It will let wind and solar power be transmitted to the cities, and smooth out peaks and troughs in demand for example by feeding power to the batteries of parked electric cars at night, and sucking it out of them during the day, if their owners agree.

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But feeding the power into those lines is not a monopoly in any manner at all.

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How exactly were you planning to trim the 60-foot oak that fell in my back yard, snapping the power lines feeding our neighborhood?

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The Superdome has a direct line feeding from a nearby Entergy power substation.

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Solar panels produce electricity in DC, which needs to transform into AC for feeding the electric grid or for using the power onsite.

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Plenty of power as long as the Fireman was feeding coal into the Firebox at a great rate.

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The changes, the company says, mean its plans are more fish-friendly and will also reduce the amount of inter-tidal mud flats that will be lost to feeding birds, while still generating 5% of the UK's energy needs or enough to power 3.4 million homes.

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The company noted that European coal generation increased 13% in June over the last 12 months as a result of nuclear cutbacks, a knee-jerk reaction to nuclear power given the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, and higher gas prices, further feeding demand for coal.

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