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Articles on Electricity

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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.
As more homes like these in Folsom, Calif., add solar power, electricity pricing becomes more complicated. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

California is wrestling with electricity prices – here’s how to design a system that covers the cost of fixing the grid while keeping prices fair

California is considering a controversial proposal for utilities to charge customers for electricity based partly on household income. Two scholars explain how this approach could benefit everyone.
Flares burn at the Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex in 2021, in Norco, La. Plants like this produce not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also excess heat. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Thermoelectric technologies can help power a zero-carbon future

Human societies produce huge amounts of excess heat. Turning it into electricity could play a key role in achieving a net-zero society.
The search for the room-temperature superconductor continues. Charles O'Rear/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images

Scientists have been researching superconductors for over a century, but they have yet to find one that works at room temperature − 3 essential reads

Claims about the discovery of a coveted room-temperature superconductor peppered the news in 2023. We pulled three stories from our archives on what superconductivity is and why scientists study it.
Central Maine Power Co. lineman John Baril works to restore electricity in Lewiston, Maine, on March 15, 2023, after a winter storm. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Maine voters don’t like their electric utilities, but they balked at paying billions to buy them out

Power companies can be publicly or privately owned and may report to corporate boards, local governments or co-op members. But there’s no one best way to deliver electricity reliably and affordably.

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