Power Hour

BC Hydro is carrying out a planned power outage lasting about 14 hours on Sunday, affecting Field and Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. The utility says the shutdown is needed for maintenance work, and local services are expected to be disrupted while the power is off. Residents and businesses in the two communities are being advised to prepare for the day-long interruption.

Social media users in India are debating a hypothetical question: if you woke up tomorrow as Prime Minister of India with just 24 hours of full power, what single decision would you make? Responses are drawing in people's views on the country's most pressing problems, from the economy to governance, turning the prompt into a popular conversation about national priorities.

The Unlimited Hangout has released a new podcast episode featuring journalist Whitney Webb and co-host Mark discussing the Bitcoin-dollar relationship. The episode, running two and a half hours, argues that Bitcoin and stablecoins are often misrepresented and that both are set to be used together to extend US dollar dominance globally.

California has installed so much solar capacity that it generates more electricity than needed during midafternoon hours, with the surplus going unused even as the grid faces potential shortages in the evening when solar output drops. One proposal gaining attention: give low-income consumers free power from 1 pm to 3 pm to absorb the excess and ease evening demand.

Homeowners in Arizona are questioning whether rooftop solar is worth the cost, and existing solar owners argue the economics improve significantly when a battery is added. They say batteries let households store cheap daytime solar power for evening peak-rate hours, when utility prices in Arizona are highest, which is what makes the investment math finally work. The debate reflects wider scrutiny of solar payback periods as electricity rates rise.

In Austin, west-facing solar arrays produced 49 percent more electricity than equally sized south-facing panels during the 3 to 7 PM window, when electricity demand and grid prices peak. The finding suggests panel orientation, not just size, can determine how valuable a rooftop system is, since power delivered during peak hours earns more under time-based pricing.

Home and garden coverage explains that solar bird bath fountains often underperform in autumn. Shorter days, weaker sunlight and falling leaves that clog pump intakes reduce power and water flow, meaning the fountains may sputter or stop even when working fine in summer. The advice circulating is to keep panels clear of debris and accept reduced output as daylight hours shrink.

A UK household on Octopus Energy's Happy Hours tariff has found a counterintuitive quirk: plugging in the electric car triggers a cheaper per-kW rate, so it works out more economical to run the house battery and appliances instead of charging the vehicle. With the tariff dropping the price from 33p to 8p per kW once the car draws power, the user says either way it amounts to free electricity.

A Colorado electrical substation lost power twice in two days after two squirrels contacted unprotected equipment. Nearly all of the facility's components were fitted with wildlife guards, but the animals reached the parts that were not covered. The first outage cut electricity to 4,400 customers for more than two hours; the second affected 1,300 customers for about 40 minutes.

Several countries are walking back nuclear phase-outs. Belgium has scrapped its law mandating an exit from nuclear power, Spain extended operations at the Almaraz plant until 2030, and Taiwan plans to reopen a reactor it shut last year. Commentators note that keeping old reactors running is far cheaper than building new ones, with US new-build costs at $175–255 per megawatt-hour.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether judges have the power to extend polling hours, but the case will not be heard until after the November election. The timing means any ruling on judicial authority over voting hours will come after voters have already gone to the polls, drawing attention to how courts handle election-related disputes during a campaign.

A man powered his entire home for a full 24 hours using a Chinese electric vehicle battery, according to a report circulating in motoring and technology circles. The stunt highlights how large EV battery packs can double as household energy storage, a topic drawing growing interest as home backup power and vehicle-to-grid charging gain attention among EV owners.