They are just smarting from the million dollar Christmas bonuses for the directors. They will feel better as the year goes along.

I remember in the early seventies there was an ad campaign to conserve because of the oil embargo. Many of us turned our thermostats down to some frigid level to comply. TVA then announced that the lower demand had caused an "upset" in their budget forcing them to raise the price of electricity.

That is when I made the statement that there would always be an abundance of energy in America . . . . . for those who can afford it.

I worked at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant at the time and we were working at a feverish pace to upgrade the facilities in order to produce more fuel for proposed power plants. We managed to finish the multi-million dollar improvement project just in time to shut her down. That is when I predicted that, by the turn of the century America would discover the need for properly designed, built, and operated nuclear power plants. We're running a little late on that one.

Another energy "fad" that worked was underground houses. I had a friend who actually built one. I think those failed because it's very difficult to impress the Joneses when your underground assets have little curb appeal. And, no matter how elegant it may be, your kids will still tell their friends they live in a basement.

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