by Dana Wilbourn
posted July 9, 2007
) Photo by Dana Wilbourn Jason Makansi |
Mr. Makansi said his new book, Lights Out - The Electricity Crisis, The Global Economy, and What it Means to You, presents, in layman terms, a foundation for understanding just how complex power generation and its delivery truly is.
A prolific author, Mr. Makansi has spent the past 25 years analyzing the technological, business and regulatory issues in electricity production and delivery. He says what he has found is worrisome to him.
It comes as no surprise, he said, that electricity is fundamental to our national well-being as well as our comfort. He noted that a power outage in St. Louis, where he lives, left him without power for four days. Other areas were without power for up to 10 days. During that time, he said, there was no phone service, no water service, and no power to pump gas. Life came to a standstill. This, he said, is what our future holds if decisions are not made soon to change the present course for Americans.
Mr. Makansi said the supply lines for our electricity are too long. He advocates building coal-fired generation plants closer to the mines that supply the coal. He also said that the U.S. should build more nuclear plants so that 50% of the electrical generation comes from nuclear sources. He emphasized that other countries have done it and the U.S. should do it too.
The U.S. electrical supply line does not get the respect it deserves from our government in regards to national security, he said. Again, citing his experience with the power outage in St. Louis, he said that an attack on the electrical supply line by terrorists could ultimately cripple the nation.
Decisions need to be made soon to upgrade the transmission systems of the nation’s utilities, he said. Decisions (or indecisions) made today will guide the energy future in America for the next 40 to 60 years. The problem, he said, is that the current electrical grid was built for the past 50 years, not the next 50.
Some practical steps, he said, that utilities and the government can and should take now to secure our electricity supply are:
- Fix the existing transmission grid that is currently dysfunctional. Between production (power plants) and delivery is an antiquated, "third-world" transmission grid that is in desperate need of hardening against breakdowns, terrorist attacks, inadequate carrying capacity, and operational obsolescence.
- Put advanced electric meters in the home of every rate payer so they know the price and usage of their electricity and how they can affect it. Tiered pricing of electricity for residential consumers is needed.
- Reduce or eliminate liquid natural gas imports because we are too dependent upon it. The more we import, the more vulnerable we are to price fluctuation. America now has more electrical capacity from gas-fired electric generation plants than from coal-fired plants.
- Build nuclear generation plants until at least 50% of our electricity comes from nuclear. There is just one manufacturer of nuclear vessels left in the world and they are in Japan.
- Be intelligent with our coal reserves. We have 300 years of coal left. We can lengthen that by recycling or harvesting the by-products from coal generation.
Appealing to the sentimentality of the engineers in the room, Mr. Makansi said that 90% of the world’s engineers are now in China and India. He said America must make education a priority so that we not only maintain our current standard but help preserve our future.
Mr. Makansi said he is always asked if the price of electricity is going to continue to go up. He always answers “Yes,” he said.
The reasons he cites are that utilities are building new capacity to meet demand; some regions have had electrical rates frozen for at least 5 years as part of deregulation and competition; and the power plants built in the U.S. in the past ten years mostly burn liquid natural gas and the price of that gas has risen by a factor of 5 to 10 since the plants were planned.
Another reason for rising electricity costs is CO2 emissions, he said. CO2 emissions are blamed for global warming. Coal-fired generation of electricity causes CO2 emissions. If we want to go to a low- or no-CO2 emissions generation future, he said, we must turn to nuclear and renewable energy sources.
The price we then pay, he said, is for building new nuclear plants, subsidizing renewable projects, investing in energy storage and upgrading or lengthening our transmission lines to serve remote solar and wind farms.
Mr. Makansi said his new book, Lights Out, is written in an approachable style that will enable anyone interested in our electricity infrastructure and energy policy to grapple with even the most complicated aspects of the industry.
The book, he said, is a comprehensive road map outlining technical solutions and regulatory reforms - for both the supply and demand side - that will put us on a more rational policy path and help us avoid the serious consequences of an unhealthy electricity infrastructure.
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