power grid

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Administration Commits $3.5B to Update Power Grid

Granholm calls it the biggest such investment ever

(Newser) - The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $3.5 billion for 58 projects across the country to strengthen electric grid resilience as extreme weather events such as the deadly Maui and California wildfires continue to strain the nation's aging transmission systems. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it was the largest...

Bitcoin Miner Made $31M by Cutting Power Use in Texas

Energy credits paid better for Riot last month than mining

(Newser) - Riot Platforms mined about $8.9 million in bitcoin in August. But that's nothing compared with the company's haul in the same month for selling power back to the Texas grid after Riot reduced its electrical consumption by more than 95% during peak demand periods. "August was...

Texas to Overheated Locals: Cut Back on Power to Save Grid

Other parts of South also suffering from sweltering temps, post-storm power outages

(Newser) - Texas' power grid operator asked residents Tuesday to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system, as a heat wave kept large swaths of the state and southern US in triple-digit temperatures. On the last day of spring, the sweltering heat felt more like the...

Tesla Wants to Sell Electricity in Texas
Tesla Applies
to Join Texas' Grid

Tesla Applies to Join Texas' Grid

Company's giant batteries would let it store power to sell if the lights go out again

(Newser) - Elon Musk has said part of the reason the Texas power grid had such a catastrophic failure last winter is that it has no way to store electricity. The Tesla CEO might think he has the answer; a subsidiary of his company has filed an application with the Texas Public...

Thermostats in Texas Are Being Adjusted Remotely

To help the power grid, utilities are invoking energy-saving program customers agreed to

(Newser) - It may not be any of the usual suspects in your household who are changing the thermostat setting. In Texas, power companies are reaching into homes remotely to turn the temperature up, USA Today reports. People who have noticed the surprise adjustments have pointed them out on social media. But...

ERCOT Makes Plea to Texans Amid 'Unplanned' Outages

Power grid officials 'deeply concerned' as heat wave strikes the region

(Newser) - The power grid in Texas is facing its next challenge: a pre-summer swelter. After a winter storm and cold snap that left millions powerless in February, severe heat in the western part of the US—with temps reaching up to the triple digits expected to continue throughout the week—now...

A Typically Warm April Day in Texas Stressed Power Grid

Texan were urged to conserve electricity, though weather was not unusual for spring

(Newser) - The power grid in Texas, which was disastrously ill-equipped to handle a winter storm and cold snap in February, ended up struggling again on Tuesday when the day turned out to be warmer than expected in parts of the state, although conditions were not unusual for the time of year....

Sky-High Texas Power Bills Will Be Forgiven

Some customers got bills for thousands of dollars after February crisis

(Newser) - Electricity customers in Texas who received astronomically high bills after last month's devastating blackouts won't have to worry about paying them, and those who have already paid all or part of the bills might be getting some money back, officials say. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says electricity...

Another Head Rolls After Texas Blackouts

ERCOT board votes to fire Bill Magness

(Newser) - Another head has rolled following the devastating blackouts blamed for dozens of deaths in Texas. Bill Magness was fired as president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's independent power grid, after an emergency board meeting Wednesday night, CNN reports. ERCOT says Magness...

Texas Grid Is Back to Normal
Texas Power Grid
Has Welcome News

Texas Power Grid Has Welcome News

It's back to normal, but water shortages continue to plague the state

(Newser) - Texas’ grid operators said Friday that the electrical system has returned to normal for the first time since a winter storm knocked out power to more than 4 million customers, per the AP . Smaller outages still remained Friday. But Bill Magness, president of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, says...

Texas Was 'Minutes, Seconds' Away From Even Bigger Crisis

State was on the verge of 'catastrophic blackout' that could have lasted months

(Newser) - Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from an even greater catastrophe when the decision was made to bring in what were supposed to be rolling blackouts , according to officials who operate the only standalone power grid in the lower 48. Officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said...

Solar Storm Headed Our Way
 Solar Storm Headed Our Way 

Solar Storm Headed Our Way

It's relatively big, but no major problems expected for power grid

(Newser) - If by chance your GPS is acting a little weird tomorrow or Saturday, this might be why: A relatively big solar storm is coming our way, reports USA Today . Scientists say no major disruptions in the power grid are expected, but satellite operators are on alert. The sun unleashed a...

Attack on Calif. Electric Grid Labeled Terrorism

Snipers expertly knocked out 17 transformers

(Newser) - A little-reported attack on a power substation in California last year wasn't vandalism, but the "most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" in the US, according former top power regulator Jon Wellinghoff. In the assault in South San Jose last April, unknown...

Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks
Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks

Because it's hot, and the electricity grid is a hopeless mess

(Newser) - Just how bad are Pakistan's power grid problems? This bad: The government has ordered civil servants to stop wearing socks, reports Reuters . The weird order goes hand in hand with another edict that forbids government offices from turning on their air-conditioners. That makes things so unbearably hot that the...

US Power Co. Cyberattacked 10K Times a Month

Finding comes amid report on vulnerability of our grid

(Newser) - Could foreign hackers take out America's electric grid? A new congressional report says it's a very real threat, with more than a dozen of nearly 100 electric utilities surveyed reporting constant or frequent cyberattacks, Reuters reports. One utility said it was battered by a staggering 10,000 attacks...

As US Electricity Use Stalls, Utilities Scramble

Household use to expand just 0.7% per year: feds

(Newser) - Sure, you're attached at the hip to your iPad and like to crank your air conditioner, but electricity guzzling isn't what it used to be in the US. In the middle of the 20th century, electricity use grew about 8% yearly; now, it's set to expand just...

What the Massive Blackout Says About India

Embarrassing questions raised for country with big ambitions

(Newser) - India's power outage —among the biggest in the history of the world—is over, with the situation returning to what the power minister called "normal" by last night. But the questions are just beginning, note the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times . The blackout,...

600M Without Power as India's Grid Again Fails

3 grids go down amid soaring demand on taxed system

(Newser) - India's maxed-out northern power grid went down a second day today, and this time it wasn't alone. The nation's eastern and northeastern power grids failed, too, plunging more than half of all Indians into darkness in one of the biggest blackouts the globe has seen. Some 600...

Our Power Grid Is Way Too Vulnerable
Our Power Grid
Is Way Too Vulnerable
newt gingrich

Our Power Grid Is Way Too Vulnerable

Newt Gingrich: 'EMP' attack or natural disaster could be catastrophic

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich lost power along with countless others in the recent heat wave, and it got him thinking about one of his pet subjects: the vulnerability of the nation's power grid. A massive solar storm could inflict "doomsday-level damage," as could a terror attack. "It is...

Do We Need to Protect Grid From Sunstorms?

Officials clash over whether to upgrade system

(Newser) - The peak in the 11-year cycle of solar flares happens next year, but electricity regulators have made little progress in deciding how much protection the power grid needs, the Wall Street Journal finds. They are reviewing records as far back as the 1859 "superstorm," the strongest solar storm...

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