Before the Lights Go Out

The Financial Times reports:

Much of America’s ageing infrastructure needs replacing. One vital industry in need of sprucing up is electricity. Cambridge Energy Research Associates reckons the sector needs $900bn of investment over the next 15 years – in effect, more than replacing the net $750bn worth of plant already in place. The only thing worse than having to spend that amount would be not spending it. Overall, spare generation capacity could drop below 15 per cent of peak demand – the minimum usually required to avoid blackouts – by 2009. Two-year electricity futures have risen by two-thirds since 2004.