From: snidelyd@netscape.com   
      
   David Summers  wrote:   
      
   [...]   
   > The fact is, transmitting power via cables over long distances is   
   > expensive.  The grid uses nearby sources, not far away ones.  Losses on   
   > long distance power cables become very large very fast.   
      
   Well, depends on the long distance, I suppose.  There's a intertie running   
   down eastern Oregon; probably from Bonneville on the Columbia river, and   
   probably to somewhere around Red Bluffs or Sacramento, so in excess of 300   
   miles doesn't seem strange.  Also, 250 miles from Hoover Dam to LA.   
      
   Losses would go down with superconductor cabling, which is still   
   expensive, and the support equipment may still be prohibitively heavy.   
   But it looks like it might be practical and available within about the   
   same time as return to the moon.   
      
   /dps   
      
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