In 2025, the United Kingdom paid a record £1.5 billion ($2 billion) in "constraint payments" to keep wind farms from producing energy. When high winds cause turbines to produce more energy than the nation's outdated power grid can handle, the government must pay wind farms to shut down to prevent an overload; it must then pay other sources, such as gas plants, to turn on in order to meet demand. The government spent nearly £380 million ($512.5 million) paying wind farms to shut off, and it paid power plants £1.08 billion ($1.46 billion) to make up the difference.
Leticia Mariscal of Madera County, California, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for using her position in social services to steal food assistance funds. Prosecutors say Mariscal accessed county databases to steal the identities of more than 15 people and secretly approved them for benefits through the state's food stamp program. She then printed debit cards and spent the funds herself, stealing over $40,000 in three years.
