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GRID: The grid system overseen by the PJM Interconnection — which includes Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and a handful of other states — is reliable and can withstand extended periods of highly stressed conditions, according to a long anticipated study. (news release, WITF)
SOLAR: Philadelphia’s city council introduces an ordinance to build a 70 MW solar farm that would supply 22 percent of the electricity for city-owned buildings by 2020. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
RENEWABLES:
• How a farm in northeast Massachusetts powers about 85 percent of its operations with three wind turbines and a field of solar panels. (CBS Boston)
• A town west of Boston is developing an electricity aggregation program that will give participants more control over the amount of renewable energy in their electricity. (Wicked Local Lincoln)
TRANSMISSION: Some supporters of a proposed hydropower transmission line from Canada to Massachusetts want Canada’s Hydro Quebec to contribute money to benefit Maine ratepayers. (Maine Public)
MICROGRIDS: Maryland will provide $5 million for the construction of “resiliency hub” microgrids in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods, which could be used to provide electricity and emergency heating and cooling that is free to the public in case of a power outage. (Microgrid Knowledge)
NATURAL GAS:
• Columbia Gas is facing a criminal investigation over a series of natural gas explosions that killed one person and injured about two dozen others outside Boston in September. (WCVB)
• Massachusetts utility regulators hire a Texas-based firm to evaluate the state’s natural gas distribution system. (Engineering News-Record New England)
• Massachusetts’ attorney general announces $1.6 million in grants to help residents pay their natural gas heating bills. (Cape Cod Today)
POLITICS:
• More than a dozen candidates running for the Pennsylvania legislature have vowed to stop fracking and pipeline construction in the state. (In These Times)
• A U.S. senator from Maine will return a $5,000 campaign donation from Exxon Mobil in response to a challenge from his Democratic rival during a debate. (Maine Public)
• A controversial natural gas and diesel power plant proposed in northwest Rhode Island has become a key issue in the gubernatorial race. (The Brown Daily Herald)