Story Archives of 'electricity'

Since the 1960s, power companies operating in the four corners area of the U.S. have run power lines over the Navajo and Hopi nations. The transmitters carry electricity to growing sunbelt cities, supplying nothing to people living just below -- many of whom live in darkened homes without the luxury of electricity.

In exchange for use of the land, water and sky, Southern California Edison and other companies paid millions of dollars in royalties to the tribes. That relationship ended in 2003, when the Black Mesa and Kayenta mines closed, along with the Mojave Desert Power Plant. Now American Indians are trying to transition away from fossil fuel power into clean energy.

The story of that transition against the tribal governance and established power companies is told in Power Paths, a film by Bo Boudart, which airs on PBS’ Independent Lens tonight. Steve Michelson is the films executive producer, and joins us with more as part of our "next green thing" series.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the steadiest trends in business is the growth rate in electricity use.

But due to several factors, that rate has fallen sharply during the past year.

And the country may in fact see the biggest declines in the rate of electricity use since 1950.

The result is the wholesale price of electricity has dropped across much of the country by over 40 percent from last year.

And as NHPR's Mark Bevis reports, that's welcome news for many of New Hampshire's largest electric users.

As part of his national energy policy, President Barack Obama has said the nation needs to turn the electric grid into a ‘smart grid’.

The promise of the Smart Grid is that it will help conserve electricity, lead to greater efficiency, and better manage renewable energy sources.

But New Hampshire’s utilities are not moving together toward the President’s vision.

In fact, the state’s biggest utility has yet to decide whether it is cost effective for residential customers to have it.

NHPR’s David Darman has more.