Nation State Energy Policy

Posted on Sep 11, 2018

*bulb https://vimeo.com/289321256

That a light bulb turns on is a horrendous miracle. Each and every electron that passes through the bulb has to be generated at almost the exact same second as the bulb is turned on, and if too many or too few electrons are created and pushed out through the electric grid the whole system can fail. The reliability of the entire system is founded on the bedrock of federal regulation, the prime directive of which is that THE LIGHTS MUST REMAIN ON. Some government regulators are more effective at enforcing this directive than others, but for nearly all federal regulators energy reliability is the top goal (the prime directive for the others is abusing their authority as regulators to enrich themselves). All state visions are totalizing visions, and all state visions leave things out. What is lost in this particular vision? Climate change? Keeping ratepayer costs low? It would almost certainly be cheaper and less carbon intensive to have occasional blackouts, as peak energy demand is usually met by throwing oil into giant fires. The answer depends on the state and the region, the regulators and the strictness of enforcement.

One map: https://graphcommons.com/graphs/dbabd3f8-5ed7-4da9-bd19-e883defd6641