Panic Time: We’re in Need of More Electricity

In a report on the state of the  U.S. energy infrastructure, an advisory committee for the Department of Energy said the current system “will be unable to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, secure, and environmentally sustainable supply of electricity for the next two decades.” This may sound obvious, given our ever-increasing thirst for energy, but the DOE report sounds some serious alarms, saying that much of our current infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life.  The report recommends “demand-side resources” (i.e., consumer products and practices that conserve energy) and heavy investments from the Obama administration, which it says has given “clear attention” to the issue so far. That said, Ars Technica’s evaluation of the report points a finger a broken energy market and at policy failures, not only during the last eight years, but beyond. [DOE]