@article{1376956,
      recid = {1376956},
      author = {Bakke, Gretchen Anna,},
      title = {The grid : the fraying wires between Americans and our  energy future /},
      pages = {1 online resource},
      abstract = {"The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no  way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume  electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States  ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and  near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it  to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new  source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on  its logics as much as its components. In entertaining,  perceptive, and deeply researched fashion, cultural  anthropologist Gretchen Bakke uses the history of an  increasingly outdated infrastructure to show how the United  States has gone from seemingly infinite technological  prowess to a land of structural instability. She brings  humor and a bright eye to contemporary solutions and to the  often surprising ways in which these succeed or fail. And  the consequences of failure are significant. Our national  electrical grid grew during an era when monopoly,  centralization and standardization meant strength. Yet as  we've increasingly become a nation that caters to local  needs, and as a plethora of new, renewable energy sources  comes on line, our massive system is dangerously out of  step. Charting the history of our electrical grid, Bakke  helps us see what we all take for granted, shows it as  central to our culture and identity as a people, and  reveals it to be the linchpin in our aspirations for a  clean energy future"--},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1376956},
}