• Residents hungry for power in the wake of Hurricane Irene

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    According to Dominion Power, which services the vast majority of those without power in North Carolina and Virginia, 1.2 million customers are in need of having service restored. The company expects to complete an assessment of damage and have an estimate of when restoration for all customers will be complete by noon on Monday. This will be the second-largest restoration after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

    Takaaki Iwabu / The News & Observer via AP

    Chris Respess, middle, buys an electric generator from Randy Sparks in Washington, N.C., Aug. 28. Respess said there are lot of people in Washington who still don't have electricity and are getting desperate. Sparks, who owns a discount grocery store in Belmont, Miss., brought a few hundred of generators to sell along Rt. 264.

    AP reports that the Colonial Pipeline, which transports gasoline and other fuels from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, stopped fuel deliveries to Selma, N.C., and to Virginia's Tidewater area as the storm knocked out power. Colonial Pipeline's website states that they are working with customers to restore service to all areas supplied by the Houston-to-New York pipeline.

    Chris Carmichael

    Sam Liptrap of Atlantic Beach siphons gas from his car to fuel his generator. Liptrap, who owns the Sand Dollar Hotel, says Hurricane Irene cost him $2,500 in lost revenue this past weekend. Atlantic Beach was largely spared from the worst of the storm, but residents are likely to remain without power until crews can repair feeds to the area, which could mean more vacant rooms in the coming days for Liptrap.

    Chris Carmichael

    Phillip Henry, left, of Morehead City, N.C., and Henderson Douglas, center, of Newport, N.C., wait in line for gas at a Shell Station on NC 24. By early afternoon, only two gas stations were reported to be pumping gas in the area. Supplies waned as residents looked to fuel their generators.

    See more images from the storm here.

    1 comment

    What a pity old people!

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  • China Daily via Reuters

    Workers install a high voltage electricity pylon in Xuancheng, Anhui province, China on May 17. China will raise the prices for electricity coal-fired generators sell to grid operators by 0.02 yuan per kilowatt hour in three provinces, state media reported on Wednesday, in an effort to encourage generators to increase supplies amid spreading shortages.

    China powers up

  • Patagonia residents face displacement if hydroelectric dams are built

    Jorge Uzon / AP

    In this photo taken May 4, 2011, Rozendo Sanchez, left, saddles his horse next to Nelson Gallardo, in Los Nadis, Aysen region, in Chile's northern Patagonia. Their families are two of the at least three dozen living where the multinational consortium, HidroAysen has proposed to build five hydroelectric megadams in this remote Patagonian region. If the proposal is accepted, one of the dams will flood most of Los Nadis, requiring the relocation of its residents. In the next few days, the region's Commision for Environmental Evaluation will meet to determine whether or not HidroAysen has met the environmental standards required by Chilean law for the project to proceed.

    Jorge Uzon / AP

    In this photo taken May 4, 2011, Elisabeth Schindele, left, a German married to Chilean Rozendo Sanchez, collects plants with her daughter Lorena Sanchez Schindele in the home she shares with her husband and two children in Los Nadis, Aysen region, in Chile's northern Patagonia. The family is one of the at least three dozen living where the multinational consortium, HidroAysen has proposed to build five hydroelectric megadams in this remote Patagonian region.

    Jorge Uzon / AP

    In this photo taken May 4, 2011, Nelson Gallardo, left, and Rozendo Sanchez, ride on their horses as they herd cattle to the market, in Los Nadis, Aysen region, in Chile's northern Patagonia.

    Jorge Uzon / AP

    This photo taken Jan. 20, 2008 show a view of the confluence of the Baker and Chacabuco rivers on the outskirst of Cochrane, Aysen region, in Chile's northern Patagonia.

    Francesco Degasperi / AFP - Getty Images

    Conservationists protest against the project to build several hydroelectric power stations in the Chilean Patagonia, in Coihaique, Aisen, Chile on May 9, 2011. A USD 3.2 billion hydroelectric project billed as key to satisfying Chile's growing energy needs faces a major hurdle Monday as an environmental panel decides whether or not to give it the green light.

     Here's more about this story.

  • Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    Bijay Paudel, a news reader from national television channel Kantipur Television, reads the news beside a lantern in Kathmandu, Feb. 6. The television channel is highlighting the Nepal Electricity Authority's daily 14 hour load shedding introduced on its customers. The authorities said the generation of power has gone down due to less water being available from the rivers to generate power.

    Television station highlights daily 14-hour power outages in Nepal

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    I think carrying on with modern daily life without power for such extended periods of time would be terribly difficult, especially since the load shedding schedule allows for power interruptions during what would normally be considered to be busy times of the day and evening. It would be interesting to know if the Nepalese economy is helped or hindered by these outages. The upside of the situation is that the scheduled closing of the power spigot could be planned around, so businesses could readjust their hours based on that knowledge. I know we are spoiled in this country, but I can't imagine 14 hours a day without electricity on a convenience level. How would you cope? Check out the power outage schedule here.

  • China Daily / Reuters

    Workers install a new electricity pylon in Chuzhou, Anhui province Jan. 2. Power shortages in provinces covered by the central China grid will total 10 billion kilowatt hours in January and February, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday, citing a forecast from State Grid Corp of China.

    Power shortages in parts of China will total 10 billion kilowatt hours in Jan., Feb.

  • Parivartan Sharma / Reuters

    Labourers work at an electric pylon in New Delhi September 20, 2010. India's power output grew an annual 1 percent in August, the slowest growth since February 2009 as some plants were shut, but peak power deficit narrowed as heavy rainfall curbed demand.

    Can-do attitude

    This picture is the only one we have from this situation. It would be good to know if there's some kind of harness anchoring this this person to the wire. In any case, it suggests a willingness to get the job done.

  • Sergio Costa / AFP - Getty Images

    A young Mozambican protester stands near a burning car on a street in Maputo on Sept 2. Mozambique rolled back price increases for bread, water and electricity, hoping to soothe public outrage that erupted in three days of deadly rioting last week.

    Tough

    This picture leaves my heart heavy. I wish we could all remember not to act so entitled and to embrace the comfortable, easy lives that most of us live in comparison.

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