An EMP attack can destroy a state's electromagnetic grid and thus take a 21st-century economy back to the pre-industrial era.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Time's up on Iran

Mr Davis has come up with a blunt answer: he wants the state to control the grid.

ECONOMIST: California��s power crisis

Because the China electricity market is dominated by a few, very large state-run organizations such as the State Grid and the South Grid, different approaches may need to be taken than in other industries.

FORBES: China's Energy-Efficiency Mandate

The stimulus project will be sponsored by several government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), State Grid and the National Energy Administration, Wang Sicheng, a senior energy researcher from NDRC, said at a solar industry conference in Beijing last week.

FORBES: China's Government To the Rescue As Solar Crisis Deepens

The agency that operates the state power grid cited colder than usual weather, maintenance problems and a power shortage across the Northwest.

CNN: California briefly declares Stage Three power emergency

The pipeline's opening ceremony took place in the Geman town of Lubmin, where heads of state involved in the project opened a tap to release the first of the gas into the European grid.

BBC: Nord Stream gas pipeline opened by Merkel and Medvedev

Escalating tensions over a proposal to impose rolling outages on wind-power farms in Oregon and Washington State to prevent the electric grid from overheating has convinced the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which is responsible for operating the power grid in the Pacific Northwest, to pull the plug on the plan.

FORBES: Grid Operators Drop Plan for Rolling Wind-Farm Outages