Pull out your phone, MacGyver, and take a picture of cars powered by rooftop solar

MacGyver needs to show an imprint on a floorboard to someone. Pull out your phone and take a picture! No, in 1986 he MacGyvers a chisel and hammer and pries the floorboard up.

Even in 1996 the telcos and most of the public thought dedicated copper and fiber connections were needed for reliable communications. (“Allison, can you explain what the Internet is?”)

But now you can pull out your phone and take a picture and post it over the packet-switched Internet to facebook for all the world to see.

In 2023 baseload nukes and coal plants and oil pipelines will be like phone booths connected by dedicated copper, while rooftop solar charging cars will be as common as phones in your pockets. Solar power will win like the Internet did, beating all other sources of power within a decade.

Meanwhile, how far can Georgia Power and Southern Company hold us back in Georgia before they come up with a plan to make the southeast a net exporter of energy, bringing jobs here and profit to their shareholders?

Formerly all-powerful Georgia Power accepted with good grace GA PSC’s requirement to more than double its solar purchases. And its uncle Southern Company backed off on its latest cost overrun request for nuclear Plant Vogtle. How many more nukes shutting down or not being built (5 + 5 in the past year) will it take before Georgia Power and Southern Company stop wasting our resources on that boondoggle and get on with distributed rooftop solar and wind off the Georgia coast? Maybe if we keep reminding them, not very long.

-jsq

PS: with George Takei as Dr. Shen.