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Google's parent company, Alphabet, is launching a new company called " Renew Home ." The new company will pull in some other projects from Nest and the rest of Alphabet to become a supposed one-stop shop for power savings and clean energy usage. The core concept is partnering with power companies to obtain data about the current condition of the power grid and using that data to change consumer habits. The new company is bankrolled by Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), an Alphabet venture capital firm.

The first existing service getting pulled into Renew Home is Nest Renew . This service for Nest Thermostats uses power company data to tell consumers how their electricity is being generated and what it costs. That data lets your thermostat do things like automatically shift heating and cooling to times of day when energy is cheaper or cleaner, and shows various reports about the cleanness of the energy you've been using. (Nest's feature that lets utility companies remotely take control of your thermostat, Rush Hour Rewards, does not seem to be part of Renew Home.)

Another Alphabet service being pulled into Renew Home is OhmConnect, which is the same basic idea as Nest's grid data-power thermostat adjustments but for more than just your thermostat. OhmConnect is compatible with a very small list of smart devices, like Nest-rival Ecobee and Honeywell thermostats, TL-Link's "Kasa" smart home system, and Tesla vehicles. The backbone of the service appears to be the in-house " OhmPlug " smart outlet, which can monitor the energy usage of anything that plugs into the wall. By seeing that you've turned these smart devices during peak usage times, OhmConnect offers people rewards like gift cards or cash for not using power when the grid is at capacity.

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The Ukrainian government on Monday warned that the Kremlin is planning to carry out “massive cyberattacks” targeting power grids and other critical infrastructure in Ukraine and in the territories of its allies.

“By the cyberattacks, the enemy will try to increase the effect of missile strikes on electricity supply facilities, primarily in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine,” an advisory warned. “The occupying command is convinced that this will slow down the offensive operations of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.”

Monday’s advisory alluded to two cyberattacks the Russian government carried out—first in 2015 and then almost exactly one year later —that deliberately left Ukrainians without power during one of the coldest months of the year. The attacks were seen as a proof-of-concept and test ground of sorts for disrupting Ukraine’s power supply.

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The United States gets about 40 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources, including renewables and nuclear, and researchers have a pretty good idea of how to cost-effectively get to about 90 percent.

But that last 10 percent? It gets expensive, and there is little agreement about how to do it.

A new paper in the journal Joule identifies six approaches for achieving that last 10 percent, including a reliance on wind and solar, a build-out of nuclear power, and development of long-term energy storage using hydrogen.

Enlarge / Modern single storey house with solar panels and wall battery for energy storage. (credit: imaginima )

In 2020, the average United States resident experienced a little more than eight hours of electricity blackouts, according to stats from the Energy Information Administration. The report noted that this was the highest number seen since 2013 when the organization began collecting this data.

During huge storms or massive oppressive heatwaves, the power can go out, and many of the amenities—TV, the Internet, fridges, etc.—Americans enjoy simply go kaput. Currently, the primary options for avoiding this fate are batteries and backup generators. However, a company called Enphase says it has created a product that can let your house run directly off its solar panels if they're producing, though it comes with some caveats.

Shouldn't solar panels work during an outage?

You'd think so, but no—mostly. Solar panels affixed to homes (and other structures) that are connected to the power grid will also go kaput during power outages. The outage doesn't stop them from producing power; the power just can't be used in the absence of a functioning grid. That's because the microinverters are part of an integrated system that includes the grid, power meter, and other associated hardware.

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Last month, California finalized a rule that will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, starting in 2035. Obviously, that’ll accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and encourage other states to do the same. (Oregon has already followed California’s lead .) But less obviously, spurning carbon-spewing vehicles could help buttress the United States’ ancient, creaky electrical grids.

Cars are no longer just modes of transportation; they are increasingly integrated into the larger energy infrastructure. If your EV is sitting in your garage fully charged (cars are typically parked 95 percent of the time ) and you lose power, that big battery offers an opportunity to keep the lights on. And when there’s a sudden spike in demand for the grid—because everyone wants to turn on their AC during a heat wave or their heat during a deep freeze —utilities could pay homeowners for their excess battery power .