Blackout: Energy History Repeats Itself by David Morris Originally published on TomPaine.com, August 15, 2003 Who says history doesn’t repeat itself? On November 9, 1965 at little past 5 p.m., some 30 million people in eight Northeastern states and two Canadian provinces were plunged into darkness. Hundreds of thousands of people found themselves trapped on immobilized … Read More
We Don’t Need a National Energy Bill By David Morris Originally Published on Alternet, August 5, 2003 Two days before the August recess, the nation’s oil and coal and nuclear companies had run out of time. Despite the vigorous efforts of Republicans, Senate Democrats had stalled a vote on an energy bill. It looked like the … Read More
Inthe beginning, before there were giant utilities and high voltage transmission lines, and state and federal regulatory agencies and rolling blackouts, companies didn’t sell electricity. They sold power plants. By 1883, the Edison Electric Illuminating Company (later General Electric) had installed 334 power plants inside cotton mills, grain elevators, manufacturing plants, newspapers and theaters.
This book by David Morris (first published in 1983) was the first how-to book published after Congress ended the 100-year-old monopoly by utilities on the generation of power. The book examines the technical and economic aspects of four small scale power technologies (photovoltaics, wind power, hydropower and onsite cogeneration) and offers advice on how to negotiate a contract for sale of on-site power to local utilities.… Read More
