Well, what’s your solution?

I don’t have one.

I’m a believer in “a la carte” regulation: some sectors should be wildly unrestricted. Some should be radically socialized. Some, in between. Some “hybridized.” The optimum thing just depends, and the key is finding experts to determine this and constantly testing that balance.

That makes me kind of technocratic, I guess.

For power infrastructure specifically, this seems like one of those “hybrid” situations? Power making startups should frictionlessly slot in; lest we miss experimental tech like, say, geothermal coal plant conversions. But at the same time, distribution and some larger projects really need government organization. And that’s kind of what we already have?

The problem seems to not be the amount of regulation, but the incentives. For instance, a lot of lobbying from Big Oil sneaks in. And there’s a lot of complacency with “good enough for now,” infrastructure, tying into the public’s lack of interest in solving long-term problems until they blow up in their face.