I had a friend who worked as one of these electricity shunters in the 1980s. He tells the story of Chuck and Di’s wedding, when many Canadian got up early in the morning to watch it on TV. The electricity planners didn’t predict the increased demand in that time of that day. Brownouts were happening in western Canada, and my friend had to make a few phone calls to California to get some electricity taps turned on.

About that time, I envisioned a form of electrical storage: Hydrogen Plants. The world has not gone in that direction, but it is interesting how institutional providers have balked at good ideas for decades.

It’s time to develop a new system of governance that allows us to experiment wisely with new ways — before things get critical.