When in June of this year the Cornwall Alliance offered to send Robert Bryce’s book A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations free as our thanks when people donated, one donor, Thomas J. Myers, responded with a note we just had to share. He writes from experience within the electric power industry. With his permission, here’s what he said. It’s a message millions need to hear and take seriously.

Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash

Thanks for communicating to folks the importance of knowing how our electricity gets to our homes and businesses. I’m just an old country guy who grew up in the sticks in Middle TN. I know hard times as we didn’t have indoor plumbing until 1963, when I was 11.

Having worked at TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) for more than 29 years (1977–2006), and all of that being in the construction or modification of our power plants (including nuclear, fossil, gas, and diesel), I am amazed when I talk to folks who don’t understand that windmills and solar panels cannot produce the amounts of electricity that are currently required to maintain our infrastructure.

Unfortunately, there are even a significant number of TVA employees (mostly administrative types) who have no clue as to what is required to put power on the grid and then how that power gets distributed to the end users.

While I was there (well into my career), TVA hired a consultant who taught some classes to employees who were either curious about that process or needed to understand it better. The class took the students from the very beginning of the production process to the meter on your house or business.

Most of the people were absolutely blown away by the complexity of that process. I recommended that the class be taught to everyone employed or hired so they could at least have some knowledge that could be passed on to family, neighbors, and friends when someone asked them what they did. TVA did not act on that recommendation, and consequently, they still have a large percentage of employees who do not understand the system at all.

There is still so much misinformation out there! And people don’t understand that, while usage is less at night than in the day, a large percentage of the load on the grid still exists overnight. They think that, because they turn off their lights and other electronic devices when they go to bed, power is not largely needed. However, the loads are still significant enough to prevent turning down many of the generating plants. They don’t realize that much of the industry is still operating at night, along with their heat and air, charging stations for their electronic devices (in some cases their cars), and hospitals. These and other user needs still have to be met.

I suppose people will better understand the picture when the power starts failing when the temperatures are in the upper 90s or low teens. Many in our area don’t realize that, despite California’s push for battery-operated cars, the state has several times mandated that people not recharge them at night and sometimes for longer periods.

Maybe someday we will get there, but it’s likely decades in the future, as best I can see, for it depends on much more costly infrastructure (such as dependable and much larger battery storage capabilities, especially for harnessing solar) that doesn’t currently exist.

I guess we will all just sit around in the dark when the grid takes a nosedive, because kerosene lamps and candles must (based on the climate alarmists’ projections) have a significant effect on global warming!

Just had to let you know I appreciated the article, and hopefully, a large number of folks will read the book and get better informed!

So, that’s what Mr. Myers said. It’s wisdom. It’s wisdom that millions and millions of Americans need to embrace—not just ordinary citizens, but decision-makers in our electric power industry.

We still have a large number of copies of Robert Bryce’s A Question of Power. If you read it, you’ll understand how crucial our electric power system is to your life—and how vulnerable you’ll be as it comes to depend increasingly on wind and solar.

So, as long as our supply lasts, we’ll send you a free copy, if you request it, as our thanks when you make a 100 percent tax-deductible donation of any size. Your donation to the Cornwall Alliance will help us pass this understanding along to many more people. Please prayerfully consider what you might give, and then go to www.CornwallAlliance.org/Donate, where you can do it quickly and easily. Just remember to request A Question of Power in the comments field.