The Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland Interconnection (PJM) says there will be brownouts in Maryland and Virginia by 2011 if high power transmission line are not built across Loudoun County, Virginia. Of course, local NIMBY activists want to stop all transmission lines and usually say utility companies have enough power and are just trying to increase profits. Many states are facing the same problems as those in the PJM service territory, particularly New York and California. You cannot NIMBY all the time everywhere and expect electricity everywhere and all the time.
Although there is a federal imminent domain law, utility companies are reluctant to utilize it because they want friendly business relationships with local and state governments. Botched half hearted deregulation of electricity only makes the situation worse as public service commissions approve rate increases that were frozen for up to a decade. Just as people are now noticing gasoline, soon they will also be 'noticing' electricity.
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