The fact that nobody cares is how we got here. My utility bill for this month will be on the order of $200 because I have an old air conditioner. When it dies, I'll replace it with a swampt cooler, whis is MUCH more efficient in this dry climate.

Yes. Here, where distances of 100 miles or more are not unusual, 270 is probably the most common voltage on those high-tension lines, though some power plants put out more. I remember someone telling me, some 40+ years ago that those lines with 7 "skirts" on the insulators were 270KV. In town it's typically 38KV. That's plenty. People trimming trees, fixing their rooftop antennas, or whatever, are killed due to their own carelessness every year, and it doesn't take 38KV to do it.

However, if every transformer brings about losses on the order of 2%, and there are three stages outgoing and two or more incoming at the substations, and then one per three households, that's a lot of 2% chunks that are going down the toilet, don't you think?

Now, nobody wants that old steam-powered, coal fired power plant in their back yard, or, for that matter, in their county. However, the energy wizards have demonstrated that you can build a three bedroom home that lives on the average sunlight present in the area of our nation's capital, without any power from the grid, yet provides all the "modern conveniences, i.e. refrigerator, dishwasher, washer and dryer, electric garbage disposal. TV's two rooms, microwave oven, and other small appliance, and a decent stereo sound system in the living room.

Eventually, that should mean that there will be no power plant, and no power company, and no power poles, etc, and, best of all, no power bill. Of course you do have to pay a bit of a premium when you buy, but it's within reason. The monthly mortgage payment should't exceed the combined cost of a typical mortgage for a comparable house today, plus the power bill. The lack of pollution, lack of utility easements, and lack of cost increases are all "FREE" as in free beer.

RE