Power outage

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents, particularly in the Florida Panhandle, to prepare for strong winds, flooding and power outages as a hurricane intensified in the Gulf of Mexico and tracked toward the state. The storm strengthened into a Category 2 system and is expected to make landfall near the Florida-Alabama border late Friday or early Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center, with forecasters warning it could strengthen further before then.

Speaking from the state's Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, DeSantis said Florida has staged aircraft, rescue teams, fuel and other emergency supplies in the storm's expected path and warned residents to take the threat seriously. The briefing marked the first major storm response for newly appointed Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Perdue, who also heads the state's Transportation Department. He succeeds Kevin Guthrie, who led the division for five years before departing to join a failed Republican gubernatorial primary campaign.

Ohio's governor race intensified this week as Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and Democratic rival Amy Acton both proposed suspending the state's gas tax amid a spike in fuel prices, with statewide averages topping $4.52 a gallon and diesel hitting a record $6.77. Ramaswamy, joined by GOP legislative leaders Rob McColley and Matt Huffman, unveiled a plan for a 90-day tax suspension that lawmakers could act on before Election Day, funded initially through ODOT reserves and the state's rainy-day fund. Acton called for an "emergency gas tax holiday" but offered fewer details on duration or funding. It remains unclear whether the GOP-controlled legislature will reconvene early or whether Gov. Mike DeWine, who has raised the gas tax before, would sign such a measure.

Separately, prediction markets continue to show Acton leading Ramaswamy by a wider margin than public polling suggests. Ohio lawmakers are also pursuing a bid to bring the U.S. Space Academy to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with a decision due to NASA by October 26 and final approval resting with President Trump.

California's Demand Side Grid Support program, launched in 2022, pays households with solar-and-battery systems to send stored power back to the grid during heat waves and price spikes, functioning as a "virtual power plant." Last year more than 200,000 home batteries discharged over 1 GW at peak times, roughly matching a nuclear plant's output and San Francisco's peak demand. The program has cost $13 million to administer while paying out $66 million to participants, with enrollees in 53 of 58 counties and strong uptake among lower-income households. PG&E has credited the network with helping keep the lights on during recent test events.

The program, along with a linked school HVAC electrification effort (CalSHAPE) with nearly $200 million unspent, is set to run out of funding by year's end unless California lawmakers act. A state Senate budget proposal to extend both programs was not included in the final adopted budget, leaving their future uncertain as another heat wave strains the grid.

President Trump quickly declared an emergency in Indiana under the Stafford Act after a derecho brought historic flooding to Indianapolis and widespread damage statewide, unlocking federal resources for cleanup and emergency measures. The storm system also hit Illinois, where thousands face damaged or lost property, but Gov. JB Pritzker's administration is still assessing damage before deciding whether to request federal assistance. Neither state has yet sought a major disaster declaration, which would be needed to unlock FEMA Individual Assistance for households.

The fast action for Indiana, led by Trump ally Gov. Mike Braun, contrasts with FEMA's earlier denial of Illinois' request for storm damage aid last year, a decision Pritzker has called political. An AP analysis found Trump approved about 80% of Republican governors' requests versus 60% from Democrats and is taking longer than any president since 1989 to act; the White House disputes any politicization. Democratic senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have pressed for more transparency. How Illinois' eventual request is handled will offer another comparison point.