"Lights Out: The Electricity Crisis, the Global Economy, and What It Means To You" by Jason Makansi (Repost)

This book is today's most detailed, in-depth examination of this largely unreported looming energy crisis. Written by one of the world's top electricity industry experts, this powerful book covers numerous hot button economic and political issues-free markets versus regulation; energy independence versus foreign imports; nuclear power, global warming, and other environmental issues; and much more.

The book calls attention to all dangerous paradox—one that is quietly immobilizing progress—and proposes a comprehensive road map that will put us on a more rational path and help us avoid the serious consequences of an unhealthy electricity infrastructure.

Prescriptive and provocative, this book will redefine the simmering debate on how the world can-and must-act now to head off a global catastrophe, one that could eventually wreak even more havoc than the ongoing oil crisis.

This book enables even the novice to understand clearly the multifaceted issues facing an electricity-thirsty world. This book lays the foundation for understanding how complex power generation and delivery truly is, and is a clarion call to citizens and consumers worldwide alike to become more informed and more involved

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part One: THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO
1 Night of the Living Dead
2 The Production and Delivery Value Chain
3 Around the World, Around Town
4 Preventing the Worst Case
Part Two: INSECURITIES, VULNERABILITIES, AND AN UNEASY STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
5 Why a First-World Country Has a Third-World Grid
6 Living with a Transaction Economy
7 The Brain Drain
8 Environmental Imperatives
9 Houston, We Have a Problem
10 The Impact of Lengthening Supply Lines: How Elastic Are They?
Part Three: FIGHTING “THE LAST WAR," PLANNING THE NEXT ONE
11 It’s That 70s Show
12 Sticker Shock (Without the Sticker)
13 Electricity Storage
14 Coal
15 Exercising the Nuclear Option
16 Savvy Consumption, Empowering Ratepayers
17 Distributed Power
18 Redefining the Grid with Real Intelligence
19 The Rest of the World
20 A Vision for the Future: Daydream, Nightmare, or a Good Night’s Rest?
Postscript: Personal Accountability
Bibliography
About the Author
Index