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Articles on Power outages

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Utilities can turn off power to reduce the risk that their equipment could spark wildfires during extreme weather events. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Colorado is latest state to try turning off the electrical grid to prevent wildfires − a complex, technical operation pioneered in California

Turning off power is a last-ditch strategy for utilities to reduce the risk that their systems could spark wildfires. In most states, deciding whether to take that step is up to utilities.
Snow on cattle drive sculptures in Dallas after a winter storm, Feb. 3, 2022. Emil Lippe/Getty Images

Two years after its historic deep freeze, Texas is increasingly vulnerable to cold snaps – and there are more solutions than just building power plants

Texas wasn’t prepared to keep the lights on during Winter Storm Uri, and it won’t be ready for future cold weather unless it starts thinking about energy demand as well as supply.
A Long Island Power Authority smart meter installed at a home in Suffolk County, N.Y. John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Smart meters and dynamic pricing can help consumers use electricity when it’s less costly, saving money and reducing pollution

Most households pay a flat rate 24/7 for electricity although the cost of generating it fluctuates through the day. Wireless technologies are changing that system.
A worker cuts an electricity pole downed by Hurricane Fiona in Cayey, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 18, 2022. AP Photo/Stephanie Roja

Puerto Rico’s vulnerability to hurricanes is magnified by weak government and bureaucratic roadblocks

Hurricane Fiona will set back efforts to restore Puerto Rico that date back five years to Hurricane Maria. Two scholars explain how the island’s weak institutions worsen the impacts of disasters.
The control room of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the flow of electricity on the state’s power grid. Rolf Schulten/ullstein bild via Getty Images

What is curtailment? An electricity market expert explains

Sometimes wind and solar power produce more electricity than the local grid can handle. Better energy storage and transmission could move extra energy to where it’s needed instead of shutting it off.
Motorists drive at night on a road without street light as Nigeria struggles with power outages in a commercial district of Lagos. Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images

Why Nigeria’s electricity grid collapses and how to shore it up

Nigeria’s national electricity grid has collapsed more than 200 times since 2010, regularly resulting in widespread blackouts.
Outages left downtown New Orleans in the dark after Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29, 2021. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Can burying power lines protect storm-wracked electric grids? Not always

Hurricane Ida left the entire city of New Orleans in the dark and renewed discussion of burying power lines. But there’s no way to completely protect the grid, above ground or below.

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