"The grid hasn't progressed much since the Red Scare" -- that's a vast overstatement. The amount of changes in the last 60+ years since McCarthy's day has been

"The grid hasn't progressed much since the Red Scare" -- that's a vast overstatement. The amount of changes in the last 60+ years since McCarthy's day has been tremendous. We've seen numerous technological advancements like solar, wind, gas, which provide new electrons from new distributed locales. We've seen new transmission projects, not as many as ideal admittedly. There have been new pipelines and new drilling technologies, enabling natural gas peakers while we work out renewable storage. We've also seen a decarbonization of the dirtiest coal and oil plants -- do you consider huge public health wins "not much progress"?. Even further, batteries, demand response, weatherization, LEDs, and many nascent technologies are all doing their part now to head towards an unthinkable scenario in 1960: a carbon neutral grid by 2050. To entirely revamp your energy system in 100 years is astounding. I'd recommend checking out Greentech Media and the Energy Gang podcast, you'll hear the latest in energy since the Red Scare.