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The paper seeks to highlight the major challenges the United States faces in the transmission and distribution of electricity. The author – Mathew L. Wald – asserts that the main cause of the power problem in the United States is the ineffective transmission system. Wald discusses the four possible ways of mitigating this problem; first, he suggests that the most direct way is to erect more transmission lines. He argues that building new transmission lines would effectively connect areas with high capacity and/or potential for the generation of renewable energy to the developing cities currently served by expensive, environmentally unclean and non-renewable coal-fired generation plants. Secondly, Wald argues that stepping up the voltage transmitted would substantially reduce power loss. Thirdly, Wald discusses the potential of minimizing power loss by adopting direct current transmission as opposed to the alternating current presently used in most homes and businesses. He suggests that the use of direct current would be most effective if used for point-to-point transmission and especially between points with heavy transmission burden. Fourthly, Wald suggests the possibility of interlinking the power lines within and among various States and the possibility of having one nationwide super transmission line. This he asserts, would reduce bureaucratic hurdles experienced in transmitting power between States and reduce unnecessary subdivision of transmission grids. In conclusion, Wald discusses the bottlenecks encounter in building a national super grid. He points out the main obstacles as geography and finance. Other obstacles he points out are the State level nature of decision-making regarding transmission and finally political interference.
The author uses a mix of statistical, hypothetical and anecdotal evidence. On a number of occasions, he uses statistical facts, for instance when he quotes the credit guarantee received by federal agencies to build power lines and guarantee of loans advanced to private companies. The other instance is when the author indicates the calculated value of loss reduction by stepping up the voltage of power as provided by James A. Muntz, the manager of the transmission at Northeast Utilities. He hypothesizes that by building new lines, regional utilities would be able to sell surplus power to other deficient users far away. The author also uses anecdotal evidence, this is noted when he suggests that smartly configuring long-distance direct lines could form a better platform of transmission than America Electric Power’s plan, which does not fully employ direct current. Wade employs this mix of evidence all through the paper.
The authority of the sources of evidence Wald uses cannot be questioned. He relies mostly on senior executives in the power sector for his references and resource. The executives are people who are well versed in their areas of operation and are therefore competent and possibly not biased in the information they give. However, more data that are reliable could have been obtained from the department of energy since it is better endowed with resources and expertise to gather and preserve information.
The content of the author’s arguments is sound. Wald went to great lengths to explain his assertion with credible facts from reliable references. Therefore, his conclusions can be judged to be factual. It is clear from this paper that there is a glaring problem as far as transmission of power is concerned. Areas with a high potential for power generation are not fully exploited because of transmission inefficiency. On the other hand, other possible means of making the transmission more efficient has not been fully exploited.
However, a few gaps in the author’s arguments are noted. For example, Wald’s assertion that transmitting electricity directly as opposed to the conventional alternating current may not possibly solve the transmission problem. The difference in power saved if electricity was to be directly transmitted as opposed to transmission by the alternating current is not economically viable considering the enormous infrastructural investments needed for this to be effective. Similarly, Wald’s suggestion of joining up transmission lines among states to form a single super grid may also face many political hurdles and may not take off in the final run. Generally, though, the paper presents many facts and reasonable assumptions, which provides an adequate platform to draw conclusions from the evidence.
The author has adopted an objective sort of argument in this paper. In this style, he first presents a suggestion or a thought then he explores this viewpoint using facts inferred from various sources to make conclusions. The tone of voice Wald uses in this paper is informative. Most of his arguments are informed by facts referenced from sources that are well versed in the subject matter. His hypothetical evidence is suggestive and not subjective. The argument in the paper is generally factual and reasoned rather than the author’s opinions.
The paper is well researched and the facts brought forth by Wald could be used to inform policy options in energy. In the twenty-first century, energy efficiency is of great importance. Wald in his concluding section hinted at the political setbacks that may hinder the provision of efficient energy transmission.
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