"Somehow, we’ve made the industrial equivalent of a Fabergé egg the linchpin of our civilization. What would happen if someone started breaking them?" Christopher Cox for The New York Times Magazine https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/magazine/national-blackout-power-electricity-outage.html?src=longreads #power #electricity #transformers #reporting #longreads

When #Uruguay went 90+% #RenewableEnergy for its #electricity , bills fell sharply — and, the government was also able to take money out of the energy utility to help pay for services.

When #Scotland went 95+% #Renewable, out electricity bills rose, and our government got almost nothing. The difference? #PublicOwnership, and #independence .

#ScotPol

Volts: He helped Uruguay decarbonize. Can he help other countries do the same?

Webpage: https://www.volts.wtf/p/he-helped-uruguay-decarbonize-can

Media: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/209879549/1fbfb564dddfc6ea895a95729f099dd9.mp3

"A #DataCenter🚨under construction in Indiana cut power the county’s outdoor #tornado warning sirens just as severe weather rolled through the area...

One commenter's take on the latest datacenter fiasco:🚨"Wow, a new way for data centers to #KILL US."
-B Innskeep

"A datacenter const project:🚨"accidentally" cut power lines supplying tornado warning sirens, sparking: outrage online..."

#AI #TrumpRegime #Republicans #Power #Electricity #Grid #PublicSafety #Uprising #USPol
https://thenerdstash.com/cartoonishly-evil-indiana-residents-furious-after-data-center-project-cuts-power-to-tornado-warning-sirens/

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/659076-first-of-its-kind-solar-power-plant-in-south-africa-built-right-under-eskoms-nose.html

I am glad that another large scale #PV power project has come online.

But then my confusion starts.

They built a PV power plant, to power a...coal mine. exclusively. no grid feedin.

A coal mine that feeds a monster-sized coal powered power plant (that feeds national grid)

Are we, as a civilization, really this fucken stupid?

*checks notes*
ok, seems we are.

fuck.

#SouthAfrica #Electricity #ClimateChange

More will certainly follow

Largest #US #PowerGrid #PJM orders emergency curbs as #electricity use nears record peak

The largest US #power #grid operator PJM on ‌Friday ordered customers enrolled in #emergency electricity-reduction programs to curb their use as it battled generator outages, overloaded transmission lines & a surge in air-conditioning demand during a prolonged heat wave.

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ExtremeWeather #temperature #GlobalWarming #HeatWave
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/largest-us-power-grid-pjm-says-it-is-no-longer-able-provide-expected-energy-2026-07-03/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

County With 37 #DataCenters Asks #Schools to ‘Conserve #Electricity’
#HenricoCounty is a major hub for data centers in #Virginia. Its officials said it expects a 25% rise in electricity costs next year, and advised workers to close the blinds and turn off their computers to make up for it.
Thanks to its proximity to DC and vast amounts of land, Henrico County became a #datacenter hub seemingly overnight and its services clients big and small.
https://www.404media.co/henrico-virginia-datacenter-energy-cost-email/
https://archive.ph/DNDd4

The $94 Million Smart Meter Surveillance Scheme Exposed

https://youtu.be/onYWQJsWFpk

Sacramento residents discovered their utility company has been secretly feeding their private energy data to police without warrants, leading to a massive surveillance operation that generated $94 million in fines. This explosive investigation reveals how SMUD transformed smart meters into government spy devices, monitoring when you shower, sleep, or use appliances.

Innocent homeowners faced armed police raids for using electricity to power medical equipment or mine cryptocurrency. One resident was forced outside in his underwear at gunpoint, while another disabled veteran was threatened with arrest for refusing warrantless entry. The surveillance threshold dropped dramatically from 7,000 to just 2,800 kilowatt hours per month, making air conditioning use suspicious in Sacramento's brutal heat.

Internal documents expose how SMUD analysts actively mined customer data for police, checking over 10,000 homes in a single month. Despite California law explicitly prohibiting utilities from sharing precise meter data without warrants, SMUD violated these protections daily for a decade.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's lawsuit could reshape smart meter privacy nationwide. With the October 2025 court decision approaching, every American with a smart meter needs to understand how their utility company might be spying on them right now.

#SMUD #SmartMeters #EFF #Privacy #Utilities #Electricity #surveillance #SurveillanceCapitalism #Spying #4thAmendment #WarrantlessSearch #Constitution #CivilRights #Courts #Lawsuit #SCOTUS #Cops #Police #Extortion #Fraud

@privacy@a.gup.pe @infosec@a.gup.pe @infostorm@a.gup.pe