magazine)
• The Massachusetts state Senate defeats a Republican-led amendment to that climate plan that would direct funds to carbon sequestration and wildness protection, among other things. (Boston Herald)
• Despite progressively stronger and more frequent storms striking the area, New York City officials don’t have an evacuation plan in place for flash floods. (Gothamist)

CLEAN ENERGY: In Maine, a local climate group that put Maine’s Mount Desert Island on a path to energy independence is now helping other citizen groups achieve their climate resilience goals through a series of virtual meetings. (Energy News Network)

TRANSIT:
• The Massachusetts Port Authority board authorizes a three-year, $1.3 billion spending plan that funds net-zero emission initiatives and other infrastructure projects at its facilities, which include Logan International Airport. (WHDH)
• Officials behind a much-delayed project to develop a light rail line connecting Maryland’s Washington, D.C., suburbs say construction will resume this spring. (WTOP)

SOLAR:
• Grocery chain Hannaford plans to power its operations entirely with renewable energy by 2024 through a number of community solar agreements. (Times Union)
• Newly proposed legislation in Pennsylvania seeks to address solar panel decommissioning concerns. (Indiana Gazette)
• Construction begins on a 6.3 MW solar farm with 3 MW of energy storage on a repurposed dairy farm in southeastern Massachusetts. (news release)

AFFORDABILITY:
• New York’s attorney general begins an investigation to determine whether major oil companies are intentionally gouging gas prices. (Reuters)
• Over $289 million in federal weatherization funds will be earmarked for New Yorkers this year. (Buffalo News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Advocates say New Jersey won’t hit its electric vehicle adoption targets if more public charging stations aren’t rolled out across the state. (NJ Spotlight)
• Two southern Maine transit systems are adding two electric buses apiece to their fleets. (Maine Public Radio)
• A Maine radio station finds that electric vehicle trips require more planning if taken outside of the southern parts of the state, where most chargers are located. (Maine Public Radio)
• Rhode Island’s police departments are increasingly adding fully electric vehicles to their fleets. (ecoRI)

UTILITIES: Pennsylvania’s energy regulator decides that utilities have to file diversity reports accounting for employees’ race, gender and minority-group statuses, but opts to only allow binary choices for gender selection. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

LABOR: New Jersey plans to financially support the expansion of two offshore wind-related programs at a vocational school. (news release)

CRYPTOMINING: A website hosting company plans to build a Bitcoin mining facility powered by biofuels in western Maine. (Mainebiz)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

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.