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Utilities

California blackouts trigger debate about electric grid resilience

by Andy Uhler
Aug 28, 2020
A heat wave and record levels of electricity demand are straining infrastructure.
Investments in grids were already falling, and COVID-19 has slowed down upgrades even further.
Brent Stirton/Getty Images
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California blackouts reflect a complicated supply-and-demand problem

by Andy Uhler
Aug 17, 2020
The load can overwhelm the electric grid during heat waves, but this summer's outages have raised new questions.
A sign in Calistoga, California, calls on PG&E to turn the electricity back on during a statewide blackout in October 2019.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

Stop utility shut-offs during COVID-19 crisis, NAACP Legal Defense Fund president says

by David Brancaccio , Rose Conlon and Alex Schroeder
Mar 27, 2020
"We would love to have a nationwide moratorium on all utility shut-offs, but every day, turn-offs are happening," Sherrilyn Ifill says.
Some states have worked to stop utility shut-offs, including Maryland, Kansas and Kentucky.
Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images
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PG&E due in bankruptcy court

by Scott Tong
Nov 19, 2019
PG&E's power grid infrastructure has been blamed for wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
A fallen PG&E utility pole lays on a property burned during the Kincade Fire in Healdsburg, California on Oct. 28, 2019.
Philip Pachecho/AFP via Getty Images
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Georgia Power wants a rate hike. Some of its customers wonder why.

by Emma Hurt
Oct 25, 2019
The utility's parent company brought in more than $2 billion in profits last year.
Dozens of people gathered outside the Georgia Public Service Commission building to protest Georgia Power’s proposal to raise electric rates.
Emma Hurt/WABE
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Some utility companies are racing to be carbon neutral

by Scott Tong
Jul 26, 2019
Many suppliers of electrical power are facing the question of when to get to zero emissions, not if they need to get there.
A windfarm is seen in 2006 near Palm Springs, California.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)
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Offshore wind energy sparks debate on Long Island

by Ashley Milne-Tyte
May 30, 2019
A variety of stakeholders have a variety of opinions on the development of the 15-turbine windfarm.
Montauk fisherman Al Schaffer on his lobster boat.
Ashley Milne-Tyte
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California utility is reportedly considering bankruptcy after wildfires

by Andy Uhler
Jan 7, 2019
California lawmakers are back in session after a holiday break, and a new governor is in place. One of the sticky issues all those folks might have to confront is what to do about the troubled utility Pacific Gas and Electric. The investor-owned utility provides gas and electricity to more than 5 million Californians. And […]
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California fires are threatening utilities' bottom line

by Jed Kim
Nov 13, 2018
California damages topped $10 billion in 2017. The bill for this year's fires could be worse.
In this aerial photo, a burned neighborhood is seen in Paradise, California, on Nov. 15, 2018. The toll in the deadliest wildfires in recent California history climbed to 59 on Nov. 14, 2018, as authorities released a list of 130 people still missing. 
Josh Edelson / AFP
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With increased wildfires, utilities in California are trying to pass on the cost of damages to customers

by Sam Harnett
Jan 2, 2018
Lawmakers in California have introduced a bill to make it harder for state utilities to have customers cover the cost of fire damage.
Firefighters assess the scene as a house burns in the Napa wine region of California on Oct. 9, 2017.
JOSH EDELSON/ Getty Images
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