Northampton, Massachusetts has been awarded a $3.1-million grant from the State of Massachusetts to link three of its highest-priority emergency facilities together. The grant will empower the city to design and build a microgrid to generate electricity to serve the three facilities. The microgrid will improve the ability for three of the highest-priority emergency facilities to maintain operations when there are power failures. The 20-kilowatt, canopy-style array will include batteries that will store power for use in emergencies. The work is expected to begin this spring when the city contacts with a third party to install, own, maintain and operate the array. It will work in tandem with an existing generator on site that has been used for years. more
