electricity

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Amid UK Energy Crisis, a Wild Story About PM's Pool

Rishi Sunak is paying for the electrical grid update required for his pool, sources say

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently had a new gym, tennis court, and heated 40-foot pool installed at his weekend manor home, and the pool requires so much energy that an update to the electrical grid was required. According to the Guardian's sources, Sunak is paying for the tens...

High School Is Unable to Shut Its Lights Off

They've been on for more than a year at Minnechaug school in Massachusetts

(Newser) - NBC News reports on an unusual problem at a high school in Massachusetts: Nobody can turn the lights off. As a result, every light at Minnechaug Regional High School has been burning around the clock since August 2021. The problem is a software failure. The school had a 7,...

Ukrainians Warned a Horrific Winter Looms

Rolling electricity blackouts will likely occur through March due to Russian attacks

(Newser) - Ukraine could face rolling blackouts throughout the entirety of winter because Russian airstrikes have caused "colossal" damage to the power grid, officials said. To cope, authorities are urging Ukrainians to stock up on supplies and evacuate hard-hit areas. Sergey Kovalenko, the CEO of private energy provider DTEK Yasno, said...

Tokyo's Idea Amid Energy Crisis: Put On a Turtleneck

Yuriko Koike, the city's governor, credits French president as an inspiration on how to stay warm

(Newser) - Winter is coming, and amid Japan's energy crisis, Tokyo officials are offering a suggestion to save energy and stay warm in the coming months. "Warming the neck has a thermal effect," Yuriko Koike, the capital city's governor, told reporters Friday, per the Guardian . "I'm...

Power, Water Knocked Out Again Across Ukraine

Critical infrastructure hit by Russian missile strikes in Kyiv, Kharkiv; 80% in capital without water

(Newser) - A massive barrage of Russian strikes on Monday morning hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities, knocking out water and power in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend. The mayor of Ukraine's capital said 80%...

'Massive Missile Attack' Knocks Out Power Throughout Ukraine

Hundreds of thousands without electricity, and there are warnings about water supply in some areas

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine woke up on Saturday to power outages and periodic bursts of gunfire, as Ukrainian air defense tried to shoot down drones and incoming missiles. Russia has intensified its strikes on power stations, water supply systems, and other key infrastructure across...

Sheriff's Office: Fight Over Lights Left On Led to Murder

Michael D. Williams allegedly murdered ex-wife, her son after fights about electricity usage

(Newser) - Florida police arrived at Michael D. Williams' home on Sunday after the 47-year-old placed a 911 call to report he'd killed his ex-wife and her adult son in self-defense. The Volusia Sheriff's Office alleges the deaths were actually the grim outcome of a fight over electricity and leaving...

5 Years After Maria, Puerto Rico Faces Another Power Crisis

It's not clear when electricity will be restored after Hurricane Fiona, though government says not long

(Newser) - The damage to Puerto Rico after it was slammed over the weekend by Hurricane Fiona is said to be "catastrophic," with landslides, severe flooding, and power getting knocked out for all of the island's residents. The storm is set to continue to dump rain on the US...

In 'Era of Extremes,' Calif. Asks Residents to Turn Off Lights

Rare emergency alert called for switching off of nonessential power to prevent rolling outages

(Newser) - Grappling with brutal heat this week, Californians were faced with a big ask, and it was a rare one, per KTLA . The state's Office of Emergency Services pushed out an alert Tuesday evening requesting that residents switch off any nonessential power, in an attempt to conserve energy and prevent...

Lights Out, Tokyo—It's Going to Be a Hot One

Government asks 37M residents to use less electricity to avoid power outages amid heat wave

(Newser) - Temps in Japan usually hover below 85 degrees Fahrenheit in the month of June, but a heat wave that's descended upon Tokyo and surrounding areas has led the government to plead with 37 million residents to switch off their lights to avoid power outages. The BBC reports that the...

Aussies Told to Turn the Lights Off 2 Hours a Day

Aging coal infrastructure blamed for energy crisis

(Newser) - It's winter in Australia, and the country's new government is dealing with a severe energy crisis. Some 8 million people in Sydney and elsewhere in New South Wales, the country's most populous state, have been urged to do without electricity as much as possible between 6pm and...

Puerto Rico's 'Fragile' Grid Sees Major Blackout After Fire

More than 1 million customers are without power across the island

(Newser) - More than a million customers in Puerto Rico remained without electricity on Thursday after a fire at a main power plant caused the biggest blackout so far this year across the US territory, forcing it to cancel classes and shutter government offices. The blackout also left some 160,000 customers...

If Taliban Don't Pay Electric Bill, It'll Be Lights Out

Foreign suppliers could cut off power, leading to blackouts in Kabul

(Newser) - On top of everything else, the people of Afghanistan could soon lose power because the ruling Taliban aren't paying foreign electrical suppliers. "This would be a really dangerous situation," said Daud Noorzai, who quit as head of Afghanistan's power monopoly after the Taliban takeover, the Wall ...

Ikea to Sell Something New: Electricity

Furniture giant will sell affordable electricity from wind and solar parks to homes in Sweden

(Newser) - Ikea already sells solar panels in nearly a dozen of its markets. Now, the furniture giant based out of Sweden is taking an even deeper plunge into the renewable-energy market, starting on its home turf. Beginning next month, Ikea will sell electricity from solar and wind parks to domestic households,...

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...

Hush-Hush Tesla Project Plugs Texas Into 'Mega-Battery'

Elon Musk's company reportedly has secret power supply set up after electric grid failed last month

(Newser) - Elon Musk has inserted himself into electric cars , space travel , artificial intelligence , and cryptocurrency , so why not take a dive into the US utilities arena? That's apparently what's happening in Texas, where Musk's Tesla is said to have secretly set up a "mega-battery" outside Houston after...

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...

In Texas, a Dire Situation for Hospitals
Amid Texas Chaos,
a New Calamity
Feb 18, 2021 6:49 AM CST

Amid Texas Chaos, a New Calamity

Hospitals are running out of water

(Newser) - The chaos in Texas amid freezing weather that has left millions in the cold and dark has made its way to the state's hospitals. One issue that has caused things to become especially dire at medical centers: a lack of running water, resulting in problems ranging from low water...

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