Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-289) and index.

Preface -- Acknowledgments -- The worst-case scenario -- Night of the living dead -- The production and delivery value chain -- Around the world, around town -- Preventing the worst case -- Insecurities, vulnerabilities, and an uneasy state of the industry -- Why a first-world country has a third-world grid -- Living with a transaction economy -- The brain drain -- Environmental imperatives -- Houston, we have a problem -- The impact of lengthening supply lines : how elastic are they? -- Fighting "the last war," planning the next one -- It's that '70s show -- Sticker shock (without the sticker) -- Electricity storage -- Coal : extracting its full value -- Exercising the nuclear option -- Savvy consumption, empowering ratepayers -- Distributed power -- Redefining the grid with real intelligence -- The rest of the world -- A vision for the future: daydream, nightmare, or a good night's rest? -- Postscript: personal accountability -- Bibliography -- About the author -- Index.

A behind-the-scenes expos?f why our electricity system is headed for a state of emergency-and what can be done to head it off. Most people don't realize that skyrocketing global energy demand and economic growth severely affect the supply of electricity. Between production (power plants) and delivery is an antiquated, "third-world" transmission grid that is in desperate need of hardening against breakdowns, terrorist attacks, inadequate carrying capacity, and operational obsolescence. And while electricity doesn't hold the headlines or dramatic power of oil, the ability to ensure its

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