The country's largest all-electric hospital is about to open in Orange County

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A 144-bed hospital run by UC Irvine will be the largest, and only the second, all-electric facility in the country.

It uses electric heat pumps, electric water heating and has an all-electric kitchen. Backup power still relies on diesel generators.

More all-electric medical facilities are under construction in the state.

A new hospital at UC Irvine opens Wednesday and it will be all-electric — only the second such medical center, and the largest, in the country so far.

People live through some of the toughest moments of their lives in hospitals, so they need to be as comfortable as possible. Hospitals traditionally connect with natural gas lines several times bigger than those co