The U.S. government took very similar steps in the 1930s when Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act as part of the New Deal to supply power to areas that for-profit companies had written off as unprofitable. Although most result in only mild gastrointestinal upset, some can be deadly, as witnessed by recent reports of brain-eating amoeba in a Texas municipal water supply. The ultimate hope or fantasy is that hybrids-in addition to drawing on electricity-will also serve as home energy storage devices that can contribute power at times of system overload. Dozens died. Health officials eventually identified a new bacterium that had thrived in the twin cities building and remodeling’s cooling towers and then spread though the air-conditioning system. Since May, the Trump administration has paid a fledgling Texas company $7.3 million for test tubes needed in tracking the spread of the coronavirus nationwide.