To the editor:

The recent blackout across northeastern states and part of Canada shows us the transmission grid system is no longer reliable for getting the power from where it is to where it is needed. This begs the question: What is the right cure?

Distributed generation technologies — including renewables, fuel cells and microturbines — can be located closer to where power is needed, thus reducing traffic on the already “gridlocked” superhighways of the electrical distribution system.

Distributed generation can help cities, states and regions begin to address the challenge of satisfying electrical demand by providing flexibility to locate these resources where they do not require additional high voltage transmission lines. Newspapers reported fuel cells kept the lights working at offices and police precincts during the blackout.

The U.S. Fuel Cell Council said, “The solution is not necessarily to build more transmission lines but to encourage alternatives such as distributed power generation.”

The Solid Waste Association of North America supports an integrated solid waste management approach, saying, “SWANA believes there is significant opportunity to increase reduction and recovery levels by working across the board and encouraging reduction and recovery in many forms.”

There is an approach that we could utilize that would effectively address each of the above concerns at once. In other words, each dollar that we invested would provide a solution to each problem. With the huge deficits that are projected now, we should act wisely.

Les Blevins,

Lawrence