[Big Dave]

The question was raised about the cost of transporting natural gas.

From an industrial gas transport bill: Shipping 1 MMBTU of gas from Henry Hub, LA (about halfway between Houston and New Orleans to a town about 75 miles NW of Indianapolis cost 53.3 cents per MMBTU.

That distance is about the same as the distance from the Permian Basin of west Texas to LA.

For electricity (>346 kV) the loss is 1% for every 30 miles. So sending electricity from the Permian Basin to LA would involve a 50% loss of power.


As for Hoover Dam, if there is no dam below Hoover, all water once through the Hoover powerhouse would be "lost" into the Imperial Valley farms and would not be able to be pumped back up.