Reply To: Nuplex.

[JimmyT]

But…. I just don’t think it is right to gleefully suggest utilities get the shaft for making the NECESSARY investments in long term capital assets needed to provide the electric power needed to run our civilization.

I live in Baton Rouge, and personally witnessed the effects of a city without power for over a week. Lines in front of Wal-Mart, hoping to get in to buy food (no power, no lights, no cash register). After only a half hour in line, I was let into the store… then an employee told me to hurry, the generator was almost out of gas, and if I didn’t check out before the power died, I’d not get the food, batteries, etc I’d been able to find. I had to wait over an hour for gas, as gas stations didn’t have power to pump the gas. Believe me, life without power was very unpleasant.

Utilities have a legal OBLIGATION to serve. They can’t wait for FF to change the world. And many of the assets they currently hold were built in the ‘70’s, 80’sand 90’s. They are partial depreciated. But, the remainder of the book value, like the remained of a 30 year mortgage after 20 years, needs to be re-paid.

That is what I’m talking about when I mention stranded assets.

Rematog,
I agree with every word of the above post. The entire post. And your post which follows it. And I realize that as a originator of this technology we will have no special rights with regards to its deployment. But the above argument does reveal a slippery slope. Exactly the same arguments could be stated about the stranded assets in coal, oil, wind farms, solar farms, factories that make any products supporting the mentioned businesses……ad naseum. It is difficult to know where to draw the line. And I’m not suggesting that I have any answers either.

like you say, nuff’ said.