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State officials are working to address a problem involving the physics of electricity, the surge in solar development and a local transmission grid that is seriously strained.
In the Northeast Kingdom, the electric grid is out of balance. Several big local wind and hydro projects, plus power imports from Canada, mean the wires carry much more power than the region can consume.
The imbalance has caused the regional grid operator to reduce the output from the wind generators. It s also led to the de-valuing of local generation and a two-year moratorium on new renewable projects in the Kingdom.
The state now wants to break the impasse with a plan to impose a local surcharge on new solar projects.
Sun, 12/20/2020 - 2:11pm tim
Bruce Edwards, Vermont Business Magazine It’s the most rural area of the state and when it comes to high-speed Internet, the Northeast Kingdom is also the most underserved area of the state.
So, in April residents decided to take matters into their collective hands and formed Northeast Kingdom Community Broadband – what is now a 32-town communications union district or CUD.
Evan Carlson, chairman of NEK Community Broadband, said 49 percent of the addresses in the three-county region have Internet access below 25 megabytes per second – a far cry from what’s considered high-speed Internet or broadband.