Free Republic

"Spain's power grid ran entirely on renewable energy".. Spain was supposed to be Europe’s Green Energy success story. With massive amounts of renewables in the power grid, Spain was going to save the planet. Here’s Red Electrica, Spain’s state-owned power company, last year bragging about its renewables. “Renewable energies generated 56% of Spain’s electricity mix in 2024 Renewable generation increased by almost 11% in a record-breaking year on two fronts: achieving the highest renewable electricity generation ever recorded and capturing its largest share since records began.” Now, Red Electrica is trying to explain why all the lights went out. Spain...

Spain and Portugal achieved net zero on Monday, but not the way anyone would want to achieve net zero: By going back to the cavepeople times with no electricity. According to the New York Times:A major power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday afternoon, abruptly shutting down daily activities, halting trains and subways, cutting off traffic lights, closing stores and canceling or delaying some flights.Hours after the power shut off around 12:30 p.m. Central European time, stranding tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula, officials remained at a loss as to the cause, though several denied any...

Policymakers on both sides of the political aisle increasingly advocate for affordable, reliable, and clean energy. This is for good reason – modern society requires energy that is affordable and available on demand. Environmental concerns are also very important. Together, affordability, reliability, and cleanliness form the three pillars of ideal energy policy. Two new analyses evaluate competing electrical power sources and produce an affordable, reliable, and clean scorecard. The two analyses – one published by Northwood University and the Mackinac Center, and the other published by my public policy organization, The Heartland Institute – independently reach near-identical findings. Both analyses...

A new report from GlobalData, a data and analytics group, projects global nuclear power capacity will hit 494 GW by 2035. The group’s “Nuclear Power Market, Update 2025–Market Size, Segmentation, Major Trends, and Key Country Analysis to 2035” said capacity gains will be tied to advancements in deployments of small modular reactors (SMRs), along with the continuing worldwide shift to cleaner forms of energy. The report released April 21 said recent gains in nuclear power have been driven by moves toward more low-carbon baseload power. Measures promoting energy security, in addition to interest in decarbonization of industrial sectors, also is...

The island of Puerto Rico is suffering another island-wide power outage, just months after a dayslong blackout on New Year's Eve kept residents in the dark. Luma Energy said the complete interruption to its service began at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday. This means all 1.4 million customers on the island are without power. "While the cause of the interruption is being investigated, preliminary findings indicate an unexpected shutdown at all generating plants," the company said. At least 328,000 clients were without water, with officials warning that power likely won’t be fully restored for another 48 to 72 hours. Genera Power,...

As the artificial intelligence (AI) boom drives exponential demand for data centers, the United States’ position as an AI leader is at risk without immediate action to address growth constraints. The “transition toward cloud-based services and generative AI applications [is forecast to drive] a 37% compound annual increase in AI spending out to 2032,” according to Bloomberg. The significant growth comes at a time when supply chain constraints are limiting revenue growth among the largest U.S. data center developers—known as hyperscalers. In the past year, hyperscalers have been flagging the data center supply chain as a headwind in their growth...

Scientists from Princeton University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have invented a device that seemingly generates electricity from the Earth’s rotation. Although generally accepted theories show that generating electricity from a uniform field like Earth’s magnetic field is impossible, the team believes they have found a “loophole” that allows their device to generate tiny but measurable amounts of electricity. If independent reviews can confirm the team’s work, they say the next steps to building a practical energy-generating device would involve miniaturization and scaling efforts, as proposed in a new paper detailing their current efforts. Device That Generates Electricity from...

The airport has urged passengers not to go there until it has reopened.. What we know.. London's Heathrow Airport will be closed all day Friday local time because of a fire at a nearby electricity substation. The fire has caused a power outage at the airport, one of the world's busiest. The airport has urged passengers not to go there until it has reopened, which the airport said would happen at 11:59 p.m. Friday. ... Heathrow closure will affect at least 1,351 flights, ... Heathrow Airport busiest in U.K., 4th in the world.. London Heathrow Airport, shuttered by a fire...

Data Center Alley, a 30-square-mile stretch outside Washington D.C. and home to more than 200 data centers, consumes roughly the same electricity as Boston. So power company officials were alarmed when a big chunk of those centers – 60 of them – suddenly dropped off the grid one day last summer and switched to on-site generators. The mass reaction was triggered by a standard safety mechanism across the data center industry, intended to protect computer chips and electronic equipment from damage caused by voltage fluctuations. But it caused a huge surge in excess electricity, according to federal regulators and utility...

TORONTO (AP) — The premier of Canada’s most populous province said Tuesday he was suspending the 25% surcharge that Ontario imposed earlier this week on electricity exports to the United States after speaking with the U.S. Commerce Secretary and agreeing to meet with him in Washington. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have agreed to meet on Thursday to “discuss a renewed” United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. “They call you and they hand over an olive branch, the worst thing I could do as premier of...

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Texas Tech says an explosion at a substation has caused power outages on campus and at the Health Sciences Center. The Engineering Key is evacuated as well as HSC. Around 9:20 p.m., the Texas Tech Library officially closed. Officials are expected to host a press conference for the latest on the explosion. The public is asked to avoid the area. This is a developing story.

Years ago, Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, was roundly condemned for shutting off energy exports to Ukraine and much of Europe in the dead of winter over payment disputes. I recall reading that someone in Serbia, which got its energy from pipelines from Ukraine, froze to death. Putin was unmoved. Then, after full blown war was declared in 2014, Putin went for electricity shutoffs, in 2015, and in the past year, through cyberattacks on the country's grid. It was terrible for Ukraine, which had to scramble for alternative suppliers as well as turn to its nuclear reactors to get what it...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford agreed to suspend a surcharge on electricity exports to US states a few hours after Trump threatened retaliation against Canada. On Monday evening Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity to US states in response to Trump’s tariffs on Canada. “If we go into a recession, it will be called the Trump recession,” Doug Ford said in an interview with CNBC’s “Money Movers.” Doug Ford said cutting off electricity to the US is a tool in his toolkit. “That’s the last thing I want to do,” Doug Ford said. “I want to send more electricity down...

Canadian province Ontario's Premier Doug Ford threatens: "If the US escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely."

Ontario’s premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, is now charging 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. Ontario's premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, announced that effective Monday it is charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off...

The government of Ontario is applying a 25 percent surcharge starting Monday on electricity exports to three U.S. states in response to U.S. tariffs on Canada. This surcharge will affect electricity sales for 1.5 million homes and businesses across Michigan, Minnesota and New York, the Ontario government said. In total, it could cost up to $400,000 per day. New market rules are going into place requiring Canadian electricity sellers to add a $10 per megawatt-hour surcharge, equivalent to a quarter of the electricity’s average value, to the cost of power for sales to the U.S., according to a statement from...

JERUSALEM -- Israel announced Sunday it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza. The full effects were not immediately clear, but the arid territory's desalination plants receive power for producing drinking water. Hamas called it part of Israel's “starvation policy." Israel last week cut off supplies of goods to the territory of over 2 million Palestinians, an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam called it part of Israel's “starvation policy, in clear disregard for all international laws and norms.” He said Israel has ”practically" cut off...

Three U.S. states are set for higher electricity bills after Canada declined to follow President Donald Trump’s lead and pause its tariffs. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been vocal in his opposition to Trump and his administration’s jabs at the Commonwealth nation, confirmed he will still slap a 25 percent tariff on electricity sent from Canada to the United States starting on Monday. Ford was asked if he had changed his mind after Trump’s sudden U-turn. “Canadians love Americans. I love Americans. It’s been 20 years of my life. But in saying that, no, we’re going to put a...

Ontario will charge 25 per cent more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans starting Monday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday. The province provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. Earlier this week, Ford warned the governors of those states about the coming changes. "You touch the stove once, you get burned, you don't touch that stove again," Ford said. "We're going to make sure that we follow through with what we said we were going to do." Ford said he felt bad about laying the surcharge. "I feel terrible for...

Researchers have developed a battery that can convert nuclear energy into electricity via light emission, a new study suggests. Nuclear power plants, which generate about 20% of all electricity produced in the United States, produce almost no greenhouse gas emissions. However, these systems do create radioactive waste, which can be dangerous to human health and the environment. Safely disposing of this waste can be challenging. Using a combination of scintillator crystals, high-density materials that emit light when they absorb radiation, and solar cells, the team, led by researchers from The Ohio State University, demonstrated that ambient gamma radiation could be...