Industry Update

[JRTJH]

Can you spell: SOLINDRA ????? That's where the money is going.....

Just looking at a comparative need, fiberoptic cable/internet service, hell, high speed internet service of any kind, has been "identified as a vital need" everywhere in the US. We live in a place where the "very best internet access" we can get is either "cost prohibitive satellite service" which is not reliable in any kind of cloudy/incliment weather, or "high speed DSL" which right now, on my last Frontier speed check, was 5.4mb down/0.6mb upload.

We've had a "government initiative" to provide reliable, low cost high speed internet to every home in America for the past 15 years, yet we don't have any "high speed internet access" in my neighborhood or for the 15 miles toward Gaylord or the 45 miles toward Alpena, with the exception of a couple of "densly populated areas, serviced by a single fiberoptic trunk line that was installed (buried) about 4 years ago.

So, to "somehow believe that the government's initiative of improving the grid to provide adequate electrical service to every home in America" is, IMHO, going to fit nicely in the same "circular file" as the current "high speed internet service to every home in America"...

Hell, if we can't do one, why in the world would anyone believe we (not us, the government) can do the other ??????

PS: I'm still waiting for this area to "catch up to the fiberoptic speeds we had in Pineville, LA in 2007"... That's 15 years ago and technology hasn't caught up yet, I'd suspect the grid improvements will mirror the internet "successful implementation" .....

[bsmith0404]

It’s a fairly long read, but very interesting.

https://www.route-fifty.com/infrastr...merica/377046/

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Not a political reply- current administration just announced major funding for EV charging stations in 35 states.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/n...arging-funding

I found the fact that gov is required to buy all EVs in the next 5 years really interesting. I think back to when I was recruiter, I was required to park my government car at the office, not allowed to take it home. That means every recruiting office would have to have charging stations to charge the government vehicles. Or they would have to allow recruiters to take them home and reemburse them somehow for electricity, but then their home would have to have charging capability. Just imagine how many other offices would be in a similar situation. I don’t think they’ve looked at the big picture.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

There’s also a bill that just got pushed through, don’t know all the details, but it requires states to put 150 Kw charging staions every 50 miles on the highways. If they don’t comply they lose federal funding for roads. Several states out west are trying to get waivers saying it’s not practical or possible. NV, WY are two of the big ones fighting it. I don’t know how the electrical infrastructure can support that.

Federal funding from the taxes paid on fuel for ICE vehicles. Hopefully they can some how come up with taxes equal to fuel taxes for EVs to fund this lofty endeavor.
It's nearly 600 miles from San Antonio to El Paso on I10, with a charging station every 50 miles there will be a need for miles of power lines to be ran to a lot of remote locations along that route, it's a long barron stretch of highway that will most likely be in need of constant repairs due to vandalism. That's a lot of money to be spent to accommdate 1% of the vehicles on that stretch.
IMHO it should be a public vote as to whether to spend my tax dollars supporting something I never plan to own.

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

IMHO it should be a public vote as to whether to spend my tax dollars supporting something I never plan to own.

That’s a huge debate right now. I’d say the majority of Americans never knew this was even in discussion or being considered. We’re edging on political now, but it makes for good discussion.