With the cost of electric power tripling and the risk of isolated power outages thrown in for bad measure, this may not be a very Merry Christmas on the West Coast.

California has received its share of brownout and blackout warnings…in the summer time. But the Pacific power grid is just about maxed out…and that means homeowners from San Diego to Seattle should be prepared for the unexpected this winter.

It’s gotten so bad that state officials have started finger pointing. Oregon’s governor is placing the blame on California’s deregulation of the power industry that he claims temporarily drove down prices and raised demand.

What makes the situation so unusual this year is that California usually trades power with its northern neighbors on a rather predictable, seasonal basis. During the summer, California’s sun-baked valleys demand extra power to run air conditioners. During the winter, the Northwest requires extra electricity to heat its mountain cabins.  The limited rainfall throughout the area for the past two years has changed that equation.   Now, there's not as much water available to drive the giant hydro-electric generators.

That has prompted new liberal eco-concerns. Which is more important? Generating power to keep homes heated and businesses operating? Or raising water levels to protect endangered salmon spawn?

More than a few critics have charged the electric utilities with generating the crisis, shutting down one quarter of all power stations for up to a week at a time and pushing customers’ costs through the roof. In their defense, utility spokesmen claim the plants were offline for much-needed maintenance following a grueling summer output.

These days, out west, there does seem to be plenty of blame to go around…just not enough electricity. Once again, we ask. "Why has no one bothered to plan ahead for these contingencies and consider the nuclear option?"

We could take the plutonium from the hydrogen bombs we’ve decommissioned in this country and have enough electricity to power the United States for the next 500 years. And consider how much pressure that would take off the price of a gallon of gasoline, at a time when drivers’ tempers and pocketbooks are both pushed to the limit.

Only once in the history of nuclear power generating history has something gone terribly wrong. That was at Chernobyl, in the Ukraine, which last week decommissioned the last of its ineptly designed nuclear reactors. With that plant down for the count, we wonder just how long it will be before residents in that part of the world start feeling a little extra chill in their bones?

The sad part is, government red tape and environmental concerns can add five years or more to the time required for a new reactor to go online. In some cases, perfectly feasible pre-approved plans have faced regulatory shutdown after plants were already in the construction process. One such occurrence caused a northeast utility to squander about five billion dollars, dismantling a partially built reactor on New York’s Long Island.

The advantages of nuclear power use are obvious.  Nuclear energy does not use up limited,non-renewable resources like fossil fuels.  Unlike fossil fuels, it does not inject CO2 and particulate matter into the atmosphere...so "global warming" risks are non-existant. And there's one unexpected benefit we might not have considered.

In 1883 a volcano named Krakatoa located in what is today, Indonesia, belched four months worth of greenhouse gasses into the sky, significantly reduced sunlight and caused temperatures to fall around the globe for a year.  If history were ever to repeat itself, solar power would be virtually cut off.  Coal and oil burning plants would compound the problem through additional emissions.  Nuclear power would keep the lights on and allow the atmosphere to more quickly regain its balance.

What will it take for those in high places to wake up and recognize we have virtually ignored the most abundant and one of the safest forms of power generation known to 21^st century man? Maybe we’ll finally see some movement when rolling blackouts hit the White House and Capitol building.

But I’m not placing any bets…

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