What's so special about this Sunday, the Fourth of September? It's both Lewis Latimer's birthday and the hundred and thirty-fourth anniversary of Pearl Street Station.

Here's an excerpt from the September issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly heading your way:

On September 4, 1848, Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His parents were slaves in Virginia who escaped to Boston. The slave owner came to Boston to reclaim them, in one of the most important cases of the abolitionist movement. The slave owner was eventually paid for their freedom.

Of all the nation’s electricity, 35.8 percent was generated without emitting carbon dioxide, this year through June. The remaining 64.2 percent was generated with emissions. 

57.1 percent of the zero-carbon power came from nuclear plants. 16.6 percent came from wind farms. 3.5 percent came from solar. 

Want to know why electricity consumption isn't growing that much? Look no further than the Census Department stats on new single-family houses.

In 2015, 648 thousand new single-family houses were completed nationally. That's up forty-five percent from 2011. But down sixty-one percent from 2006.

Why is the housing recovery from 2011 and lingering housing recession from 2006 so important for us in utility regulation and policy?