The latest fad among emerging-market bond investors, eager to get a piece of the action, is to queue up for bonds with 100-year maturities, such as those issued by the Chinese government and Tenaga Nasional, a Malaysian electrical utility.

ECONOMIST: From here to eternity | The

Last year, Republicans defeated a White House-backed bill that would have established voluntary cybersecurity standards for companies running critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, citing concerns about a government role in cybersecurity.

WSJ: U.S. Official Cites Cyberattack Risks

The ESC's studies also included fire and accident trends from the Department of Communities and Local Government and data on the number of high risk electrical items in homes from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

BBC: 'Blunder' fires increasing say Electrical Safety Council

The CPUC also took a slap at the federal government by voting to pass on the full cost of rising wholesale electrical prices for power used by federal facilities.

CNN: graphic

Recently, for example, Corning has been meeting with academics, government officials and business executives to learn about the challenge of making coal-fired electrical plants burn cleaner.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Another technique the government is adopting to make rural citizens happier is to give them big discounts on household electrical appliances.

ECONOMIST: Tibet: Pilgrims and progress | The

In the 1940s the government began an investigation of the business tabulator market, which was then split formally between IBM (electrical tabulators) and Remington Rand (mechanical tabulators).

FORBES: Beset by lawyers