Gas Natural Inc. unit Spelman Pipeline Holdings LLC has acquired pipeline assets in Ohio and Kentucky from Marathon Petroleum Co. LP. In Ohio the assets include more than 140 miles of pipeline spanning almost a third of the state from Marion to Youngstown. Other Ohio assets are in metropolitan and south suburban Cleveland. The Kentucky assets include more than 60 miles of right-of-way in the Louisville area and points south. Spelman intends to convert the Ohio pipelines from refined products and oil to transport natural gas to new markets where gas service is not currently available as well as to link it to markets served by its Ohio affiliates. Future plans include extending the lines to participate in the Utica and Marcellus shale plays, the company said. Plans for the Kentucky assets are not yet determined, Spelman said.

California’s grid operator last week marked a new peak last week in wind-generated power supplies, hitting 2,432 MW and exceeding the 2010 wind peak of 1,915 MW. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) made the announcement as part of a joint Earth Day program with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to stress the importance of renewables and continued energy-saving programs in the nation’s most populous state. CAISO introduced a new “green tool” that it will use to track real-time data on renewables, including a new Solar Today web graph that will provide 24/7 information on solar’s variability on the grid. CAISO will know how many megawatts of solar-produced power are in the system at any given time. “Diverse resources are bringing new grid dynamics that require sophisticated reliability management tools,” said CAISO COO Steve Berberich, noting that is why the state grid operator built a new control center.

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