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On 10th Anniversary Of Northeast Blackout, Hartford To Get Alternative Power Grid

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - It was exactly ten years ago when 50 million people were affected by a cascading blackout that stretched from Michigan to the east coast and up to parts of Canada.

The massive blackout hit during sweltering heat.

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Conn.) is using the blackout anniversary to reinforce his goal that many cities will have an alternate power source.

On 10th Anniversary Of Northeast Blackout, Hartford To Get Alternative Power Grid

As WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported, the state of Connecticut is presenting the city of Hartford with an alternate power grid Wednesday to ensure a reliable energy source.

A microgrid will be set up in the Parkville section of Hartford.

Mayor Pedro Segarra noted that will provide power to several crucial services.

"This $2 million of grant money is going to allow us to use alternative energy resources to be able to power five different facilities: a school, a senior center, a library, a gas station and a supermarket," Segarra told Schneidau. "And ensure that if we should have a power outage that we can switch to this alternative power."

Segarra added the microgrid will provide a solid source of energy for the city of Hartford in what he described as this age of climate change and more powerful storms.

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