Infotricity, as you say, can not hurt and if it is...

2011-03-16T23:20:16.077-05:00

Infotricity, as you say, can not hurt and if it is able to be done in such a way that customers do not notice the difference such that their showers are always warm/hot, the milk is always kept cold, the ice cream isn't melted, and homes are warm and cool when needed then fine. Given that though, if these things aren't maintained then I suspect it will be seen either as "Big Brother" trying to interfere in peoples homes, or an excuse to justify rate increases for those that aren't prepared to upend their days and nights in order to do all their household chores that require electricity during the late night hours.

Additionally there is an urge to push auto makers to produce electric cars, which admittedly aren't ready to completely replace our oil\gasoline needs yet.
Given our dependence on a finite resource namely oil, and given the fact that other countries are now developing their own needs for oil, we have little choice in the long term but to convert to alternate energy sources for transportation.

I hope that TVA and EPB in their long term planning are keeping in mind that it seems likely that automobiles will be plugged in and trickle charging in our future. This charging "may" well occur mostly during the late night hours when there is excess electrical capacity, but even in our own community with 2nd and 3rd shift workers there will be charging that will occur during the daytime hours. It may not be completely bad though, if these auto batteries and their home charging stations get developed so that in times of power outages\emergencies the auto batteries can reverse the flow of energy and temporarily power individual homes until the utility comes back online.

As for generation plans well people don't want coal because of its pollution and dangers for miners, people don't want oil, or natural gas, and some don't want nuclear due to the what-if fears and the spent fuel storage.

Wind and solar, correct me if I'm wrong can not generate the amount of electricity needed even if they weren't limited in the locations they can be utilized. So as nice as those two methods sound they will not cut it. Admittedly I've thought that a limited number of solar panels could be installed on the flat rooftops of the local schools and hospital in order for them to be usable as shelters. They could be a big part of the initiative to be proactive for situations such as the ice storm we experienced several years ago.

Our country does have to make some hard but "educated" decisions about nuclear power given the Japanese situation. First of which is that there will be no mushroom cloud like a nuclear bomb. People in the U.S. do not need to go out and get their potassium iodide pills and start taking them. I get the impression that many people have that perception since the word nuclear gets that stigma since it is associated with nuclear weapons. We know that two nuclear bombs ended WWII, and Russians had nuclear missiles pointed at us. Now other countries like Iran want nuclear weapons to have leverage.
Secondly, there is no doubt that placement of these plants can and should be limited in the US, so they are not too near fault lines and even coastlines.

As it is, 1960's General Electric Mark 1 designed reactors, built in the 1970's, and no longer built by that design, apparently have had two extreme natural disasters in succession. Even those old designs had safeguards for both of those type events but not to the degree, and in succession as in this case. I'm sure it will all be studied, and if changes to current designs need to be made then they will. Now we pray for the Japanese people while they go through multiple disasters.

NO option will ever be 100% effective, and 100% safe for the environment, and 100% safe in any disaster.

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Infotricity, as you say, can not hurt and if it is...