“When you turn on a light or charge your phone, the electricity coming from the outlet may well have traveled hundreds of miles across the power grid that blankets most of North America — the world’s largest machine, and one of its most eccentric.” The NYT provides a really interesting look at how New York City gets its electricity. According to the state’s energy czar: “We have a system which is energy-inefficient because it was never designed to be efficient.” (I once used a similar excuse during track practice.)

+ California has more than enough power. So why are we paying more than ever and building a bunch of new power plants? From the LA Times: A runaway energy industry is costing California billions. (Related: Why are we still paying drought water rates when we’re damn near drowning out here!)