DC, simple and easy. AC, complex and scalable... Except, my surface level (pun intended) understanding of this, is that it's actually not that simple. AC may h

DC, simple and easy. AC, complex and scalable... Except, my surface level (pun intended) understanding of this, is that it's actually not that simple. AC may have been easier to deal with at high voltages (and thus long distances) at one point, but due to the skin effect and RMS power not determining the safe tolerances for transmission lines (I think this is true), there are some issues with this approach. Nowadays, it's possible to build safe HVDC systems, I think partially due to the existence of HVDC breakers. That said, you lose a channel of communication assuming your power is DC, and that signal is used in AC to help shape the generation / switching / etc. We could always try superimposing signals on DC power lines, but I digress.