Connecticut Cuts the Grid Cord
$18 million has been awarded to nine off-grid projects in Connecticut in an attempt to keep the city’s vital services powered during grid outages. These projects will serve as a stepping stone to the eventual completion of the country’s first state-wide microgrid. In 2011, Connecticut was left on its knees after two storms battered the “nutmeg state”, resulting in a million residents living for days without access to power. Governor Dannel Malloy responded by setting up a program in July 2012 to address the vulnerability of the central grid to the forces of nature. Then Hurricane Sandy came and went, the aftermath a debris-strewn city – and 625,000 homes and business without electricity.
Gov. Malloy’s program has picked out nine winners out of a pool of thirty six, and they “will help protect residents and vital public services even when the power goes out, and in doing so allow us to provide critical services during times of emergency”. He hopes to provide another $30 million in the next two years to further reinforce the difference communities in the state with microgrid solutions.
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