CLIMATE: Two New York lawmakers revive legislation to institute a polluter-pays model to make fossil fuel companies compensate the state for their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. (Gothamist)

ALSO:
• Climate advocates say issues with Massachusetts’ greenhouse gas inventory may lead the state to underestimate its true emissions and miscalculate how to mitigate the crisis. (DigBoston)
• New York climate advocates and Democratic legislators want the governor to set aside $10 billion in her upcoming budget proposal to fund climate projects described in 2019 legislation. (Times Union)
• Pennsylvania Republicans want the state’s new governor to pause enrolling in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative as legal challenges to joining play out. (Pennsylvania Business Report)
• In Maryland, the Howard County Council listens to public comments as it prepares to vote next month on two bills intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings and public transportation. (Baltimore Sun)
• A NASA-funded study finds that phytoplankton — the foundation of the ocean’s food chain — are 65% less productive in the Gulf of Maine now compared to 20 years ago, citing the gulf’s rapidly warming waters. (Associated Press)

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OFFSHORE WIND: Federal officials advance the review of Maine’s proposal to install a relatively small floating offshore wind turbine research site in the Gulf of Maine. (Portland Press Herald)

TRANSPORTATION: New York Republicans and New Jersey Democrats join forces to introduce legislation in their respective states opposing New York City’s controversial traffic congestion pricing plan. (NBC New York)

NUCLEAR: A Massachusetts lawmaker says he will introduce legislation to allow the state to purchase electricity from the Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut. (CommonWealth Magazine)

BIOMASS: In forested regions like New England, wood donation banks help people keep their homes warm amid sky-high heating fuel prices. (The Guardian)

SOLAR:
• In Johnston, Rhode Island, council members fail to pass an ordinance disallowing solar installations in residential areas. (Johnston Sun Rise)
• Vermont utility regulators approve a 500 kW solar array on a depleted gravel and sand extraction site. (news release)

AFFORDABILITY: New York regulators approve a $672 million payoff of unpaid utility bills for customers, regardless of income, following staff testimony that utilities writing off the debt and shutting off customers’ service would be at least as costly as a bailout. (Syracuse.com)

UTILITIES:
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric acknowledges poor customer billing practices but doesn’t think New York regulators should impose a penalty. (Daily Freeman)
• Eversource and Avangrid gave the Connecticut governor’s office $25,000 apiece to fund his second inaugural ball; the owner of the Millstone nuclear facility gave $15,000. (CT Mirror)

COMMENTARY: New Hampshire’s consumer advocate questions why state regulators have done little recently to resolve problems with default service prices, instead focusing on a “full frontal assault on the state’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs.” (InDepth NH)

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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.