My first story for the @washingtonpost is about a Miami-Dade County proposal to create the first county-level workplace heat protections in the U.S. It could be a model for other local governments looking to protect workers in the absence of federal rules:

RT @dino_grandoni: Overjoyed and honored to be a part of this team, which was a Pulitzer finalist for national reporting! .

RT @eilperin: Miami has a waste problem, and all of America can learn from it, writes @NicolasFuRivero Read this fine piece of trashy writi….

RT @eilperin: If you're thinking of leasing or buying an EV, now's the time. @NicolasFuRivero explains why, here

RT @eilperin: Some video games are trying to cut their planet-warming pollution -- without angering gamers. @NicolasFuRivero explains how:….

These hulking batteries are helping Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, switch to renewable energy without throwing its power grid out of whack:

RT @eilperin: NEW: To understand how #helene2024 became so destructive, and what it wrought, you need to see this visionary piece that capt….

So, in the meantime, power companies, grid operators and the federal government are hoping that millions more people like you will sign up to let an AI hivemind fiddle with your thermostat and appliances when the grid is in trouble. (10/10).

The Energy Department projects that virtual power plants could triple in size by 2030—and says it's a cheaper, faster, cleaner way to keep the lights on than just building new power plants alone. It can take a long time to build new plants. (9/)

And as millions more Americans buy smart thermostats, EVs, home batteries, etc. the potential for these programs to grow is huge. And they'll have to in order to keep up with booming electricity demand. (8/)

The same thing happened in California in 2022. These programs already exist across the US, especially in TX, CA, New York and New England. Millions of Americans have volunteered to participate, usually in exchange for a discount on their power bill. (7/)

That's why these programs are called "virtual power plants." They add up a lot of tiny energy-saving changes most people won't notice to create a big drop in power demand. And on this day, it worked. The looming Texas blackout on Sept. 6, 2023 never happened. (6/).

But first, power companies reached into homes and businesses around the state and shut off thermostats, paused EV chargers, stopped appliances and tapped into home batteries. All together, they made 2.6 GW of electricity demand disappear—the equivalent of a big power plant. (5/).

As the sun set, solar panels wound down and sluggish breezes didn't allow wind turbines to pick up the slack. Every available power plant ramped up production, but it wasn't enough to meet demand. The Texas grid operator declared an emergency—the last step before blackouts. (4/).

Meanwhile, an influx of new residents, crypto miners and data centers are soaking up lots of power. And Texas has the US's biggest fleet of wind and solar power, which makes power supply less predictable. And on this day, temps hit the 100s and A/Cs were running full blast. (3/).

On a hot September evening last year, the Texas grid was on the verge of collapse. In the best of times, the TX grid is creaky. Texas cut its grid off from the rest of the US to avoid federal regulations—so it can't borrow power from neighboring states in an emergency. (2/).

A 🧵 about why power companies are building AI systems that can control millions of thermostats, appliances and EV chargers in homes around the U.S. — and how these hiveminds are already preventing blackouts and helping the grid use more green energy:

If you're a gardener, check out this citizen science project. You get free heirloom crop seeds and send back data about how well they grow in your garden. And you're helping scientists protect the food system from disease and climate change:

Japan could produce more geothermal energy than almost any other country. But Japan uses almost none of it. I visited this 1,500-year-old hot spring town to find out why it's so hard to tap into this source of clean power—and how that could change:

RT @eilperin: NEW: The Biden administration has a new plan to protect workers from extreme heat. We've mapped who it would protect -- if it….

In the middle of oil and gas country, there's a plant turning water into fuel. The U.S. is investing billions in the technology, which could be our best bet for powering planes and ships without warming the planet—but it won't be easy or cheap.