Energy Biz - July/August 2008 - (Page 40c) The nation’s electric power grid, once hailed as “the most significant engineering achievement of the 20th Century,” has been the primary driver of the U.S. economy for more than a century. It contributes incalculably to the comfort, security, and safety that we associate with everyday life. But this massive infrastructure, this marvel of engineering, is aging rapidly. And our growing demand for more energy is outpacing what our century-old grid can deliver. Without radically changing the nation’s power grid, we can expect to waste more than $100 billion a year because of power outages alone. Add to that our growing concerns about the cost of energy, protecting the environment, reliability, security, and our total dependence on electricity, and one realizes how critical it is that we rethink how we transmit, distribute, and price this essential “public good.” Fortunately, hundreds of organizations, both private and public, have begun to build consensus on a wholly different approach to fulfilling this public trust. continued
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