One of the points raised time and again by so many of those we spoke with is that our current digital century is drawing more and more juice from the grid. Actually, industry officials have been warning about the increasing electricity demands for decades. Take a look at this energyTHEN from 1957.

[Film projector running]

[TEXT ON SCREEN] energyTHEN

[FILM NARRATOR ] 10 years ago, the average use in an American family was about 1,500 kilowatt-hours of power a year. Now, with so many more household chores being done electrically, about 3,000 kilowatt-hours are needed. And 10 years from now, The average American family may be using twice this amount. Already, the United States, with but 6% of the world's population, uses over 40% of the world's electric power. It's one reason why we enjoy the highest living standard of any nation in the world. In the years ahead, our electric power consumption will continue to increase. More for our homes and more for our factories will bring the nation's total demand to at least four times the present level by 1975.

[TEXT ON SCREEN] 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975

[ASSURAS] We did some checking to find out if that prediction was correct. In fact, it took much longer for electricity consumption to reach four times the level of the 1950s. It didn't happen until 1989, according to the Energy Information Administration. And these days, we're using about five times the power consumed in the '50s.