Saving Electricity in a Hurry describes some of the recent power blackouts – from Norway to New Zealand and from Tokyo to Arizona – and the policies these regions used to quickly reduce their power consumption. It shows that countries can quickly reduce electricity consumption without harming the economy as much as blackouts or unplanned curtailments. The strategies are diverse, unique and often surprisingly cheap. They include mass media campaigns – where a good joke can save a Megawatt – improvements in equipment efficiency, and adjusting electricity prices to cut electricity demand in a hurry. This book explains how California replaced a million traffic signals with energy-saving models, how millions of Tokyo residents changed their thermostat settings, and how New Zealanders took shorter showers, all quickly enough to help avoid imminent blackouts. Finally, it connects these policies to the traditional goal of  “saving electricity slowly”.