Electric rates were actually lower in September than a year ago, for northeast and midwest households, with and without adjusting for inflation. As a consequence, the nationwide Consumer Price Index component for electricity rose just seven-tenths of a percent year-over-year. While the overall CPI rose significantly more, by one and seven-tenths of a percent.

The forty-six qualifying nominations for this year’s Fortnightly Top Innovators included one hundred and thirty-seven innovators. Twenty-three of the nominations — exactly half of them – were of an individual innovator. The remaining twenty-three nominations were of a group of innovators. The groups ranged from small two-person teams to large teams with as many as a dozen team members.