If you want to see how U.S. utilities could lose control of the electricity industry, keep an eye on Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, which spent a week in the dark after Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012. Red Hook is planning to use a mix of solar panels, battery storage and small wind turbines to create a “microgrid” that can power local apartment buildings, businesses and a community center, as well as ensure the neighborhood can successfully endure another big storm. New York state has approved preliminary plans for 83 such microgrids . While most, including Red Hook’s, remain in the planning stages, some have drawn support from companies that include General Electric Co., NRG Energy Inc., Siemens AG and Hitachi Ltd. It’s an effort that may help erode the hold big utilities have had over U.S. power generation for more than a century. “The time for pilots […]