In August, 2003 the American electrical grid failed and caused blackouts throughout the country. Amory Lovins wrote this article in response to that energy catastrophe. He argues that the cause of the blackouts was an overcentralized power grid and inefficient pricing policies. Lovins claims that the fastest and cheapest way to save energy dollars and pollution is to use energy efficiently. In addition to efficiency measures, electric utilities and customers can make use of demand response technology to save energy and lower the burden on the grid. Distributed (or decentralized) generation is another option that Lovins argues can reduce the likelihood of grid failures so that blackouts do not occur again.