Brookland residents ask for underground utility lines
About a 100 residents marched along the area's main strip on 12th Street recently, demanding the city divert $10.5 million allocated for a streetscape improvement project toward burying utility lines.
Residents say trees in the area are cut in odd ways to make room for the aboveground wires. They say the disfigured trees are eyesores and fail to provide shade, creating a lack of vibrancy.
Pepco officials say they must prune trees to power homes and businesses. They say converting to underground cables can cost up to $8 million a mile, or six to 10 times the cost of aboveground wiring.
The District Department of Transportation says the money already budgeted for the improvement project will upgrade sidewalks, curbs and other infrastructure — but not bury electrical wires.
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China aims to reduce coal power production
BEIJING - China plans to slash coal-fired power capacity at its five biggest utilities by as much as a third in two years by merging their assets, according to a document seen by Reuters and four sources with knowledge of the matter.
The move to shed older and less-efficient capacity is being driven by pressure to cut heavy debt levels at the utilities. China, is, however, building more coal-fired power plants and approving dozens of new mines to bolster a slowing economy.
The five utilities, which are controlled by the central government, accounted for around 44% of China’s total coal-fired power capacity…
