WMECo to develop 4.2 MW solar facility in Massachusetts
- Western Massachusetts Electric Company WMECo, part of Northeast Utilities System, said recently it would build a 4.2 MW solar power plant in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The utility has selected a capped landfill site in Springfield, where to mount 17,000 solar panels.
The project, which would be WMECo's second large-scale solar power facility in the New England region, would yield USD 22 million to the region during construction and several hundred thousand dollars in annual property tax revenue to Springfield, the company said.
WMECo expects to get local permit for the Springfield project and start construction in the second quarter of 2011.
The Green Communities Act GCA allows each Massachusetts electric utility to own up to 50 MW of solar capacity, subject to approval by the Department of Public Utilities DPU. WMECo said it was the first to receive DPU clearance and is authorized to install 6 MW of solar.
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Renewable electricity powered California just shy of 100% for the first time in history
LOS ANGELES - Renewable electricity met just shy of 100% of California's demand for the first time on Saturday, officials said, much of it from large amounts of solar power produced along Interstate 10, an hour east of the Coachella Valley.
While partygoers celebrated in the blazing sunshine at the Stagecoach music festival, "at 2:50 (p.m.), we reached 99.87 % of load served by all renewables, which broke the previous record," said Anna Gonzales, spokeswoman for California Independent System Operator, a nonprofit that oversees the state's bulk electric power system and transmission lines. Solar power provided two-thirds of the amount needed.
Environmentalists…
